Thousands of Twitter micro-bloggers – from more than 180 cities worldwide – have joined forces to raise funds for a charity that provides safe drinking water to people in the global south.

The micro-blogging tool Twitter is often viewed as a one-way broadcasting tool for PR flaks to post press releases and firms to flaunt their merchandize. However, the site's marketing potential can be harnessed for more altruistic purposes – as many are starting to discover.

For instance, Amanda Rose, a Canadian living in London, England discovered Twitter's tremendous effectiveness for fund raising last year, quite by chance. After posting a Twitter message asking for donations to a food bank, she received hundreds of donations.

This led Rose - and her colleague Tony Scott - to realize they could be doing much more.

So they got a group going that -using the power of Twitter's speaker box alone - managed to mobilize Twitterers in more than 180 cities with the goal of raising $500,000 for charity: water, a non-profit that provides clean and safe drinking water to countries in the global south. Fundraisers will take place on Feb. 12, 2009 in the form a festival, aptly named a Twestival.

Rose is Twestival's global architect, while Scott is the global site's Web master. More than 175 cities worldwide will be hosting Twestivals, which will bring together Twitter communities for an evening of fun and to raise money and awareness for charity: water.

The Toronto Twestival's goal is to raise $5,000 by communicating the message of the power of "20," according to its coordinator Sarah Prevette. Tickets to the Toronto event at Circa Nightclub are $20, and $20 is enough to provide water to one person for 20 years, she said.

Prevette is CEO and founder RedWire, a Toronto-based outfit that fosters networking between entrepreneurs and the global business community.
She noted that more than 1.1 billion people worldwide (one person in six) don't have access to clean drinking water, and the cost of building a well ranges from $4 to $12,000.

It's a huge problem but doesn't get a lot of attention, Prevette said. "Right now people are talking a lot about the economy – so it's easy to lose focus on broader issues."

Lack of access to clean water affects us all, she said, as it spreads diseases, which aren't restricted to countries in the global south.