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YouTube Giving: How to Set up or Donate to a Fundraiser

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TubeBuddy
May 1, 2024
YouTube mental health

For Mental Health Awareness Month, Do Good Points Foundation has created a Do Good Fund: Mental Health to benefit NAMI, Mental Health America and Brain & Behavior Research Foundation. Donations made to this fund will be evenly distributed to these three reputable organizations supporting mental health.

Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being and it’s just as important as our physical health. With one in five adults in the US experiencing some kind of mental illness, it’s more important than ever to raise awareness for those living with mental health issues and fight the stigma around it.


As a YouTube creator, you have an in-built opportunity to raise awareness and much-needed funds for causes close to your heart. YouTube allows you to set up a Donate button to invite your viewers to donate to a cause close to your heart. 

TubeBuddy has partnered with Do Good Points to make it easier and more effective for YouTube creators to use their platform for good. More on that later.

Adding a donation option on YouTube couldn’t be easier. Let’s take a look at the process:

YouTube Giving is a feature designed to help creators and fans with charitable giving via YouTube. Both on-demand and live stream videos can incorporate a donation option for viewers, which supports the nonprofit(s) the creator chooses. 

Viewers can donate directly while watching a video or a live chat.

While it’s easy to set up, there are some  You just need to meet the following requirements. Your channel must:

  • Be in a supported geography
  • Have at least 10k subscribers
  • Be a part of the YouTube Partner Program
  • Not be ‘made for kids’

If you want to join an existing fundraiser on YouTube, you just need to:

  • Sign in to YouTube Studio
  • From the left menu, select Earn, then go to the Giving tab (top right)  
  • Click Get started and then Join a fundraiser
  • Choose from the list of available community fundraisers
  • Add videos or scheduled live streams that will feature the donate button
  • Select Publish

It’s also possible to start your own fundraiser on YouTube so don’t feel like you have to wait for someone else!

What if You Don’t Meet the YouTube Giving Requirements?

If you are a smaller channel or haven’t met the requirements to join the YouTube Partner Program yet, that doesn’t mean you can’t contribute to a cause close to your heart.

You can make a donation yourself to a creator who you know is accepting donations on a video or live stream. You can also share that content with your community and encourage them to donate using a donation link.

YouTube mental health fundraiser

How to Give Money to a YouTube Mental Health Fundraiser

There are two main ways to donate to a YouTube fundraiser. On a video with the donate button included:

  • Select Donate
  • Select the amount of money you want to donate and then click Continue
  • Choose your payment method (inc, Debit cards, Credit Cards, and PayPal)
  • Click Donate and then Done

You’ll get an email receipt after your payment has been processed. The nonprofit and the YouTube creator won’t see your personal info.

You can also donate during a creator’s live stream. When a creator is fundraising on a live stream and has turned on live chat, you’ll see the Donate button in the chat. To donate this way:

  • Select Donate within the live chat
  • Choose a donation amount or select Other to enter a different value
  • Select I want my donation to be public to display your username in the live chat. Otherwise, your donation amount will show as “Anonymous.”
  • Select Donate.
  • To finish your donation, follow the on-screen instructions.

YouTube covers all transaction fees, so 100% of the money you donate goes to the eligible nonprofit.

mental health month fundraiser through do good points

YouTube Mental Health Fund: How You Can Help Right Now

To make things as easy as possible for you to activate the fundraiser for your video or live stream, we have created a digital toolkit full of resources to help make this fundraiser a success. 

Visit the Do Good Points Mental Health page for all the details you need.

Thank you from all at TubeBuddy, BENlabs, and Do Good Points.