John Robertson, Calgary Twitter fund raiser
A friendly wager between a couple of Calgary Twitter friends has raised money for two local charities, Mustard Seed Ministries and the Calgary Foodbank. John Robertson of Calgary describes himself as a “former PR practitioner” and @PeaceBridgeCGY describes him or herself as, well, a bridge. Though in a pinch he or she will answer to Chinese Finger Trap or any of the other nicknames assigned to the recently announced Peace Bridge by supporters or detractors.
The bet took place Friday and eventually involved 21 people, raising $700. The initial bet between @PeaceBridgeCGY and John was $50, but others were encouraged to bet any amount they chose.
Donors aligned themselves with John or @PeaceBridgeCGY, with the losing team donating to their charity of choice. The contest began at 8:30 a.m. and finished at 3:30 p.m. Calgary temperatures eventually did broach 30C and John’s team of seven had to make good on their bet.
SE Calgary News interviewed both John and @PeaceBridgeCGYfor this story using Twitter.
SECN: How did you come up with the idea for raising $$ for Calgary charities through Twitter?
John: It started out as a fun little bet between @PeaceBridgeCGY and I, regarding the weather on Friday and it ballooned. It ballooned into more people wanting to get involved and the result was, we were able to raise some money.
@PeaceBridgeCGY: I believe it was the other way around. I had a donation to a charity in my mind. John was happy to pick up the glove!
SECN: Tell me about the bet.
John: felt that the temp. would get to 30 and I disagreed… we decided to bet $50 each and donate it to a charity. you can click on #GettingHotOrNot to see the people involved and how it began to spiral, as well you can check out http://bit.ly/lML9b
SECN: I take it you lost the bet? I think it the temperature reached 30+, correct?
John:
SECN: Why did you choose Mustard Seed Ministry and Foodbank?
John: I chose the food bank because i believe in their vision and it’s important to support charities within the community. I can only assume that @PeaceBridgeCGY chose Mustard Seed for the same reasons. this blog gives a good summary as well… http://bit.ly/1BThQC
SECN: Will raise funds for other charities using Twitter again?
John: Nothing planned, but based on the results from a friendly bet between 2 people (4-$700 raised) and all the people that joined, I think it shows that Twitter can be a very effective means for individuals or charities to fundraise and raise awareness of a cause. i like @MissVictoria idea of doing a blood donation one day.
SECN: How many Twitter followers eventually made a donation?
John: I believe the final count was 21 people.
SECN: Which charity received the donation?
John: Actually we let the participants decide where they wanted to donate, because my team lost my donation will go to Mustard Seed.
PeaceBridgeCGY : During the ‘game’ we changed the rules a bit to allow everyone to donate to whatever they wanted.
SECN: How was the money donated?
John: My donation will be online, links were posted in the Peace Bridge blog.
SECN: Have you told the charities about the donations?
John: I haven’t told Mustard Seed about the donation or bet, maybe you can send them a copy of your article? 
@PeaceBridgeCGY is like Sacha Baron Cohen and refuses to come out of character to the media. But he or she does appear to have fingers and an opposable thumb because in a post to the PeaceBridgeCGY blog, other donors were urged to pledge money to either of the charities.
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