Following Timothy Ferriss on Twitter to raise funds for public schools

Not sure if you are aware of this, but Tim Ferriss, the author of The Four Hour Workweek, is donating (in conjunction with an anonymous donor) $3 for every person who follows him on Twitter up to 50,000 followers.

As a "bribe" to get people to follow him (which he probably doesn't need to do, since he's quite popular already), he has collaborated with others to give every follower 3 valuable gifts worth $168 per follower.

I just followed Tim, and encourage you to do so, too.

It's certainly a great cause.  Beyond that, it's also a wonderful study-in-action of the power of joint ventures, collaboration, engaging social media with a clear focus, and leveraging the contacts and influence of others.

Still unconvinced?

Check out the details for yourself.  But act quickly.  I wish I'd discovered it before now, as this great social experiment ends tomorrow (March 30, 2009) at 3:30 pm Eastern Time.

Whether you choose to follow Tim or not, how might an entrepreneur similarly benefit themselves and others from studying/implementing an initiative like this?