Last December, I posted about microdonations and the project that Laura Fitton (@pistachio) had kicked off with a goal of raising $25k for Charity:Water by her birthday.
Well, her birthday was yesterday, and while it took a few minutes past midnight, Laura's extended social network helped her achieve the goal.
The bulk of the funds (more than $15k) were raised and contributed on Twitter via Tipjoy. Tipjoy and its founders contributed a matching $5k, while another $5k or so was raised directly on the Charity:Water site. That will be enough to provide fresh water to five villages, saving countless lives.
Laura did an amazing job, tapping into her network and the extended network of retweeters to get the needed contributions. While some contributions were as little as $0.25, others were much more substantial. I have to recognize @linlee888 who pledged $1 per follower, then blew that away with a $1,300 donation.
Laura put an amazing effort into this, topping it off with a one-hour live broadcast via UStream TV last night starting at 11pm. Putting yourself on a webcast with accompanying live chat is a pretty brave thing to do (and believe me, there are some weirdos chatting out there) but it all helped her achieve her Christmas wish.
The full details will be posted shortly to the Pistachio site. In the meantime, please join me in congratulating Laura and her network.
