Livestreaming has a vital role to play in the future of philanthropy. Bulldog DM has guided a range of nonprofits toward new opportunities and new connections with givers by helping charitable organizations create meaningful, exciting livestream fundraisers. Their efforts yielded almost $6.5 million in the last year.

Though a response to the pandemic, livestreams are democratizing the tried-and-true telethon, extending its effectiveness to smaller charities and nonprofits. “Last year, livestreams replaced cancelled events. Going forward, livestreams will expand audiences beyond the capacities of an event space and create new ways of building friends and raising money,” explains Simon Rust Lamb, COO at Bulldog DM. “Nonprofits have not had an innovative fundraising channel for a long time—livestreaming is just that. It’s a fresh medium that lets nonprofits get outside the auditorium and tell their story on a much larger, more interactive scale. You can accomplish more with less, capture your story in a better way, and expand your potential donor audience without the limitations of mailings or geographic distance.”

This reach can prove particularly important for nation-wide or international issues, as Bulldog DM’s partnership with the National Independent Venue Association’s SOSFest proved. The NIVA fundraiser supported independent music venues and promoters across the country as they grappled with the pandemic. SOSFest’s three livestreamed days garnered more than $2 million in donations for NIVA’s Emergency Relief Fund. 
 
Livestreams offer interactive and custom components that go far beyond what’s possible in an old-school telethon, including live chats, polls, and special packages and mementos designed just for the occasion. Bulldog DM partnered with the Country Music Hall of Fame for their digital fundraising event, BIG NIGHT (At the Museum), helping to raise more than $700,000 dollars towards their Coronavirus Relief Fund.  Bulldog DM also helped Avril Lavigne in her efforts to combat Lyme disease, raising $1.1 million for the Avril Lavigne Foundation and its partner beneficiary Global Lyme Alliance, thanks to a white-labeled PPV experience offered via Lavigne’s website and thanks to unique merch bundles and VIP packages for the one-night event.
 
Yet one of the most important features of livestreams is their ability to raise more funds and embrace more supporters than in-person fundraisers, which limit participation to the few patrons able to make the date. Rust Lamb saw firsthand how powerful livestreaming could be at the 2020 costume design-focused gala he helped organize for Film2Future, an LA organization working to create opportunities for diverse youth in entertainment. “This event that had never raised money in the past and only 200 people attended. With the livestream, however, we reached an international audience in the thousands and raised almost $100,000.”
 
“Philanthropy is in Bulldog’s DNA, which is one reason why we’ve launched Curiosity Preservation Society, our livestream originals studio. This studio will focus on cause-driven projects that will expand our work with nonprofits and important movements,” says Rust Lamb, who is CEO of this new Bulldog DM division. “We are committed to helping nonprofits raise money and increase donors. Our goal is to build on our already notable fundraising support efforts and grow that impact from $6.5 million to $50 million by 2025.”