Wish to stream for charities, don't know where to start or what one to pick

ShamisOMally

I've been watching TwitchTV the last few weeks, and the crowds are -MUCH- better then the livestream streamers I used to work with (No racist swearing etc, no drinking and getting drunk on stream etc etc) and I figure since TwitchTV has a much better crowd, I would try my hand at streaming again (Used to steam for Dopefish and Vidyavidya on livestream and have a odd video up on youtube etc)

Anyways, one thing that's annoyed me is all these twitch streams the people begging for money, begging for donations, putting up ad's etc to make money off their viewers, and this doesn't seem like a "Job" to me, when I always streamed its cause I wanted to entertain people, not to fuel my bank account.

Since I'm on disability, all my expenses are already paid for, so I dunno what I would do with oodles of money really, and the thought hit me, I could stream for charities etc.

The problem is, I dunno which one would be good to stream for etc etc, cause face it, we all swear sometimes, and I doubt some of these charities would like it if I screamed out the F-word randomly and they were associated with it.

What would be a good one to stream for? I'm hesitant to stream for Childs Play cause the website makes it look like all the money goes towards these hospitals for toys and games, I dunno exactly how this is going to help some kid that needs cancer treatments etc.

Unless I am understanding Childs Play wrong, what would be good charities to stream for? How would I go about putting up links in my stream towards these charities? Would I just make like a hyperlink to the childs play website etc?

I'll be here all night, I spent all day today setting up my stream settings for TwitchTV to start, even upgraded my internet to improve my broadcasting quality (Though highest I can hit is 720p at 30FPS sorry, I am going to see if I can bump it up to 60FPS but ATM all my friends are sleeping/at work and I have nobody to ask to help me test settings ATM, unless you guys wish to help somehow)

Its just being a very ill person myself, I see all this money being donated to fuel people's mountain dew and smoking habbits, when this money could be going towards better causes.

Thanks for your time.

ceres

So first of all, I moved your thread to H/A, because really that's where you want it to be.

Second, if you want information it's considered polite to make your thread a contribution to the forum its posted in and not your steam profile/inbox.

Third, that's pretty much exactly what Child's Play does. If you would feel more comfortable with your money go directly to a hospital or charity for treatments there's nothing wrong with that, but Child's Play is not the charity for you. The reasoning behind Child's Play as far as I am aware is that some children are just terminal or there at a hospital long-term, and that fucking sucks because hospitals are boring and they're children and it's nice to give them something to do. So it's not directly helpful for treatment in that way, but in other ways unless you have experience as a very sick child in long-term care, it is probably more helpful than you can possibly imagine.

If Child's Play is the charity you want to go with, or you just want to read more about it, you can go to http://childsplaycharity.org/ to do so, and there should also be contact info for the person responsible for setting up events and things like that. This link should take you to their fund raising guide for setting up your own events. They may also have donation links up that you can just tack onto your profile somewhere if you want to go that route.

If you decide to go with another charity, you need to contact them about how to set that up. There are tons of charities and scholarships and all kinds of things out there, and enough that there is probably one tailor-made for your exact interests or pet issues or will put the money exactly where you want it the way it floats your boat; whichever charity you go with, though, make sure that they are legit, have 501(c)(3) documentation, and that you can suss out without too much trouble exactly where the money you bring in will be going.

Darkewolfe

The easiest thing to do if you just run an ad is just, "Like my stream? Consider donating to Charity X!" Then include a link to the donation page of whatever charity you choose.

ceres

Yes, sending people to a charity and becoming involved with the charity are definitely different levels of work. Easiest it to just link to the charity's website, or even list of charities' websites, so you could pick a bunch you like and people could pick what they wanted.

Fyndir

Child's Play is tremendously important to sick children IMO.

You take a child and you put them in a small area, they spend some portion of every day being poked and prodded, stuck with needles, attached to various machines, and having doctors talk about/to them, and all of it is sore, or scary, or upsetting. Their social circle shrinks to a few other sick kids in some cases, and sometimes it completely ceases to exist because of contagious diseases or other risks. Even in the cases where those risks are minimal and they are free to socialise with the other kids in the ward, the children hardly feel at their best, and it's not a great time for trying to make new friends, even with shared hospital experience to bond over.

So there's your situation, a child sitting in a hospital bed for most of every day with nothing to do but wait for the next painful test/procedure, and no-one to talk to.

Giving them games to play not only helps pass the time, it keeps their mind active, it serves as a tool to take their mind away from the environment they are stuck in and lets them feel normal for just a little while. Let's them feel like a child again.

This is even more vital for the mental wellbeing of terminal children.

Now, if you want to alternate between linking two charities, or several charities, there's no reason you can't do that, but don't dismiss Child's Play because it "just" provides games and toys.