Colbert’s personal army The Colbert Nation is a strong united front. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that when the call went out on Reddit, Colbert Rally Official Site and the Official Facebook page (which has moved, so be sure to ‘like’ the new page) to start a campaign to raise $101,010 for donorschoose.org by October 10th, 2010, that the Nation would succeed.
As the original call to action stated:
… the community wants to show that it’s not just another lame Internet petition.
See, anyone can join a reddit or Facebook group or sign a petition. It takes, like, one minute and doesn’t demonstrate much effort. So the rally movement has been looking for ways to show that they’re serious, that they’re willing to lift a finger to make this happen. And an idea has just been hatched: pony up some cash to one of Stephen’s favorite charities. Stephen Colbert is a board member of a non-profit called DonorsChoose.org. …
The Nation answered this call so enthusiastically that by at one point donorschoose reporting system temporarily broke.
Within 19 hours $101,010 was raised. In just under 49 hours, that number jumped to $200,000. And it continues to rise.
As of 4:40pm today, $226,480 has been donated by 5531 individuals, helping to fund 743 projects reaching 61,387 kids. That averages out to $51.57 donated per minute (just under a dollar per second), average of $40.95 donated per donor. (Thanks to the number crunchers from reddit, they have been keeping track of the stats for our enjoyment here.)
According to a donorschoose representative, 90% of the donors came directly from reddit; 95% from the US, 3.5% from Canada, 1.3% from Australia, 0.6% from the UK and 0.4% from Germany. The Nation isn’t confined by borders.
As the campaign has been so successful, the new goal is to raise a half million dollars by October 1st. You can help by donating here.
So far, Colbert has been quiet about the campaign on air. He did, however, reach out to the reddit community with this email:
Dear Redditors,
Ever since the visit of one of your Dear Leaders, Alexis “kn0thing” Ohanian, my inbox has been orangered with pleas to “Restore Truthiness.” The track record of your hivemind speaks for itself. Mr. Splashypants got a name. You rescued Soapier. You frightened the sweet-and-sour Jesus out of a 90-year-old man on his birthday. Despite how silly and nonsexual reddit can be, your true colors show when someone is in need.
I almost had a pregnant when I saw what you had done at DonorsChoose.org for classrooms around the country. I am humbled and honored (a rare combination for me), and find myself wishing there was a Look of Approval.You have inspired me by helping untold thousands of students; with the momentum you’ve created, we could stage a hundred rallies. I might just call on you, Redditors – for nothing is more terrifying than tens of thousands of Heroes taking to the streets with the faint odor of bacon wafting behind them. Except for bears, obviously.
One huge upvote for you.
Sir Dr. Stephen T. Colbert, DFA
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