© Copyright 2011, Connect the Dots Foundation (Twestival). All Rights Reserved.
A Twestival (or Twitter-Festival) is a single day, global movement which uses the power of social media to organize offline events that mobilize communities in support of a local cause. Twestival was born out of the idea that if communities were able to collaborate on an international scale, but working from a local level, it could have a spectacular impact.
Since 2009, over 200 cities have participated in Twestival, raising $1.75 million for over 275 important causes like clean water and education. Twestival Local events are coordinated 100% by volunteers and 100% of the funds raised through ticket sales and donations go directly to support charitable projects.
There are a number of ways you can get involved by contributing your time, talent and resources. Registration for new cities is now closed - but you can find your city here and follow us on @twestival, Facebook or add your email to hear the news first. Cities are always looking for volunteers to help on the night or sponsors who want to underwrite the event or provide prizes. Tweet them and get involved!
Twestival is a global fundraising initiative and all events using the Twestival brand must be official and approved. Yes, anyone can volunteer for Twestival and get involved. We restrict nonprofits from hosting their own events as Twestival is run separately and would be a conflict of interest.
If you have searched and cannot find your city on the Twestival 2011 map, this means we have not had a team register to host a Twestival in your area. We have now closed registration for 2011 but there is a number of ways to get involved.
The biggest difference has to do with the charitable vision for the campaign. Twestival Global supports one single cause and nonprofit, whereas Twestival Local enables cities to fundraise and highlight for a cause that directly impacts their own community.
Unlike Twestival Global, Twestival Local will be supporting hundreds of charities that directly impact the communities that are fundraising. We do not have a strict process for how local Twestival teams decide which cause they wish to support, but do have guidelines and a vetting procedure. Most organizers will start to request a call for nominations in their community, so keep an eye on Twitter and the local website blog for that. We do not allow nonprofits to host their own Twestivals, it must be independent. This does not stop anyone working for a nonprofit to volunteer or participate in Twestival - we encourage and exchange of ideas and experience. We hope a nomination period will give cities an opportunity to be exposed to causes and organizations they might not have heard of before.
Once an organizing team has been officially registered for Twestival, they will be given guidelines for selecting a local cause. We strongly encourage volunteers to reach out to their community on Twitter and elsewhere to request nominations of registered nonprofits based in their city whose programs have a direct impact locally. The charitable recipient is decided by consensus amongst the organizing team and not a public vote. The local team then submits a nonprofit approval form to the global team who will ensure it meets the vision and standards of Twestival. Twestival does not align with causes which are overtly political, religious or lack transparency in showing the impact of donations.
There are no plans to host a Twestival Global in 2011. This year, Twestival Local is our sole focus and pending volunteer interest. At this time there is no decision or call for submissions for what the theme for Twestival Global 2012 will be as we are giving volunteers a rest as we transition.
If you are registered as the lead organizer for your Twestival Local, upon official registration you will receive an email with instructions on how to get started. This includes a design pack, access to an online Huddle workspace for collaboration and login details for your blog on Twestival.com.
To ensure we match all volunteers to the appropriate team, we may need to follow up with a few additional questions via Twitter or email. If you registered as a general volunteer and there is a slight delay of a few days before you hear from us, please do not worry as we might be trying to establish a lead organizer before introducing all the volunteers to form a team.
Twestival is not officially associated with the company Twitter as Twestival is an independent movement. However, we do have a great relationship with the founders and team who have been nothing but supportive of our initiative from day one. Twitter have actively promoted, supported and even attended our events in San Francisco.