Twitter finds new purpose: drumming up donations quickly
Mobilizing people through social networks online was a key component in Obama’s campaign for presidency and new ideas to do the same are constantly surfacing. Twitter is at the center of the social networking phenomenon and TweetsGiving took advantage of that popularity to raise over $10,000 in donations in 48 hours.
Epic Change is the organization behind this effort, and its goal is to set up a new classroom for a school in Tanzania. It initially spread the word by asking people to tweet about something they were grateful for with a link back to its site. Then it followed up with a kicker asking you to donate and honor your aforementioned sentiment of thanks.
The barrier of entry was low, “every $10 buys a brick to build a classroom in Tanzania. (1,000 bricks = new classroom!) Email your TweetsGiving tweet to tweetsgiving@gmail.com, and it will be painted on your brick!” according to TweetsGiving.org.
That’s the name of this game though, making it very easy for people to relate to the campaign in a personal way while also making it affordable to participate. The initial $10,000 sum was sponsored by 336 contributors which means that on a pure average each person contributed just under $30.
Twitter also is a source of news for many people, though the accuracy of some information isn’t as reliable as it is with other sources. The idea is that through group commentary the truth persists. If lots of people report a similar event then it’s more likely to be true. That concept rings true outside the Internet world as well.
It’s great to see the nonprofit industry embracing social networking with some enthusiasm. In order to connect with the upcoming generations it will be critical in connecting donators to causes.
Humans thinking outside themselves is a wonderful thing, and it aligns with the spirit of Thanksgiving especially well. Help keep a good thing going, head over to Twitter and tweet about what you’re thankful for—just remember the #TweetsGiving tag and a link back to http://tinyurl.com/4thanks.
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March 17th, 2009
Hey I saw that you posted a blog about Tweetsgiving for epic change and I just wanted to drop you a note to let you know about Tweetluck! This time we are spreading luck and asking people to donate $7.77 for St. Patrick’s Day. Check out Tweetluck.org to see the new spin on Tweetsgiving!!