10 Fundraising Projects Backed By Global YouTube Stars

By Bengu Atamer — BuzzMyVideos Co-Founder

The power of YouTube as a fundraising platform has become huge. More
and more YouTube stars are gaining fame and fortune and alongside this
rise, we are observing stars utilising their online power and
influence for great causes. Online video (via YouTube and additional
platforms such as Vine and Facebook Video) is dramatically changing
the concept of TV and celebrity, becoming the most engaging and cost
effective “place” to get backers for a good cause. Non-profit
organizations receive maximum benefit by virtue of these sites’
characteristics such as community discussion and easily sharable
content.

A great example of one these stars using their fame for fundraising is
Tyler Oakley. For his 25th birthday he decided to support the Trevor
Project. An organization that provides crisis intervention and
suicide prevention to LGBTQ kids. Being a celebrity with over 6
million subscribers to his channel, he felt he could do something
concrete. He decided to promote a crowdfunding campaign on Prizeo to
engage and involve his fans. He set a target of $150,000 (in a similar
campaign in 2013 Tyler raised $29,000, but he wanted to do better).
What he and the Trevor Project team didn’t count on was that they
would be able to collect more than $525, 000 in just 50 days!

The campaign proved a huge success not just in terms of money raised,
but also in terms of engagement. The fundraising was backed by a
series of livestreams and live tweets every Sunday to give weekly
updates, with Q&As, special guests and live “Thank Yous” to donors on
camera. During the live sessions, people were given the opportunity to
share their thoughts about how much the organization’s work meant to
them and how they felt about the issues the Trevor Project tries to
face. The operation allowed the organization to reach a huge engaged
audience and raise awareness of the LGBTQ young community matters.

Oakley’s campaign is one of the best examples to show the power of
YouTube as a fundraising promotion platform, but it’s not the only
one.

A rapidly rising number of YouTube stars, backed by their millions of
subscribers, are supporting charity projects on their channels,
enhancing the online reputation and fan base of those charities.

Here’s a list of the top 10 fundraising projects backed by
international YouTube celebrities:

1. Tyler Oakley — The Trevor Project

Oakley’s campaign helped raise $525,679. Fans were encouraged to
donate to help the organization and win a dinner out with Tyler.

2.Connor Franta — Thirsty

In a similar vein to Tyler Oakley, Connor decided to use the
celebration of his birthday to raise awareness for The Thirst Project
and help them build wells to provide clean, safe water for people in
Swaziland. Though Connor’s target was only $120,000, he got more than
$230, 000 from his fans through the crowdfunding platform Prizeo. By
donating, supporters entered a competition to win a coffee in LA with
the 22-years-old YouTube star.

3.PewDiePie — 10 MILLION BROS UNITE! — Charity: Water

Brighton based gamer Felix Kjellberg, better known as PewDiePie, is
the owner of the most subscribed to YouTube channel worldwide, with
more than 33 million subscribers and 7 billion views . In 2013, to
celebrate 10 million subscribers he decided to run a campaign on
behalf of Charity: Water. Unsurprisingly, the campaign raised almost
$450,000.

4. Lilly Singh — The Time I Dumped Ice On My Head (Day 9)

Through her videos and social calls to action, Canadian vlogger Lilly
Singh (in art IISuperwomanII) participated in the ALS Ice Bucket
Challenge and used her large following to raise a lot of money for the
cause.

5. Zoella — Dealing with Panic Attacks & Anxiety

YouTube star and teen icon Zoe Sugg — Zoella — has partnered with
Mind, the British organization aiming to help people with mental
health problems. As new Digital Ambassador, the popular makeup vlogger
has supported the organization through her channel with the launch of
the initiative #DontPanicButton, to raise vital awareness of anxiety
and panic attacks in young people.

6. School of YouTube — Welcome to the School of YouTube: #LaughLearnGive

This cast of YouTube celebrities — including Ashens, Diamond
Minecart, Ali-A, Fleur de Force, VSauce2, Charlieissocoollike, Casper
Lee,Tom Scott, Threadbanger and Britpopprincess — worked together
with School of YouTube to raise funds for Comic Relief to help
disadvantaged children get better access to education.

7.The Vlogbrothers John and Hank Green — Jelly Face, Sharpie Face,
Peanut Butter Face and Mummy Dancers: The 2014 Project for Awesome

John and Hank Green — aka the Vlogbrothers — raised over $1.2
million last December. With more than 2 million subscribers, the Green
brothers are not new at Project for Awesome, an annual YouTube charity
initiative involving online video creators from all over the world to
collect funds for various non-profit organizations. In the previous
year, they helped raise $800,000.

8.The YouTube BoyBand — Sports Relief

YouTube stars Marcus Butler, Joe Sugg, Jim Chapman, Alfie Deyes and
Caspar Lee have partnered with Sport Relief to encouraged fans to make
donations online or via text message after watching the cover version
of McFly’s “It’s All About You.” As young teen idols followed by an
average of 3 million subscribers each, it’s easy to guess why the
charity event choose them as testimonials.

9. JacksGap — The Rickshaw Run

Jack and Finn Harries — aka JacksGap — are often involved in charity
initiatives. They use their huge influence on their (almost) 4 million
subscribers to raise awareness and encourage donations for populations
affected by ebola, to support HIV care and prevention and to promote
education to poverty stricken children. One of their most successful
projects was the “The Rickshaw Run.” Through a series of shoots during
a trip to India, the Finn twins raised $177,496 for a teenage cancer
trust with the help of a Prizeo campaign.

10.Sawyer Hartman — Challenges For Charity

Through his hilarious Challenges for Charity videos, Hartman is
helping to raise awareness and money for various charities. The
project had huge success in 2014 and will be back this year with new
exciting videos. For fast growing web stars like Sawyer, backing
charity initiatives is a smart way to get a great reputation and new
subscribers.