PlayVS raised over $13K for Starlight Children’s in hours with GoFundMe’s live fundraising tools
Missions
PlayVS’s mission is to create transformative opportunities for personal growth and skills development through gaming.
Starlight Children Foundation’s mission is to deliver happiness to seriously ill kids and their families
Challenge
Host a livestream event that not only engages viewers but also empowers them to easily support a nonprofit in real-time
Solution
GoFundMe’s free live fundraising tools made it easy for livestream viewers to donate to a nonprofit, raising over $13,000 in just four hours
“We’re incredibly grateful to PlayVS, streamers, and GoFundMe for helping us continue to advance our mission of delivering happiness to seriously ill kids and their families.”
– Adam Garone, CEO of Starlight Children’s Foundation
Charity Showdown livestream results:
$13k+
raised
3,000+
viewers
A gaming match made in heaven
PlayVS first connected with Starlight Children’s Foundation at the Games for Change event. With PlayVS wanting to establish a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program and Starlight Children’s looking to diversify its fundraising, a partnership between the two felt like a natural fit.
As part of this new CSR program, PlayVS began planning the Charity Showdown, a four-hour livestream event benefitting Starlight Children’s. The team was looking for a tool to make it easy for viewers to give, gamify the giving process, and tap into the competitive nature of streamers to raise money for a good cause. Seeing the potential to scale fundraising and connect with its audience in an engaging way, choosing GoFundMe’s free live fundraising tools was a no-brainer.
GoFundMe’s live fundraising tools were remarkably intuitive and easy to implement, which enabled our team to engage viewers in real-time, foster dynamic interactions, and streamline the donation process to drive significant impact to Starlight Children’s.
The Charity Showdown was a great opportunity to bring together the creator community and Starlight kids to unleash the healing power of play. Moments like this event can bring so much joy to kids navigating serious illness, providing a much-needed distraction from their conditions.
Activating the livestream audience for a good cause
Ahead of the scheduled livestream, PlayVS created a fundraiser on GoFundMe to benefit Starlight Children’s, shared it, and instantly generated widgets, which included:
- QR code for supporters to make donations at any time during the livestream.
- A fundraiser goal bar to track and watch the total donations grow.
- Donation alerts that showed a feed of live donations to drive engagement.
Each widget could be resized as desired and plugged seamlessly into Twitch, the channel of choice for the Charity Showdown. The entire process took only a few minutes, and no advanced technical skills were required.
The seamless integration of GoFundMe’s live fundraising tools made fundraising easy and engaging, allowing everyone to rally around our shared mission of delivering happiness to hospitalized children. This remarkable achievement is a testament to the power of collaboration and the generosity of a united community!
During the livestream, four popular content creators raised funds for Starlight Children’s by taking on fun challenges, with special moments like a dance party, giveaways, and more. After four hours and over 3,000 viewers, PlayVS raised over $13,000 for Starlight Children’s!
Fundraising beyond gaming and streaming
With one Charity Showdown under its belt, the PlayVS team is already planning another event to benefit Starlight Children’s. Beyond gaming and streaming, GoFundMe’s live fundraising tools can be used in a variety of use cases and venues to weave philanthropy into everyday activities, including:
- Podcasts or Vodcasts
- In-person events like a Farmer’s market or trivia night
- Broadcasts
- Galas, runs/walks, and parades
- Corporate partnership events
- In-venue experiences like sporting events or concerts
