Music Livestreams + Fundraising: What’s Working, What’s Not In Mobilizing Donors

Music Livestreams + Fundraising: What’s Working, What’s Not In Mobilizing Donors

Big name talent alone doesn't translate to big donor numbers for music charity livestreams.



SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Back in April, One World: Together At Home, the star-studded benefit concert organized by Global Citizen and curated by Lady Gaga, raised $128 million for the World Health Organization and other Covid relief beneficiaries. 

But while the event drew hundreds of thousands to a six-hour concert livestream and nearly 21 million viewers across the 26 networks on which a two-hour show aired live, very few of those dollars came from individual donors. 

“It wasn't like people were providing $5, $10, $100. Donations came in primarily through sponsorship contribution,” says Paul Garwood, head of the Leadership & Internal Communications unit at the WHO.



“The concert was for the people to enjoy, and the outreach was to the corporate sector to get the actual donations. That $128 million was very much raised by targeted reaching out to corporate sector partners rather than individual people.” 



In the face of a prolonged global pandemic, economic uncertainty that's slashed nonprofit budgets, and a raft of pressing social concerns, music livestreams have become the go-to for charity fundraising. While every dollar