Twestival Home

Twestival™ (or Twitter Festival) uses social media for social good.  Twestival is the largest global grassroots social media fundraising initiative to date, raising over $1.2 million within 14 months for 137 nonprofits.  All local events are organized 100% by volunteers and 100% of all ticket sales and donations go direct to projects.

Twestival Global is a series of offline events hosted on one day for one cause in cities around the world.

Twestival Local is a series of offline events which aim to support local causes over a designated weekend.

Twestival Global 2010 has now ended, but you can continue to Donate or Sign the 1Goal petition to show your support for ‘Education for All’.  To keep updated about the progress of our work with Concern Worldwide this year or get the latest news about Twestival 2011 then follow @twestival or enter your email on Twestival.com.  If you have a press or partnership enquiry, please contact @amanda.

The Impact of Twestival

Twestival Global 2009

On 12 February 2009, the first Twestival Global was held in 202 international cities to support @charitywater, who we saw doing incredible work to help the almost 1 billion or 1 in 6 people in the world that don’t have access to clean and safe drinking water.  Over 1,000 volunteers and 10,000 donors fundraised $250k+, which resulted in more than 55 wells in Uganda, Ethiopia and India having a direct impact for over 17,000 people. Watch the videos of the first Twestival well drilled in the village of Mai Nabri, Ethiopia or pick up a copy of the Official 2009 Twestival Book.

Twestival Local 2009

Over a weekend in September 2009, 130 cities participated in Twestival Local which invited organizers to host events and select local causes to support.  Collectively, these cities raised $478k for 135 charities, bringing the total fundraising effort in 2009 to over $750k.  A remarkable achievement by volunteers working under short timescales and utilizing social media tools like Twitter to make it happen efficiently.

Twestival Global 2010

In 2010, we have turned our focus to education and 72 million children in the world who don’t have the opportunity to go to school. On Thursday 25 March 2010, people in over 175 cities around the world came together offline to rally around the important cause of Education.  @Concern Worldwide were selected by the Twestival global team and local organizers to be the recipient because of their comprehensive and well respected approach to education.  This is an issue that involves many different elements; hunger, water, teacher training, building of schools, etc.  The intention of Twestival Global is to use the power of our global event fundraising and social media influence as a vehicle to give people insight into this cause on a deeper level.  To date, Twestival Global has raised over $460k for Concern Worldwide; which is enough to build 31 schools.  Twestival is currently working with the team at Concern to allocate the fundraising to specific projects in Haiti and regions of Africa and Asia.  In the upcoming months, we will be visiting a project in the field to show donors and volunteers the impact of their donations.  Stay tuned.

About Concern Worldwide.

Concern Worldwide was founded in 1968 to meet the needs of people living in extreme poverty, for whom every day is a fight for survival. Concern is a non-governmental, international, humanitarian organization dedicated to the reduction of suffering and working towards the ultimate elimination of poverty. Their mission is to help people living in extreme poverty achieve major improvements in their lives - improvements they can sustain without ongoing support. Concern meets the needs of these people in a caring and personalized manner, respecting their human and cultural dignity. They are committed to reaching the most vulnerable, even in the most difficult of circumstances.

Concern’s work is informed by a vision for change and their education programs target the poorest people in the poorest countries in the world, with particular emphasis on reaching out-of-school children such as girls, orphans, street children, working children, children affected by conflict, children affected by HIV and AIDS, and children with disabilities. Concern’s education programs currently reach over 700,000 people in 25 countries across the regions of Africa,  Asia, and the Caribbean.  Please follow @concern on Twitter to get a glimpse of their staff tweeting from around the world; including their efforts on the ground in Haiti.

Where the Twestival 2010 funds are going.

Each city and school hosting a Twestival was be given the opportunity to select an area of education to support for fundraising to go towards Concern’s education programs.  This will be recognized with a special icon on their website once they have set a goal.  Concern Worldwide are able to guarantee that 100% of Twestival funds will go direct to project costs.  This means that the money would be used for material purchases (curriculum, desks, pencils) as well as project activities such as construction of schools; rehabilitation of classrooms; teacher/management training; PTAs; HIV/AIDS school clubs; water and sanitation in schools; health education in schools; education advocacy; vocational/life-skills training for youth, farmers and women; and curriculum development for secondary school/university. Money will not be used for things like administration, overhead, reporting oversight, etc. Concern Worldwide requires all fields that receive money strictly adhere to a six- and 12-month formal reporting protocol in which the field details the specific activities it has undertaken and how the funds were utilized. This system provides a very tangible case studies, evidence and updates, and other detailed information about how programs have progressed and benefited program participants; including the financial allocation in field; the GPS locations of schools in receipt of funds; digital video clips and photos from the schools; and case studies/quotes from people who have benefitted from the projects.

FAQ

I want to get involved, what do I need to do?

Twestival only happens at certain points of the year and we are currently not accepting new city registrations.  The next Twestival will take place in early 2011.

Can anyone host a Twestival?

Twestival is a global fundraising initiative and all events using the Twestival brand must be official and approved.

How do I get my nonprofit involved?

At this time we are not accepting any submissions from organizations as we are focused on our current Education work for Concern Worldwide in 2010.  There has not been any decision made about the theme or future of Twestival Local or Global events.  If you want to be the first to hear, please enter your email on Twestival.com.

Is Twestival supporting projects in Haiti?

Twestival Global 2010 was always planning to give a portion of the fundraising proceeds to projects in Haiti.  Concern Worldwide has worked on the ground in Haiti for over 15 years and you can follow their efforts to help in relief efforts through @aidwkr’s tweets.  One of the requirements during the nonprofit selection process was that the recipient work in at least 3 different regions of the world.  Education is a global issue and we will continue with our original vision to support projects internationally and communicate throughout our campaign what impact this will have on the students in Haiti.