[FAQ]

Hey,

My channel anniversary is coming up, and I want to do a big event for my community. I’ve been thinking about doing either a subathon or a charity stream, but the logistics seem pretty intense and I want to make sure I do it right.

For those of you who have run these kinds of events before, how do you even start planning? How far in advance do you promote it? I’m mostly worried about keeping the energy and engagement high for what could be a very long time. What are some good ideas for goals and incentives to keep people excited? Also, from a technical side, what are the best tools for managing a subathon timer or for handling charity donations transparently? I’d appreciate any tips on planning the content and executing it smoothly.

[Jeff Bullas]

Executing a major broadcast event is a true test of a streamer’s production skills.

Short Answer: A successful event requires meticulous pre-planning centred on clear, tiered goals for your content, a consistent promotional campaign across all your platforms, and leveraging the right tools to transparently manage the event’s mechanics.

Let’s break down the essential content-planning and promotional phases for a professional event execution.

First, the success of your event is determined long before you go live. You must create a detailed run-of-show for your video content, outlining different games or activities to keep the broadcast engaging over a long period. This plan must be supported by a list of tiered, achievable incentives; these are content triggers, such as playing a specific game, doing a silly challenge, or bringing on a guest when a certain donation or subscription goal is met. Second, you need to produce a suite of promotional assets to build hype. This includes creating image-based announcements for your social media and Discord, as well as clear text-based posts that explain the event’s rules, goals, and schedule. This promotional content should begin at least a week prior to the event to ensure maximum visibility. Finally, during the live broadcast, you must integrate tools that become part of the video content itself. For a charity stream, this means using a platform like Tiltify to provide on-screen donation trackers and alerts. For a subathon, it requires a reliable on-screen timer that gives viewers immediate feedback on their contributions, which is the core driver of the event’s momentum.

Cheers,

Jeff

[Author]

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