Stanford Federal Credit Union recently took part in a global demonstration of how one tweet can be harnessed for good by sponsoring a Twestival.

Twestival (Twitter plus festival) was created to show how talent and resources can come together for a single day to change the world. A total of 175 cities worldwide participated in hosting local, live Twestival events on March 25 to benefit education. All of the local events were organized by volunteers and all ticket sales and donations go directly to charitable projects.?"We thought this would be a fun and very worthwhile event since education is important to us," said SFCU Marketing/Business Development Vice President Margaret Wold. "Our business development staff and SFCU student reps loved the idea and tweeting was right up their alley."

Despite learning about Twestival less than two weeks before the event date, the $640 million credit union quickly became the main sponsor of the local Palo Alto Twestival efforts and hosted a celebration at the B412 nightclub. Spreading the word via Twitter and Facebook, Twestival supporters were also encouraged to "buy tickets" for the event by donating online at www.paloalto.twestival.com. About 60 people attended the Stanford FCU event and over $1,700 was raised. In addition, Stanford FCU student representatives raised $400 for Stanford Twestival to help train teachers in developing countries. According to the Stanford FCU student representatives, training a teacher will help hundreds of others, and as teachers develop their own skills, they then pay it forward by teaching for as long as they wish ultimately benefiting not just the teacher but their future students as well.