The First Donation to Extra Life from ColoradoPlays
Last Updated on June 26, 2018 by Michael Brockbank
The site finally assisted in generating a donation for Extra Life. It wasn’t very much, but it was more than what we had yesterday. And any victory is still a victory, regardless of how small. It just fuels our resolve to continue.
How it works is 30% of any revenue from this site goes to Extra Life. In this case, it was purely from AdSense. Considering how I just started this domain fairly recently and really haven’t put in a lot of effort, it’s better than nothing.
And already, this website has almost surpassed that donation just in this month alone.[template id=”145″]
When is the Donation Updated?
Any time I see money hit my bank or PayPal accounts directly from this website, a percentage goes directly to Extra Life. Well, except in special occasions when the entire amount is donated.
Unfortunately, this means I have to wait to hit payment thresholds for those systems. For example, both AdSense and ShareASale.com have a $100 threshold requirement before submitting a payment.
As luck would have it, though, we might hit those thresholds fairly soon to add another donation. This is mostly due to the fact that my websites are experiencing far more traffic than before.
How Does AdSense Work for ColoradoPlays?
So, I have several blogs linked to my AdSense account in Google. The money that comes in isn’t strictly from ColoradoPlays. However, all of the sites contribute to that $100 payment threshold.
What I do is look at all the money generated from this website and make a donation based on how much it made at the time of the payout from Google. This requires a bit of math, but luckily AdSense breaks down how much each URL generates during any given day.
And then, I keep track of each payment in a spreadsheet. This way I know the dates to calculate the next donation after a payout from Google is received.
How Much Was this Donation?
This time, it was only $1.18. But I added a few bucks of my own because I didn’t want to just give a dollar to Extra Life. This is because ColoradoPlays only contributed $3.94 to the total AdSense payout.
But like I said, this month is already much larger. In fact, this site makes up 13% of the next payout so far. Which really isn’t all that bad considering this is such a small site at the moment.
Of course I would like to donate more money to Extra Life. But from a personal perspective, I just don’t have a lot of money at my disposal. After the donation, 40% went to buy the SSL for ColoradoPlays and the rest went directly into various investments.
See, it’s all about putting money back into the site and building stability. Sure it would have been nice to buy a game capture device or throw $60 into the Steam Summer Sale. But fun stuff needs to wait until finances are more stable.
What Will I Do to Help Grow Donations?
First and foremost, I am putting more effort into branding ColoradoPlays. Which means I am shifting my attention among personal blogs on a daily basis. In the past, this site was more of an afterthought in the afternoon. Now, it’s a priority in the mornings.
This means the content on the site will begin to expand. Instead of two or three per week, the site should reach around four or so. Of course this depends on factors such as my regular freelancing job and how my day unfolds.
Because I am the only writer, the success of the site falls directly onto me. I just don’t have the money to pay anyone else to create content.
And because my attention is spread across several industries throughout the day, it’s often difficult to jump on the trend bandwagons when they happen.
When it comes to Twitch, I’ve been slacking quite a bit since traveling back in May. But now I am home, and I really don’t have any reason not to stream. It’s not like I suddenly stopped playing games. In fact, I’ve put in a lot of time recently in Subnautica.
What about YouTube? YouTube is one of those things of which I am currently on the fence. Because of “quality” algorithms and the way more popular channels are given priority, I’m not sure if it’s a viable method of engaging an audience anymore…especially since this would be a brand new channel.
Then again, I could use YouTube servers to embed game play and tutorials on this website instead of just relying on text content.[template id=”505″] Growing social accounts seems to be one of the more difficult at the moment. But, you’d need to be active on social media to get attention. Maybe I could sacrifice some YouTube watching time in lieu of social activity.
I would like to do some “themed” games and videos. Something like “Throwback Thursdays” featuring some of the oldest gaming equipment. For instance, I would love to stream my Commodore 64 to Twitch and play some Pool of Radiance.
How Can You Give a Donation Directly to Extra Life
Just by visiting the site and reading its content, you’re actually helping the goals of ColoradoPlays. However, what if you just want to donate directly to Extra Life? That’s when you use the links available on this site.
Donations to “support me” are directly given to Extra Life. In fact, I don’t have access to any of that money and it directly benefits Children’s Hospital here in Denver, Colorado.
If you like the content or what I’m trying to do with this site, please feel free to donate what you can.
After all, it’s all about the children and helping those who cannot help themselves.
Crossing My Fingers
The way the site is developing, I don’t think it will be long before I make another donation to Extra Life. Thanks to the support of my other two blogs, the payment threshold should be hit around September or October of 2018.
In the meantime, let’s have some fun with gaming whether it’s online or some of the places around Colorado.
It’s all for the greater good…
…the greater good.[template id=”543″]
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