A Twitter-based lottery, launched this week, is hoping to attract 100,000 users to a weekly online draw which aims to give money to both Twitter followers and British charities.

National Twotto will need to attract 100,000 Twitter followers before it starts to give away a weekly prize draw, based on a fixed percentage of how many people follow the lottery.

It will give away an amount equivalent to 2 per cent per cent of the followers, so at 100,000 followers £2,000 will be given away. The first prize of £1,000 cash will be given directly to a randomly-selected Twitter follower, and a second prize of £1,000 will be awarded to the person who recruited the most other Twitter followers, to be donated to a charity of their choice.

At present Twotto is far from reaching its 100,000 follower goal, with fewer than 300 followers. Jono Casley, founder of Twotto, said that there is no timeline for reaching the 100,000 target – or indeed the one million followers the Twotto website lists as an aim – but he told civilsociety.co.uk that “hopefully it will go viral”.

The prize draw will be funded by advertisers, who will be allowed to tweet the Twotto followers up to five times a day.  There are no sponsors on board yet, but Casley said he has a number of companies in mind to approach once the number of followers gets closer to the 100,000 figure, when there will be a commodity to pitch to them. 

Interested in how Twitter can help raise money? Check out our line-up for the Fundraising Mobile and Digital Conference 2011. Amanda Rose, founder of Twestival, will talk about her experiences and what charities keep doing wrong online.