Seven years ago, when Twitter was a relatively new concept, Mumbai-based businessman Annagh Desai harnessed its full power for fundraising by starting a campaign called Deepwish.
Mr. Desai and a cross-section of his Twitter friends made a commitment to contribute to the charity Goonj for every Diwali wish with #deepwish. What started at just 25 paise per wish quickly grew to about Rs. 51. and the initiative has managed to raise Rs. 55,000 in just 36 hours.
“We started this concept because I thought that so many people wish each other on Diwali but a wish should mean something,” Mr. Desai says. This year, though, he has a more ambitious initiative, one that aims to raise about Rs. 5 lakh but has a dual purpose: a donation to charity and a gift to a loved one.
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The concept of Mr. Desai’s new campaign, #PolaroidWish, is simple. He is associated with Rockym Optimor, a retailer mainly dealing in Polaroid and Miami Blues. When participants make a donation of a minimum of Rs. 1,000 or multiples thereof to one of four NGOs or causes that he has chosen, an email with proof of the donation made should be sent tocoordination@rockym.co.inwith #PolaroidWish in the subject line.
The email should also include details of the person the participant wants to gift a pair of Polaroid sunglasses to (even if it is to oneself), and RockyM will then courier a pair of sunglasses worth at least Rs. 2,500. The same can be done by tweeting to Rockym with #PolaroidWish.
The four organisations shortlisted by the campaign are Animedh Trust, Ride to Light, Sukrta Foundation and Wheels for Life. A short description of these organisations and the work they do can be found on thewww.annagh.com.
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