Twestival Global 2010

http://twestival.com

What is Twestival™?
On Thursday 25 March 2010, people in hundreds of cities around the world will come together offline to rally around the important cause of Education by hosting local events to have fun and create awareness. Twestival™ (or Twitter Festival) uses social media for social good. All of the local events are organized 100% by volunteers and 100% of all ticket sales and donations go direct to projects. If you would like to get involved, please Register your City, Register your School, or Volunteer and we will get in touch. Organizers will be given a handbook and invitation to our collaboration workspace. Follow @twestival for updates.

The Impact of Twestival
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.

Then over a weekend in September last year, 130 cities participated in Twestival Local which invited organizers to host events and select local causes to support. Collectively, these cities raised over $450k 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.

In 2010, we turn our focus to education and 72 million children in the world who don’t have the opportunity to go to school. @Concern Worldwide has been 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. We hope 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.

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 funds will go.
Each city and school hosting a Twestival will 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. For as little as $28USD they can provide the uniform, books, pencils, and paper a child needs to attend one year of school. 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. As cities are confirmed and fundraising goals are set, we will work with the team at Concern Worldwide to identify specific projects we will be supporting.

FAQ
I want to get involved, what do I need to do?
You can complete the form to Register Your City, Register Your School or Volunteer and we will put you in touch with your local team or find a way to put your skills and services to good use. If you are a brand or organization that wants to sponsor a local event, please get in touch with the organizing team directly or contact the global team and we can make an introduction.

Cool, I can now register an event at my school?
Yes! Our theme this year is education, so it seemed fitting to invite students to participate in our global events. There will continue to be one main Twestival event per city, but now there can also be complementary events at high schools, colleges, or universities around the world. This way people of all ages and interests are able to contribute and get involved on March 25th. They will be represented with different colours on the map and schools will be given a bit more flexibility to involve a special curriculum around global education. If you are a student already organizing a City Twestival, you do not have to change it to a School Twestival. This is a new element to Twestival we are introducing as there are many people under the age of 21 that wish to participate in our movement - so now they can!

What can a local Twestival organizing team expect once their event is approved?

Once you have submitted your interest in hosting an event in your city or at your school for Twestival 2010, our global team will get in touch to confirm. Organizers will receive an organizers’ pack, a free license for @gotomeeting, invitation to our collaboration workspace with @huddle and introduction to our regional coordinators who are there to support you with additional tools. You can start to invite other local volunteers to join your team and we will send through any volunteers that register through the website.

Will Twestival be 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.