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Fifty-five streamers, 55 hours of live-streaming, and €3,510,000 (3.9 million U.S. dollars) were raised and donated to the Pasteur Institute during the weekend of September 20-23. Organized by Adrien “ZeratoR” Nougaret and Alexandre “Dach” Dachary, Z Event not only witnessed a huge success in raising donations for charity, but also further proves that the streaming industry is one of the most prominent social media movements to watch.
The streaming event took place in Montpellier, France, and reached over half a million viewers. Superstar streamer, Ninja, also made a contribution of €26,000 under his name, which might have further encouraged viewers to donate. With the wildly successful outcome, Z Event was mentioned by the President of France, Emmanuel Macron in a tweet:
55 gameurs français viennent de lever le temps d’un week-end plus de 3 millions d’euros au profit de l’institut Pasteur.
Vous êtes inspirants et vous nous démontrez que tout est possible pour soutenir une cause pour laquelle on croit. Bravo #ZEvent2019 !https://t.co/MlbC69uOs8— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) September 22, 2019
Translation: “55 French gamers have just raised more than 3 million euros over the weekend, for the benefit of the Pasteur Institute. You are inspiring and you show us that anything is possible to support a cause that we believe in. Bravo #ZEvent2019!”
Pasteur Institute, a French non-profit private foundation, relies on charitable donations for a third of the organization’s budget. Jean-Francois Chambon, Pasteur Institute’s Director of Communications and Patronage also revealed that a million euros alone would help finance a new research center to support a dozen researchers a year. This donation from Z Event is directly going into the dedicated studies of biology, micro-organisms, diseases, and vaccines.
Z Event isn’t the first or only streaming event dedicated to raising charity. GuardianCon raised $4 million for St Jude’s Research Hospital just in 2019 so far, and GamesDoneQuick (GDQ) also has proudly raised $3 million during June for charities such as Doctors Without Borders and the Prevent Cancer Foundation. In 2017 alone, Twitch reported to have raised over $30 million for charity from streams taken place on their platform.
Ever since its founding in 2011, Twitch has surely become one of the biggest social media platforms, targeting a very unique and powerful audience: the gaming community – an industry that’s worth an astounding $150 billion in 2019.
Taking a step back, we can start to see why Twitch and the streaming industry alike are able to achieve this outstanding success. How could a streaming platform that’s mainly constructed around gaming and esports accomplish something like $3.9 million in charity donations within three days?
With 15 million daily active users, Twitch is more than just a streaming platform. It has successfully become a host for communities that are loyal, devoted, and supportive – which explains the outcome of events like GuardianCon, GDQ, or Z Event most recently. Understanding this, not only brands but non-profits alike can benefit a lot by connecting with Twitch audiences through streamers. Fortunately, influencer marketing on Twitch is surely becoming one of the most prominent trends for brands to quickly learn and utilize.
According to Twitch, 82% of its users say sponsorships are good for the gaming industry, and 80% are opened to brands sponsoring streamers and esports teams. You can also learn more about influencer marketing on Twitch and explore the powerful community that Twitch offers with Upfluence.
