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Egypt uses Twitter for humanitarian fundraising


A charity fundraising initiative using Twitter is now ongoing in Egypt, with donors getting publicity in the popular micro-blogging network in exchange for their donations. Started by blogger Mahmoud Salem, the "tweetback" aims to support popular endeavors that "aim to effect real change in the lives of Egyptians." "'(Tweetback)' invites companies, foundations and charitable individuals to pledge donations to select NGOs and development projects in Egypt. In exchange, (tweetback's) network of some of the country’s most notable twitter bloggers will announce the contributions in Arabic and English through their network of nearly 250,000+ followers (at the time of writing), providing donor organizations unprecedented access to their followers," Salem said in his blog. He said the initiative aims to make the most of social media’s power to "generate positive change" by organizing events, each in support of a worthy local cause. Salem, who had been at the frontlines of the recent Egyptian uprising, said that while social media once helped the revolution, it can now be used for "positive change and to help rebuild the country." "As a tool, Social media helped the revolution and now 'tweet back' is mobilizing it once again in the quest to promote positive change and to help rebuild the country," he said. First Tweetback event He said the first “tweetback" is scheduled July 26 for Ezbet Khairallah, an unplanned community in Cairo for which LE2,000,000 need to be raised. "In lead up to the event, the tweeps will do what they do best: create buzz about the initiative among their collective 250,000+ followers. They will also be on hand at the event to provide live updates about the donors at hashtag #tweetback," he said. "In these adverse times these campaigns could not be more important, and will pave the way for a better country. More of these initiatives will only happen if you show support for this very first one, which by virtue of the timing, and novelty, is in desperate need for your sponsorship. Please step forward and help in any way you can. We look forward to hearing back from you," he said. Tech site TheNextWeb noted "Tweetback" is Egypt's "very first social-media driven effort to raise money for a good cause." It added Egyptian and Arab "Twitterati" who have been approached to take part in the initiative have been more than happy to get involved, including Egyptian journalist Sarah El Sirgany, Al Jazeera journalist Ayman Mohyeldin, activist Noor Noor and religious speaker and television host, Moez Masoud. “It’s directed marketing, and the 20 people I’ve brought in represent many different segments of society, and so it gives these companies the chance to hit all the different segments, which is hard to find in any other medium," Salem told TheNextWeb. TheNextWeb also noted each of the tweeps has at least 15,000 followers, "giving the corporations an interesting way of reaching hundreds of thousands of Twitter users in a heartbeat." Salem added that if this pilot project works, they plan to replicate it. “Other companies will want to do it for other projects. It’s a very simple dynamic cause, and at the end of the day you’re just tweeting. The idea is you want to do something good. You want to save people right in front of you right now cause they’re the most important people, and if you manage to do so through social media, why not?" he said. — TJD, GMA News

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