Keeping The Twitter Stream Safe (And Raising $$$ For A Good Cause)

As Twitter has grown in popularity, people are often trying to poke holes in the service and question its true meaning and value, trying to position those of us who tweet regularly as nothing more than a bunch of time wasting twits. Regardless of which side of the Twitter fence you straddle, one thing that has been indisputable is Twitter's effectiveness at rallying a community around a charitable cause. Tens of thousands of dollars, if not more, have been raised for a wide range of great causes, from individuals in need such as David Armano's efforts to aid a single mother, to larger scale organizations such as Charity Water. Beth Kanter, a frequent speaker on social media for non-profits, has a great overview of some of the more successful Twitter charity campaigns at her blog.

HUMOR ME WITH YOUR SUPPORT

My own efforts to support some good causes have leveraged my attempts at humor at the Social Networking Rehab Blog, where I have created video public service announcements in support of the Frozen Pea Fund to aid cancer research as well as to help Laura Fitton and her holiday "wellwishes" campaign. Naturally, when Dave Delaney contacted me about another humorous way to leverage Twitter for a good cause, I didn't hesitate to give him the shirt off my back (for him to hold while I posed as "Sasselhoff").

CALENDAR GUYS

Yes, with tongues firmly in cheek and hands held out for donations, we present the "18 Hottest Men On Twitter" Calendar to raise funds for a great cause, Donors Choose. Thanks to the cooperation of Zazzle.com, more than 40% of the proceeds of the calendar sales will go directly to support Donors Choose, a charity that connects directly with classrooms in need, providing project based support to our children in public schools. For $15.95 you can chuckle at me and 17 other chuckleheads and support a worthy cause. Please click here and buy a few today!

As Mr. July 2010, I am honored to join @saulcolt, @leelefever, @avinashkaushik, @scottmonty, @baratunde, @chrisbrogan, @keithburtis, @bobgoyetche, @jchutchins, @jasonfalls, @davedelaney, @geoffsmith, @cc_chapman, @mitchjoel, @julien, @stevenfisher, and @chrispirillo. Check us out!

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• Social Media for Social Causes Study: The Results (mashable.com)
• Twestival: Here Comes Everyone To Raise Money On Twitter for Charity:Water (beth.typepad.com)
• 4 Ways Social Media is Changing the Non-Profit World (mashable.com)