Twitch and Other Streaming Platform Donations

Setting up for charity streams on Twitch sounds like it should be an easy endeavor. However, it rarely is because of the things you should know before you set them up. Everyone knows, as a streamer, at least in the beginning, that you are not a business person. Therefore, you should not be expected to act like one or know how to set up properly for certain things you may choose to do.

Yet, that does not mean that there are no consequences for not doing certain actions properly. Those consequences may include things like higher fees on your donations and opening up yourself to liabilities if you are not in the right tax structures. Obviously, it pays to do your homework well in advance of doing something like a charity stream. You should, at least, figure out what legal structure will work best for your business so that you can protect your personal assets in case of litigation.

Everyone wants to play video games for a living all day but you should make sure that you have the right protection in case someone finds a way to get to your personal life and your assets. Moreover, this tax structure will allow you to use products that were built for donation purposes instead of "for-profit" versions. Why are the "for-profit" versions bad? They are usually subject to larger fees and hidden fees since for-profit organizations have higher profit margins. Therefore, if you set up correctly, then you will get the ability to protect your assets and access these superior donation systems that understand that you are donating to charities. You will be subject to fewer hidden fees and smaller cuts of those donations you are able to procure.

If you select the right platform then you may find a system that will allow you to make the donation right in the stream. Most of the systems allow the use of a bot that you can use to input custom text. The custom text can include a link to your donation page. You can usually summon the text by using a predefined batch of text like "!donate". The users will click the link and make the donation from there. If you are really lucky then some of these systems can take the donation in-stream without your user having to go anywhere.

Finally, it might be worth your time to find a sponsor for the stream. They will, sometimes, donate money themselves or offer a matching gift towards what your people supply. It is a quick and easy way to double the donation effectiveness of your campaign.