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How to run a successful charity stream

Many streamers — especially those who have never done a charity stream before — aren’t quite sure where to start when preparing for and running their fundraising event. To make you look like a pro right off the bat, the Softgiving Team has compiled all of our tips and tricks for a super successful, goal-shattering charity stream. Let’s go through the best practices to apply before, the day of, and during your charity stream.

 

 

Before your charity stream. Let’s Prep.

To feel 100% ready for your upcoming charity stream, take a few days beforehand to do the following: 

  • Create your HERO account here. Once you create an account, you’ll be able to log in at any time to continue customizing your campaign with milestone incentives, alerts, overlays, and more.  
  • Take time to discuss incentive ideas with your community. This is a great way to get input for fundraising goals that your community would love to see.  Check out this clip where Nimious talks about incentive ideas with his chat.
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Day of your charity stream. Prep a little more.

  • Double-check that your donation incentives are entered into your Softgiving account.
  • Add a donation panel underneath your streaming video feed, linking to your Donation URL which can be found in your account portal. Pro tip: you’ll want to position this panel ahead of other existing panels for the duration of your charity stream. Top of bio, top of mind! 
  • Add your donation bar, donation alerts, and donation milestones to your streaming channel. Having these overlays up will continuously remind viewers that you’re running a charity stream. All these features are found in your account portal. Here’s an example of a clean set-up.  Shout out to Jane

  • Last but not least, Add a !charity command with a few short words about the cause you’re supporting and your donation link.

 

 

Day of your charity stream. And we’re live!

  • Show your viewers how to donate through a browser source when, in your best judgment, your audience is approaching its typical or anticipated average size. You know what they say — teach a person to donate, and they’ll donate for a lifetime! Uh, something like that…
  • Talk about the charity you’re supporting approximately once per hour. This will help keep the momentum going to drive donations. Pro tip: show the charity’s website, a video, statistics, things like that. Take a look at the Botez Sisters showing how it’s done. 

 

  • In your own style, show and/or tell your audience why the charity you’re supporting is important to you. This is a great way to hype up your community about the charity’s mission and your fundraising event as a whole. Your community already wants you to succeed. If they understand your personal connection to the cause, this will most likely motivate them even more to get involved. 
  • Use the giveaway feature found in your account portal. Add to the fun of your charity stream by giving out prizes! This is a great way to drive donations in a short amount of time. Daltoosh & aDrive sure do know how to drive the hype when using the giveaway tool. To learn more about the giveaway tool, head here

 

 

 

 

A few more tips. 

  • Utilize Twitter & Discord to spread the word. A good rule of thumb is to post a Tweet or a Discord announcement about your charity stream a few days before AND then right before going live. Make sure you include your donation link in the posts so viewers have easy access to donate. 

  • Have fun! Cheesy but true. Take the pressure off your shoulders and enjoy this moment with your community as everyone comes together to make a difference. Whether $5 or $500,000 was raised, consider your charity stream a HUGE success. Every bit helps, and you’re promoting a positive culture of giving back to those in need! <3 
  • Softgiving is here to help. We’re always just a message away if you have any questions whatsoever about your HERO fundraising campaign. Feel free to reach out in the Softgiving Discord server or contact us at support@softgiving.com.