20 January 2025 / < 1 min read

Campaign Spotlight: Murphyobv | How One Streamer Turned Fun and Games into $18,505 for a Good Cause

For many streamers, combining their passion for gaming with a desire to make a difference can lead to something truly magical—and this fundraising campaign was no exception.

Community spotlight

Meet Murphyobv and learn how he turned streams into dreams: Playing, laughing, and making a difference with Tiltify!

Campaign Spotlight: Murphyobv | How One Streamer Turned Fun and Games into $18,505 for a Good Cause

Murphyobv is a longtime streamer with over a decade of experience, this specializing in roguelikes and indie games like Balatro, Ballionaire, and Dungeon's & Degenerate Gamblers. Known for his humor, creativity, and entertaining character bits, he decided to use his platform to support Gamer’s Outreach, a charity that helps hospitalized children through gaming.

Murphyobv's Links:

Tiltify | Twitch | YouTube | BlueSky

Murphy has raised almost $20,000 for charity on Tiltify

First off, tell us a bit about yourself and your content.

I play roguelikes like Balatro, Ballionaire, and Dungeon's & Degenerate Gamblers and other indie games. I also try and entertain people with different characters, bits, and events. What I lack in video game skill I try to make up for in having fun and being silly.

What inspired you to start a fundraising stream, and why did you choose Tiltify as your platform?

I've worked and volunteered for a few non-profits in the past and I've been streaming for over a decade so combining the two has always been the best of both worlds for me. It allows everyone involved to have fun and raise money for some amazing causes by playing some silly games. The org that I worked with was setup through Tiltify and I've donated and fundraised through Tiltify many times in the past so it was the perfect platform for the event!

Murphy let his community donate to vote on what they wanted him to play

How did you decide on the specific cause or charity to support?

It was a bit serendipitous to be honest. I had been thinking about doing a charity Balatro invitational at some point, but hadn't started coordinating anything. One day Gamer's Outreach approached me to be apart of their Jolly Jamboree during the holidays and it motivated something put together. Everything just clicked at the perfect time. I was also already familiar with Gamer's Outreach and the work they do. They help hospitalized children through video games by creating a variety of gaming-centered experiences, specifically "go karts" or mobile gaming centers that the kids can play with during their stay. Which makes the scary nature of being in a hospital a little less scary when they have their favorite games to keep them company. They're a fantastic org doing some amazing work so I'm honored they reached out to me to be apart of the event.

How much did you end up fundraising?

$18,505

Murphy's original goal was $3,500

Can you walk us through some of the goals and incentives you set up for viewers during the stream? Which ones were the most popular?

Everything was truly a group effort. Several of our participants offered to make some special rewards for donators. Balatro card artist Neato volunteered to make some custom jokers. Seadubbs11 volunteered for some custom playing card art through an artist named Blunding. Balatro University (Dr Spectred) made special stream incentives people could donate towards. We had a goal for Musician extraordinaire Dom Palombi to do a live concert and an encore which were amazing. One of our hosts Chip also ate some terrible flavored jelly beans at certain levels as well. They were some awesome goals and couldn't have done it without the support of the amazing creators that joined for the event.

Were there any unexpected challenges you encountered during the stream? How did you handle them?

The stream almost didn't happen. I thought I was going to have to cancel. I was initially worried about finding the amount of people we needed for a competition. With things being closed to the holidays, people's time is obviously limited, and trying to coordinate with a large group can always be a struggle. But everything came together in the end. And that's entirely due to the amazing creators that were apart of this. Balatro University joined Chip in the booth to commentate play-by-play a 3 round balatro invitational with Belenos Bear, Dom Palombi, HCJustin, Neato, Seadubbs11, BassFromThePast, Roffle and EdzyTTV. I'll forever be indebted to them for taking the time out of their lives for this event. None of this is possible without them and the people that showed up to donate and support. We were building the plane as we were flying it, it felt. I still don't know how it all worked out, but it did, and it was amazing.

Murphy advertised his campaign on his social media

How did your community respond to the stream? Were there any moments that surprised you in terms of donations or engagement?

It was magical. From start to finish I was completely blown away by the response and still am. We had already raised over $1000 before the main stream even started just from some of the other participants already being live and sharing out the link. So we started off with a bang. The developer of Balatro LocalThunk was also in the audience and sent some absolutely insane support which made me cry a few times. We had audience members offering their artistic talents to reach goals as well. Everyone was so kind and generous and was just there to have a good time and raise money for a great cause. It was truly an amazing day. Everything about it still feels like a dream.

Were there any specific tools or features on Tiltify that you found especially helpful during the campaign?

I loved that we could make a poll to have donators "battle" for which stream Dr Spectred would do if we reached that incentive level. In the end, due to reaching another level, it ended up being both. But it added some fun to see which would win by the end. I also liked being able to set up rewards that people could select and get something extra outside of their donation. It was really easy to set up too which I appreciated.

Murphy offered a variety of rewards

What advice would you give to other creators thinking about doing their first fundraising stream?

As cliche as it sounds, just do it. If you have an idea, run with it. Sometimes the world can surprise you in the most unexpected ways. Whether its just you, or you get a group of your friends to join you, hit the button to go live. Make some fun incentives/goals/rewards to make things exciting and just have fun with it. And whether you raise $5 or $5,000 you did something awesome and it all goes to helping people in the end. Every amount counts. If I had decided to cancel the stream like I was worried I'd have to, I would have regretted it. And I'm so glad we were able to do this because it's going to help out so many people as a result. It's the highlight of my little streaming "career". Don't let your worries stop you, because it can lead to some amazing things.

And finally, what was your favorite moment of this fundraising campaign? If you have a clip, please share it!

There were alot of amazing moments. But if you missed out on what happened, these sum everything up the best.

Dom's concert, Mixup at the hair salon, and eating bad jellybeans: