Hasan’s fundraiser for the victims of the recent horrific earthquakes exceeded $1.2 million on February 9. The catastrophe caused destruction and more than 34,000 deaths, as reported by CNN. Shortly after the incident, Hasan began raising funds to support those affected.
Hasan’s successful fundraiser with Softgiving
The streamer reacted to a tweet reporting on the situation:
Absolutely devastating. I was in Istanbul in 1999 which was a 7.6, this was a 7.8. I will do everything I can to help.
The next day, Hasan opened the fundraiser in collaboration with the fundraising organization Softgiving and other streamers. The initiative benefits several charities, and it collected over $25,000 on the first day. In addition, Hasan has featured the fundraiser in his streams ever since and continuously promotes it on his social media. During his broadcasts, he also shares updates on the situations in both countries. He contributed a total of $45,000 to the cause, leading to an impressive $1.3 million raised as of today.
However, the fundraiser has also received some criticism, especially after an alleged contract between Softgiving and an associated charity organization emerged on Twitter. The alleged contract leaked by Josh Belkin states that Softgiving takes a 50% commission plus a 4% processing fee from each charity for which it organizes fundraisers. Since then, Softgiving has issued a public statement stating that 6% of charities they’ve worked with chose to pay an upfront fee, and 2% chose a performance-only fee, while 92% of the charities didn’t compensate the organization in any form.
We are a for-profit company, but our charity campaigns have never been profitable and never will be.
Despite the public backlash, many individuals and organizations support Hasan’s fundraiser. For example, esports organization FaZe Clan posted a tweet in support of the initiative three days ago. Similarly, creators MoistCr1TiKaL and Valkyrae have defended Hasan’s efforts.
How Hasan leveraged his reach for a good cause
Hasan is known for his long and frequent streams where he plays a variety of games and discusses politics. With 2.4 million followers on Twitch and 1.3 million on Twitter, he has incredible reach in the streaming community. Since the earthquakes, he’s streamed almost every day, featuring the catastrophe in his stream title on five of those days. Throughout this time, his streams have also attracted more viewers than before the fundraiser. For example, in the last 30 days, Hasan reached between 20,000 and 40,000 Peak Viewers, whereas the broadcast on February 6 peaked at 93,000 viewers. Although this doesn’t come close to his record of 232,000 PV from February 6, 2021, it shows how notable content creators can use their following and influence for a good cause.
This concept isn’t new by any means. For instance, IStreamers have participated in public fundraisers and organized platform-wide events supporting charities for years. One famous example is the channel Games Done Quick, which hosts regular charity game marathons loved by the speedrunning community. Thanks to its continuous entertaining efforts, this initiative has raised millions for causes such as Doctors Without Borders and the Prevent Cancer Foundation. Its latest big event, Awesome Games Done Quick, attracted 91,000 Peak Viewers on its first day and 2.8 million Hours Watched on the second.
Still, Hasan proves how powerful a single popular creator can be when it comes to inspiring others to do good.
(Header image via DotEsports)
