This is a great analysis of the Seattle Twestival event from someone who is clearly knowledgeable and passionate about humanitarian causes and charitable giving. It would be the height of Web 2.0 cluelessness and hubris to assume that an event like Twestival can provide all of the answers for Charity 2.0(and I don’t think that’s the case. Twestival needs to look at the traditional world of philanthropy and build upon the tough lessons that have been learned over the last twelve decades of modern charity. I think the most important of those lessons is the need to build strong, authentic relationships between donors and causes. Something that’s tough to do with just three weeks of frenzied effort.

I’m not part of the Twestival global management group, but I assume the current vision is to periodically spotlight a different, basic humanitarian need each time. The first events were for a British food pantry called Harvest. This initial global Twestival was for charity:water. I hope that both of those organizations will experience long-term upticks in giving, not just onetime bumps. I also hope that Twestival in the future picks groups that can cope with the additional attention while it’s happening, and continue with their great efforts once the spotlight moves on.

Finally, I hope that Twestival looks to experienced folks like you and the community generated by these Twitter-centric, social media events to consider the best ways to turn one-time campaigns into sustainable streams of support.

I think efforts like Twestival can be an excellent introduction to charitable giving for people aren’t normally into “causes”, but can we keep them drinking the Kool-Aid once we’ve taken them to the clean water?

Thanks again,

Doug Winfield
Twestival Seattle Organizer

From the photos and the comments, it looks like it was a fabulous party. But…was it a donor acquisition source?

Read the review. Without intending to, I think they confirm your points about Twestival as a less than viable acquisition source for charity:water.