YouTube personalities use their popular presence to give back to the community. These stars have all started off as everyday people- whether playing video games for others’ enjoyment, or educating people on nail art.
Some stars have even used their YouTube popularity to bring their fans onto other platforms, like the livestream service Twitch, to do some pretty incredible things.
Gamers
The gamers and “let’s players” of YouTube are known to dedicate their time to a lot of charity work.
YouTuber Mark Fischbach (Markiplier) is known for doing livestreams for charity on Twitch, where they play games in real time and are able to communicate with fans who comment and donate. With whopping number of 18,458,531 subscribers, why would someone want to move their platform? Sure, not everyone will follow. In fact, you can go live on YouTube as well! The appeal of Twitch is that people can donate right on the spot via PayPal. This platform is critical for charity live streams.
According to Markiplier’s Wikipedia , he has raised money for fourteen different charities over the span of four years- his first being a charity for Living Beyond Breast Cancer in 2012, raising $3,720.19, while he played Amnesia: The Dark Descent, Paranormal, and Slender: The Eight Pages. As he got more popular, so did his charity streams. In September and February of 2016, a livestream for Depression & Bipolar Support Alliance ended up raising $276,000, as he spent over eight hours playing Kerbal Space Program on Twitch.
Markiplier attending a charity livestream on Twitch
Sometimes, Markiplier will even team up with other YouTubers and close friends such as Wade, Bob, and Ken to bring in more entertainment value and a different crowd of people.
However, not all charities are done via livestreaming. Sometimes, Markiplier and other bring it back to where it all started: YouTube. Markiplier dyed his hair pink after reaching a certain charity milestone and even came out with limited time “Markiplier’s Heroes” shirts. Proceedings from those sales would go to a charity of choice (depending on what year and time he did them).
A model shows off an example of one of “Markiplier’s Heroes” charity shirts, each with a supporting YouTuber pasted on the front.
So far, Markiplier, along with the help of his close friends, YouTubers, and the public, raised a total of $1,118,645.14
YouTuber Markiplier ecstatically presenting a charity check for the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.
Beauty Gurus
Although gamers take the biggest chunk out of YouTubers who donate, other YouTubers in the beauty community have hopped on the “hype train” and started raising money for charities and non-profit organizations of their own.
A lesser- known personality, Cristine Rotenberg (Simply Nailogical), is a Canadian YouTuber. She gained popularity from her Polish Mountain video, where she puts on over 100 layers of nail polish on. Although she does a bunch of nail art, she’s best known for her funny and wild personality, along with her obsession ‘Holo’ (anything holographic).
Cristine’s most popular video, where she spends twelve hours putting over 100 layers of nailpolish on top of one another.
With a following of 4,397,348, Cristine has now put herself on the YouTube map. In May of this year, Simply Nailogical sold limited edition merchandise with cartoon-ized pictures of her cats on it and donated the proceedings to her local animal shelter.
Cristine poses in two limited- time cat shirts which were sold for charity.
So far, this has been Cristine’s only charity event. By selling customizable cat shirts and hoodies, Simply Nailogical successfully raised and donated $25,000. For a one-man job, Cristine’s charity effort has been exceptionally impressive.
Cristine and boyfriend Ben stand with OHS’s Bruce Roney as they present a $25,000 donation.
Why do YouTubers Care about Charity?
Some may argue that YouTubers do charity streams and merch donations for the sake of good press and more views. However, for these two YouTubers, that’s not exactly the case.
Amongst the multiple charities Mark Fischbach has been a part of, some of them hit close to home for him, especially the donations involving cancer and depression.
In his Draw My Life video, Markiplier opens up about his past and shares that when he was in high school, his father fell ill to cancer. Although Mark didn’t specify which kind, his father ultimately met with a premature death.
Young Mark Fischbach poses with his late father
A couple of years after the Draw My Life video came out, Mark stopped uploading videos for a short amount of time. Finally, he uploaded a video simply titled: Lost a Friend. In this video, he talks about a very close friend from the Cyndago YouTube channel. He reveals that one of the channel’s personalities, Daniel Kyre, died from a suicide attempt earlier that week, and that he needed to take a little time off from YouTube. Since then, Cyndago stopped making videos all together, as they felt it wouldn’t be the same without Daniel. However, Mark got back on his feet and continues to make videos till this day.
Markiplier (on right) poses with close friend Daniel (on left)
On the other hand, Simply Nailogical’s donation hit close to home in a different way. All of her charity proceedings that went to Ottawa Humane Society was in an effort to keep the shelter thriving. In her GIVING $25,000 TO CHARITY! video, she reveals that she got her own cat Menchie from that same shelter. Although she has another cat named Zyler, Menchie is her channel’s main mascot. Many animals need a home, and Cristine’s previous adoption has made her feel strongly about giving pets a second chance.
Simply Nailogical’s two pet cats and channel mascots.
If it weren’t for YouTube’s user-friendly platform and diverse community, these every-day people may have not gained popularity. Their presence on YouTube has given them an opportunity to do what they want with their channel, and in some cases, “doing what they want” means: “give back to the community and help donate to causes that they believe in”.
Wordpress by Kat Strysky 