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Streamlabs announces a new fundraising tool for streamers and charities

Streamlabs announces a new fundraising tool for streamers and charities

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It’s built right into the Streamlabs platform

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One of the more fascinating parts of live-streaming culture is its penchant for raising money for charities; it’s a regular feature across sites and streamers. Twitch, for example, leads some campaigns itself — like its regular Twitch Rivals charity events — and some are spearheaded by individual streamers (like Ben “DrLupo” Lupo) who feel passionate about raising money for the less fortunate among us. Today, the live-streaming toolkit Streamlabs is launching its own charity offering, which is built right into the software. It’s working with several well-known organizations to kick it off, including the Arbor Day Foundation, Feeding America, World Vision, Make-A-Wish, Americares, the American Red Cross, Special Olympics, Direct Relief, and the American Heart Association.

Streamlabs makes software for broadcasting live on sites like Twitch and Mixer; it’s very popular because it’s easy to use. Integrating charitable giving into its platform will make it easier for streamers to deal with one of the hardest parts of donating: making sure the money goes where it’s supposed to. What’s more novel about the arrangement is that Streamlabs also promises it won’t take a cut of charitable donations. “Excluding the standard PayPal processing fees, charities receive 100% of every contribution directly via PayPal,” the company wrote in a blog post. That’s different than other platforms, like Tiltify, that levy a 5 percent transaction fee.

Streamlabs is also making it easier for charities and streamers to pair off because it created a dedicated charity portal on its website where streamers can browse active charity campaigns. “When a streamer’s scheduled charity stream goes live, their donation link will automatically redirect to the charities tip page, meaning the money goes straight to the charities with no additional fees taken out,” Streamlabs wrote. (There’s also the option for streamers to add custom alerts and donation panels to their streams to give them a little extra oomph.)

The program is in beta right now, but it’s expected to expand at the beginning of next year. That said, streamers can log into their Streamlabs accounts and schedule their first charity streams now.