TweetsGiving 2009

TweetsGiving is a global celebration that seeks to change the world through the power of gratitude.

November 24 – 26, 2009, this 48-hour event created by US nonprofit Epic Change will encourage participants to express their thanks using online tools and at live events. Guests will be invited to give to a common cause at events held across the globe in honor of the people and things that make them grateful

TweetsGiving 2008: The Classroom Built from Gratitude

Epic Change launched the original TweetsGiving celebration in November 2008 as a 48-hour celebration of gratitude and giving that successfully raised over $10,000 to build a classroom in Arusha, Tanzania. Imagined and built entirely by volunteers in six days, TweetsGiving was launched 2 days before the US Thanksgiving holiday, and quickly became the #1 trending topic on Twitter as thousands of grateful tweets from across the globe filled the stream, and hundreds of blogs, from Mashable to VentureBeat, spread the story. (Click here and here to see additional metrics.)

Epic Change invested the funds to build a classroom at a school founded by Tanzanian Epic Change fellow “Mama Lucy” Kamptoni, a woman who used to sell chickens and used her income to build a school that now serves over 300 children near her home in Arusha. In this classroom built from gratitude, the Twitter handles of donors are now painted on the walls.

2009 Plans: Epic Thanks

In 2009, Epic Change will expand this global groundswell of gratitude by including live events across the globe and reaching out to even more online communities.

Most exciting, with a recent grant from IdeaBlob that was also won through successful social media efforts in Tanzania and across the globe, Epic Change will be partnering with Kamptoni in Tanzania to implement a technology lab at the primary school where last year’s TweetsGiving classroom was built. Expect groundbreaking participation from students and teachers at the school in Arusha during this year’s event.

Proceeds will again, in part, benefit the school, where a dormitory/orphanage, library, school cafeteria and additional classrooms are much needed. Beginning in 2010, we’ll be looking for changemakers and social entrepreneurs like Mama Lucy who are transforming their own communities in remarkable ways, who could benefit from substantive investment and enhanced visibility to expand their efforts, and who have inspirational stories of hope that have the power to change our preconceptions of what is possible.