When the gaming community comes together to support a charity of their choice, great things happen. Like when Summer Games Done Quick 2016 raised over $1.2 million dollars this year for Doctors Without Borders. Or how about when League of Legends content creator, Foxdrop organized and raised just under $200,000 for the #PourJulia campaign?AGDQ 2017 is also currently going on right now and is almost at $700,000.
These examples and many more really show how strong the gaming community can be when united under one charitable cause. So now you may be wondering, “how do I setup one of these streams myself?”. Well, let’s jump right into the basics of what you’ll need to account for before going live with your stream.
1. Choosing a Charity
There are so many charities these days, how could you possibly pick one? Our best advice would pick one that really speaks to you. If you, a family member, or a friend have been affected by something then perhaps pick a charity that supports or combats whatever has happened. You want to land on an organization that you really believe in since this stream will be driven by your passion.
Charity Navigator is a large resource when it comes to finding a charity that fits for you. After you’ve chosen one we’d also recommend doing a little research on them. It’s good to know how much of your contributions are actually going towards the cause vs. overheads for employees and whatnot.
Still stumped? Here are some popular charities within the gaming space at the moment…
2. Layout your gameplan
So you’ve picked your charity, now you have to put all the pieces together. First, determine the date of the event and how long it will run. The longer the event, the more potential money you could raise but long streams are a marathon and you may need more people involved so keep that mind.
If you do want to do a long stream (typically anything over 8 hrs in length) then having another streamer with you or remotely to trade off with can be a huge help. If you’re doing it solo then we’d recommend at least having someone close by to coordinate meals for you and what not.
Some people and organizations will choose to set a contribution goal so if this is something you’d like to do then we’d recommend setting something attainable at first: crawl before you walk. If you exceed it then awesome! That means you have a benchmark for the second stream.
Another thing to keep in mind is how you are (if you are at all) incentivizing your viewers for donations. Do you have anything you can giveaway when you hit a certain goal? Is there anything you can do for a viewer that donates a certain amount – maybe you play games with them on stream? Keep these things in mind as you build your plan.
3. Choose your platform
Now that your plan and charity are out of the way, you need to figure out where you’re gonna send people to donate. There’s a few options that we’d recommend (and we’ve listed them below) but be sure to look into where the entirety of the donated money is going. Some of these services obviously take more or less in terms of fees so just be sure you’re cool with them.
4. Promotion and messaging
Okay you’re almost there! You need to get the word out about your fundraiser. Hopefully you’ve picked a date with some lead time and can promote it accordingly up until the date of the stream. Reach out to your friends and family via Twitter, Facebook, and email before the event, day before the event, and day of. We’re not advocating being annoying but you almost want to walk that line.
Aside from your inner circle, think about whom else would be interested in your stream? Maybe you’re playing a specific game and there’s a diehard fan-base for that game somewhere. Well, now go let them know what you’re doing!
Alright well, that’s just about all the basics for running your own charity stream. So now get out there and start raising!
