One TwitChange is a fundraising phenomenon

Wonderwall, Thursday, September 23, 2010, 10:59am (PDT)

By Molly McGonigle

Celebrities have endorsed charities since the beginning of time. And what better way to plug a charity than using celebrities' favorite craze, Twitter. According to MSNBC.com, "TwitChange: Changing the World, One Tweet at a Time" allows celebrities to raise thousands of dollars in 140 characters or less and from anywhere in the world.

Eva Longoria, who has a Twitter following of over 700,000 fans, thought up this idea to raise money for Haiti with the help of an Atlanta minister, Shaun King. At the end of the 10-day fundraiser, TwitChange will have hopefully raised enough money to build an orphanage in Haiti.

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CNN sums up how the celebrities raise money via Twitter best: "People can donate to be followed on Twitter by the celeb, to get one of their messages 're-tweeted' by them, get mentioned in a post by the star or all three."

Longoria herself has offered up Twitter challenges to her fans, such as taking a picture of them reading the Wall Street Journal article about TwitChange and retweeting it to her many followers.

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As of Thursday morning, the top celebrity fundraisers are UFC President Dana White with $15,600 raised, Zachary Levi with $14,900 raised, Jewel Saite with $8,200 raised and Eva Longoria in fourth place with $5,001. These celebs are offering deals like tweeting at the winner's Twitter name, following them on Twitter and other bonuses, such as "Desperate Housewives" paraphernalia or UFC tickets.

Over 150 celebrities are participating in TwitChange and have raised a cumulative $215,000 for Haiti. The fundraiser closes on Saturday.

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