First live-stream fundraiser
By: Alyssa Sweetman
If you are a budding creator just getting started you may feel discouraged from doing your first fundraiser, thinking that your impact does not matter. However, you may be surprised to know that in 2020 GoFundMe reported that over 68% of donations to charities were under $50. That’s just direct donations not fundraisers – this means your impact is bigger than you realize!
A successful fundraiser is not just about raising money for a cause. It is also about helping the nonprofit by spreading awareness, educating potential donors, building relationships, and doing good together –– so whether you raise $100 to $1,000,000 you will still have an impact!
Maximize impact by leaning into your passion
If it is your first ever nonprofit livestream fundraising event you will want to lean into supporting and identifying a cause you are incredibly passionate about. The more passion you have for the mission of the organization the easier it will be to inspire your community and fans to donate to their cause.
To get started, think about your own life and experiences. What are some of the deeply profound moments that have impacted your life? For some this might be losing a loved one, experiencing a lack in a basic need, or seeing somebody else go through something.
What was the first thing that came to your mind? Got it? Start there – explore organizations that focus on impact in that area. You may find yourself drawn to a larger more established organization or one that’s newer tackling the work from a new perspective, both are equally valid.
Once you have picked the benefiting organization you can start preparing for the big event!
Preparing to Fundraise
Get to know your cause
Spend some time, initially, to check out the organization you’ve chosen. Read-up on their mission statement, sleuth their website for any fact sheets and/or FAQ’s, and see if they have a portfolio of their work. You don’t need to know everything, but you should be prepared enough to give an elevator pitch on why you chose them and why your community should donate to them.
Keep it simple and use a fundraising service
The legalities of nonprofit fundraising can be complex and difficult to navigate. To simplify things, use a legal fundraising service. Here are a few suggestions of fundraising services that have live streamer tools: Tiltify, Streamlabs Charity, JustGiving, DonorDrive, betterplace
We are not lawyers but know that collecting donations on behalf of a nonprofit when you’re not a registered agent is illegal in most places. As always consult legal counsel if you have any questions or concerns with regard to legality.
Preparing for the big event
Let’s start with the fundraising goal - how much are you hoping to raise for your cause? Your goal should be reasonable for you and your community. Consider:
What is your average viewership and your average monthly revenue? This can help inform your community’s fundraising power.
How many hosts or raids do you receive from other creators, and how large do they tend to be?
How active your chat is during your typical streams?
Does your community show up big when you have sponsored streams or special events?
Once the goal has been decided, you’ll want to pick a date & time to go live for your event. You’ll want to plan it at least two weeks in advance (ideally four weeks) to give yourself enough time to market properly and generate some hype. Here are some points to nail down:
How long will your stream be? You’ll want to have a start and end time to let your community know when the hype is happening. Having an end to the event can help create a sense of urgency for those that plan to attend.
Remember that your health and wellbeing is important. 24 hours or uncapped streams are unhealthy and dangerous. Keep it simple and keep it attainable.
What general content will you be streaming during the event?
What incentives could you offer your community for their support? Think of an incentive as something that would entice a community to make a donation. The most common way to think of an incentive is every donation of $X you’ll do something (or they’ll receive something).
Two considerations
When adding your incentives you should consider laws around sweepstakes, raffles and gambling. Remember that ignorance of the law does not protect you.
None of your incentives should cause harm to you. At no point should you offer an incentive that would cause you harm either psychologically or physically.
What are your milestones or mini-goals? These work best with a near goal and then a far goal.
How will you celebrate reaching your goal? Do you have any stretch goals?
Hype it up!
To give your community time to prepare to start hyping up your upcoming fundraiser at least two weeks ahead of time. Though if you can, give your community at least four weeks to get excited about it (and save up to torture you — err donate to a good cause).
Announce the upcoming event on social media and your stream
Share a short video with the who, what, why, and the when
Tease planned incentives on social media
Talk about it each stream
put a timed message in your chat bot
spend 5-10 minutes at the start and end of your stream reminding your community about the upcoming stream (make sure to talk about why you’re fundraising for this particular nonprofit)
Create a calendar invite or another way for your community to RSVP and set up a reminder
It’s time to go Live 🔴
By this point you’ve spent a lot of time choosing, planning, and marketing - it’s a lot! Fortunately game day has arrived and you’re ready. Set yourself up for success, make sure to put everything you need within a reasonable reach and go live 30 minutes early to sort any technical issues out.
