Twitter charity raises more than US$250,000

Posted by Emily Dilling on February 23, 2009 at 10:50 AM

Twitter's recent "Twestival," organised by volunteers and launched Feb. 12, has raised US$250,000 and counting for charity:water, a non-profit organisation aimed to bring clean drinking water to developing nations. Fundraising has been extended and amounts are still be calculated, and the money will go to 55 water projects in Ethiopia, Uganda and India, according to Twitter.

The Twestival is the brain child of London-based "Twitterers," who decided to meet offline and in person in the name of charity.

The events are organised on a global level, based on the theory that "if cities were able to collaborate on an international scale, but working from a local level, it could have a spectacular impact." Pulling from the areas of expertise and financial support of the local "Twittersphere" is crucial in the organisation of these events.

The latest Twestival's donations will go to Ethiopa in early April. Beyond the tangible results of the fundraiser, Twestivals show the potential Twitter has to "bring about social change," according to the site.

According to Telegraph.co.uk, the current amount raised is less than Twestival's initial $1 million target, but is still "incredible" because it was orchestrated by all volunteers via Twitter.

"If this was a bunch of khaki-trousered entrepreneurs trying to build a networking business around Twitter, we might have laughed if they told us they made one quarter of their estimate. But it wasn't - it was a project built on the hard work of hundreds of volunteers, trying to do something fun and raise some money for charity. And that's more than enough," commented Media Guardian's Jemima Kiss.