Twitch is launching a new charity fundraising tool

Twitch is launching a new built-in fundraising tool called Twitch Charity to make it easier for streamers to run charity streams.

Many streamers and organizations put on charity streams to help raise funds for causes they support. Right now, streamers often pledge donations, subscriptions, and Bits (Twitch’s virtual currency) received over a certain period of time to the charity of their choice. But there can be a lot to manage when hosting a charity stream — you can get an idea of what’s involved in this guide to hosting a charity stream from my former colleague Bijan Stephen.

Twitch Charity is designed to simplify the fundraising process. Streamers will be able to go into “charity mode,” which activates a “Donate to Charity” button that people can use to donate, and donations will be processed in partnership with PayPal Giving Fund. Twitch says that all donations after payment processing fees will go to a streamer’s chosen cause; the company doesn’t get a cut or tax incentives.

Twitch Charity will be launching in beta to start for “some” streamers, according to a Twitch blog post. For now, there will be a “limited amount” of charities available to choose from, but Twitch plans to add more.