Can Twitter, Room to Read, and Crushpad Turn Wine Into Books?

Literacy is one of the most important factors in a child’s life – it is one of the necessities for upward mobility. That’s why it’s always a good thing when big companies take an interest in using their name and market power to support great causes – and Twitter is doing just that. They have entered into a collaboration with Room to Read, a San Francisco nonprofit that tries to increase literacy across the world by giving children access to books and media in their own language. These two organizations will be working with Crushpad, a San Francisco company that tries to connect average city dwellers with the resources and tools to make great wine.

Together, the three make up the Fledgling Initiative (appropriate, since all three organizations are pretty young), which will help get local language books to children across the world.

Why this initiative? Here’s what Twitter co-founders Biz Stone and Evan Williams said on the Fledgling website:

As a company that's only one percent into its journey, we're always thinking about our long term impact on the world. The Fledgling Initiative embodies two things that are at the core of Twitter's mission: providing access to information and highlighting the power of open communication to bring about positive change. This initiative is just one piece of that approach. Take part in this mission and pre-buy our limited bottles of the wine. You can follow along with our wine-making activities on Twitter and at some points even participate in its creation. For each bottle you buy, $5 will be donated to Room to Read, a transformational non-profit that brings books, libraries and ultimately literacy to people in the poorest areas around the world. The efforts of Room to Read will benefit literacy, and in doing so they'll allow Twitter to grow. Because if you can't read you can't Tweet!

John Wood, founder of Room to Read, said this:

The Fledgling Initiative is bringing together three innovative organizations to support global education. Our success means children’s lives will be changed across Asia and Africa through experiencing their first library and books in their own language.

So, pre-order some of the Fledgling wine and help kids read. That's probably not why anyone is thinking about when they order a bottle of wine, but, hey, why not? Room To Read will get $5 for every bottle. And while you are it, throw in an extra donation to Room to Read if you can, because the website says that every dollar you donate will help Room to Read produce another book that it can ship across the world.

If you can't do that, then make sure you Tweet about the cause and follow @Fledgling on Twitter.

This is an interesting initiative because it doesn't take the usual global approach to raising money, in which just about everyone is the target audience. Instead, it is a niche strategy that hopes to tap the passion of a small subset of potential donors, in this case wine lovers. It could well be that people who love wine will also love the idea of helping kids read. And if that 's the case, then the Fledgling Initiative could help kids around the world learn to read, and lay down an interesting precedent for fundraising strategists. So it will be worth keeping an eye on the Fledgling Initiative. Hmmm. Maybe that requires ordering some of their wine!

Here’s a video about how it all works and why it’s important: