How charities can maximise fundraising through streaming
What we learned from TwitchCon Ams 2022
Following on from our related article TwitchCon Ams 2022: 6 Key takeaways for brands, Strategic Planner Brogan from Flourish (who oversees all our charity accounts and projects) gives her take on how charities and not-for-profit organisations can maximise opportunities for fundraising through streaming, after the expert panel, made up of both streamers and charity representatives who came together to give us the lowdown on all things fundraising.
Brogan Bowditch - Strategic Planner
So, what makes a streamer stand out from the crowd in the fundraising sphere? One theme was present throughout the talk to answer this question: the audience want to see you suffer… whether this be drinking a jar of jalapenos for every £50 donation or bathing in a full suit and tie for 17 hours, people will pay good money for it, especially when it’s for a great cause. Streamers were encouraged to think outside the box and steer away from their usual content, whilst also remaining authentic to their ‘personal brand’ to get cash flowing in.
Streaming for fundraising, and also awareness...
Another important decision to be made by streamers is selecting the right cause – with over 170,000 charities in the UK alone, it’s difficult to sift through. The panel stated that the best way to choose is to find one which resonates most with your own values – platforms such as Tiltify are a great opportunity for charities to be visible in this space, allowing streamers to search key terms and discover not-for-profits which align with their own purpose and passion.
Tiltify also provides a short description of each of the charities listed, and a link to find out more – the experts highlighted the importance of streamers and moderators (individuals who ‘referee’ the chat function on streams) being clued up on the cause prior to going live, meaning if viewers come online and want to know more, they’re confident in explaining the impact the charity has to increase the likelihood of donations. Last but not least, platforms like Tiltify handle the admin following the stream, meaning charities can feel assured that any cash raised will be going directly to them.
For streamers, fundraising on Twitch can be an intimidating proposal – the idea that no one will tune in to watch, after putting so much effort into preparation to ‘make a fool of yourself’, may leave content creators wondering what the point might be. GeekyCassie, a Twitch variety streamer, was quick to mention that regardless of the amount of donations coming in, fundraising through Twitch is a great opportunity to educate the audience about important topics, giving the example: ‘I don’t think people always remember that it’s not just 60-year-old white women who get breast cancer’. Twitch should be considered a means of broadcasting and conveying messages, not just a method of acquiring funds.
The future of streaming and fundraising
So, what’s next for fundraising through streaming? Tools such as Crowd Control can increase engagement by allowing viewers to be a part of the action when they donate, messing with streamers gameplay and inevitably making their gaming more difficult! And for non-gamers? When thinking ‘Twitch’, most would assume an individual sat in their bedroom in front of their computer screen – IRL streaming offers a new take on being broadcast, with one example being a streamer who went out into the real world, and every time someone donated £5, they had to do 5 push-ups no matter where they were. We can start to see the gap between standard charity eventing and streaming being bridged, offering something completely new to the table to heighten viewer engagement.
With 2 in 3 members of the panel audience having already attempted streaming for charity, and the remaining third raising their hand to show they would now want to give it a go, it’s a promising time for fundraising as we progress further into the metaverse.
