Wondering how to donate on Twitch so you can support your favorite streamer?
Good for you!
Streamers rely on support from great fans like you to continue creating content.
And Twitch donations are one of the many great ways you can enable your favorites to keep creating.
In this article, you’ll learn how to easily make donations on Twitch and all the other ways you can support your favorite streamers.
How Do You Donate on Twitch?
All you need to do to donate on Twitch is navigate to a streamer’s channel and look for a donate button in their channel’s description.
Here’s how you do that step-by-step.
Step 1. Log in to your Twitch account.
Step 2. Search for the streamer you want to donate to.
Step 3. Click on the donate button in the description.
Step 4. Provide your username, a message, the donation amount, and payment details.
Donating Bits on Twitch
You also have the option of purchasing bits through Twitch and donating them to your favorite streamers. Bits is a Twitch currency that you can buy directly through their platforms (whereas donations often are made through third party sites).
Number of Bits | Cost (USD) |
100 | $1.40 |
500 | $7.00 |
1,500 | $19.95 |
5,000 | $64.40 |
10,000 | $126.00 |
25,000 | $308.00 |
Here’s how to do that step-by-step:
Step 1. Log in to your Twitch account.
Step 2. Click “Get Bits”.
Step 3. Select the amount of Bits you want to purchase and enter your payment details.
Step 4. Head to the channel of the streamer you want to donate to and click on the diamond icon in the chat to donate Bits.
You can also type “cheer” and a number into the chat to donate your Bits. For example, “cheer300” would send 300 Bits to a streamer.
How Much Do Streamers Make From Twitch Donations?
Streamers receive 100% of direct donations.
If you donate via Bits, Twitch takes roughly 30% of your initial Bits purchase, but the streamer receives 100% of whatever you donate.
So, the streamer technically receives 100% of any donation.
Other Ways You Can Support Your Favorite Streamers
Subscribe
Arguably the best way to support your favorite streamers is to subscribe.
This gives your streamer a recurring revenue stream for the duration of your subscription AND gives you access to subscriber only chats, emotes, and more.
There are 3 subscription tiers:
- Tier 1 – $4.99/month
- Tier 2 – $9.99/month
- Tier 3 – $24.99/month
Streamers receive 50% of subscription revenue.
Gifted Subs
Taking subscriptions to the next level, you can also gift them to specific people or random people in a streamer’s audience.
Since the recipient of a gifted subscription can choose to keep paying for it when their gift expires, it often leads to more revenue for a streamer long-term than a one-time donation.
It also helps the streamer build their subscriber base quicker because their best fans can promote their stream for them.
This leverages the power of word-of-mouth marketing and leads to a bigger subscriber base and community.
Purchase Through Affiliate Links
You can also support streamers by purchasing items through their affiliate links.
These are links streamers mention and promote that give them a small commission for each sale (usually gaming gear).
If you’re looking to upgrade your equipment, you can often support your favorite streamer AND get a small discount by using their links.
Purchase Merch
Some streamers offer merch like t-shirts, hoodies, cups, bags, etc. through a third-party website.
Purchasing their merch both gives them some nice additional revenue and helps them market their stream.
Engage
If you want to help a streamer, but need to do so outside of financial support, one of the best things you can do is engage.
Engaging with the streamer themselves and with people in their community can go a long way to strengthening a streamer’s audience.
And the bigger and stronger a streamer’s audience, the more business opportunities they’ll have.
Your Support Matters
Whether you decide to donate on Twitch or support a streamer in another way, your contribution matters.
Streamers rely on their audience for making money.
And they have to keep making money to keep creating content. For many, streaming is a full-time job.
So the fact that you’re even considering donating to a streamer is a beautiful thing.
Stream for a Living is a small team of gamers, full-time content creators, and streamers who are dedicated to helping you grow your stream.