Have you ever heard of charity:water?  How about Twestival? I hadn’t until a couple of months ago.  But, the formation of Twestival raised $250 million dollars for charity:water, an organization bringing clean drinking water to people in developing nations.

Amanda Rose, the founder of Twestival, created the event in under 2 weeks.  I interviewed her for another project I did, and she told me that after she attended a small charity:water event, “I just couldn’t stop thinking about the power of Twitter and how if this was magnified in other cities the amount of awareness and donations it could bring to a cause.  I knew the cause had to be one with a clear message and something everyone could identify with.”

So, she founded Twestival, which was an event on February 12, 2009 in over 200 cities around the world where people in the Twitter community hosted events to raise money for charity:water.  Over 10,000 people contributed to the cause, and raised enough money for 50 villages and 12,500 to have clean water.  How inspiring!

The event in Boston was run by Justin Whitaker, was held at the Om Lounge in Cambridge, and raised $4,000 for charity:water.  There were over 100 people at our event, which included raffles from sponsors, and a slideshow to educate us about the cause.

What is so incredible to me about this event is that Twestival was created and promoted entirely using Twitter and a simple website, and raised so much money,  primarily from donors who had never heard of charity:water. The costs of the event were also low, and the only costs were covered by a sponsor, so 100% of the proceeds went to the charity itself.  Also, Twestival was founded by Amanda, who does not work for charity:water, she was just incredible moved by the cause.

This event was also successful in my mind because it utilized social media’s incredible power of relationships and conversation to get buzz going. With no other traditional marketing could you get so much support for one event, with new donors, in such a short time, with no spending.  This is why I am such a supporter of social media… it’s a great way to get things moving, and allow the power of relationships and viral word or mouth to take over.

So why am I writing this post 2 months after the event?  Well, drilling in Ethiopia began today!  Below is the video from the first day of drilling.

(If you can’t see the video, click here)

Why do YOU think Twestival was such a success?  What other charities do you think could benefit from a similar strategy?