Not Your Mama's Charity Telethon: How Livestream Fundraising Will Dominate the World of Giving by Ryan Scott for Forbes, October, 2015
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YWCA USA Resource Library Article Reprint Not Your Mama's Charity Telethon: How Livestream Fundraising Will Dominate the World of Giving By Ryan Scott for Forbes, October, 2015 If you’re under 35, you may never have heard of the Jerry Lewis Telethon. But back in the day, it rocked my world. The telethon was an annual marathon television event that raised millions for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, hosted live with schmaltz and sentimentality by Jerry Lewis. Stringing together celebrities, performances and telephones every Labor Day for 46 years, Lewis created an exciting and exhausting extravaganza that coaxed dollars out of wallets for a good cause. I was glued to my TV every year for this event, and it’s what first inspired me to become a philanthropist. When the telethon was eventually shortened from more than 20 hours to six, then three, and then finally canceled altogether, an era was lost. Audience habits had changed, TV had changed, technology had changed, and Jerry Lewis no longer made sense in a 140-character world. Nowadays, traditional telethons barely exist, except for the exceedingly rare TV special that can summon the gigantic budgets to mount such an effort, like StandUp to Cancer. Our viewing habits are far more fractured than they once were and it’s impossible to recapture the audience share of the three network universe of yore. But there are still places where legions of people gather at the same time and can be directed towards philanthropy. Click on Twitch or YouTube and you’ll find millions of users who are livestreaming video games and eSports events, as broadcasters or viewers. Last year, 100 million users watched 16 billion minutes of broadcasts per month on Twitch from 1.5 million unique broadcasters. Some reports list Twitch as the fourth highest-trafficked site in the U.S., behind only Google, Netflix and Apple, sharing more data than other video streamers like Hulu and Amazon. A few years ago, Michael Wasserman, an experienced fundraiser, was pondering how to captivate those zillions of eyeballs and reinvent the telethon concept for the modern age. “As streaming was starting to grow,” he says, “I was looking at this phenomenon and thinking, ‘these are telethons; they’re just online.’ How can you create a platform that would house these streaming telethons?” Posted fall, 2015 Please note: this information is presented as a resource, not advice. YWCA resource materials are reserved for YWCA use only and copyright restrictions apply. For the development of any major agreement or plans, be sure to engage appropriate counsel About Livestream Fundraising The result of his brainstorming was Tiltify, “Tiltify empowers gamers and makes a platform that creates opportunities for giving back more of the norm,” notes livestreaming to be directed towards Wasserman. “Gaming is a $20 billion charity. Tiltify is ground zero for industry in the U.S. alone. If just 2 percent innovative fundraising ideas, seamlessly of that was redirected towards charity, it integrating with streaming hubs like Twitch would offer a staggering boost to good and allowing gamers and other viewers to causes around the world.” donate live. But what makes this modern telethon so different is that users can With 50 charities currently using Tiltify as interact with each other and celebrities in a fundraising tool, the next step for the ways that were never possible in the days company is to explain this new market to of Jerry Lewis. Technology allows users to the nonprofit community and show them see their names pop up onscreen as soon as the possibilities. In the past, mounting any they donate, chat with other viewers, get kind of telethon or fundraiser was a instantaneous feedback, and affect what is massive effort, but livestream fundraising happening on the stream through their allows you to build an audience and donors participation. with nothing more than a laptop. Gamification is an important element of “We think this is the future of fundraising,” Tiltify. “People will create challenges, like says Wasserman. “Think of the ‘If we make it to $10,000, I’ll shave my possibilities. Think about how you can help head,’” says Wasserman. “It’s streaming, with disaster relief in a more immediate entertainment and charity all in one.” and resonant way. You can now broadcast very easily from a lot of these areas, people With some streamers having their own can see what’s going on and be inspired, followings of millions, the possibilities for and people see the changes going forward. serious fundraising are immense. For the You can actually create a conversation and celebrities who get involved, the casual, answer questions about what you’re doing low-tech experience is an attractive to help, all while showing things that are diversion from the grandeur and hoopla of happening live.” a formal fundraiser. For the streaming viewers, these stream-a-thons are often Tiltify is taking the telethon concept to the surprising, giving the audience a rewarding new century, and in the process creating an opportunity to see celebrities and equalizer effect. With the rising popularity influencers in a more intimate and of reality TV, YouTube and influencers of interactive light. For the streaming all stripes, and with the minimal production broadcasters, a livestreaming fundraiser costs of a stream-a-thon, the barriers to can cast a wider and more positive light on fundraising have now dropped to virtually their shows, helping to spread the word nothing. about their streams. And for nonprofits, this added channel of fundraising offers an exciting new path towards awareness and engagement. About Livestream Fundraising 2 .