Next week’s Supergenius conference in New York, organized by GasPedal and word-of-mouth pioneer Andy Sernovitz, promises to be a fantastic event, at least if last December’s inaugural conference was any indication. Andy is trying to use Supergenius to demonstrate the power of word-of-mouth in support of a very worthy cause: fresh drinking water for the developing world.

GasPedal has partnered with charity: water, an organization whose goal is to bring clean drinking water to the estimated 1 billion people on earth who don’t now have it. I’m supporting the effort and I hope you will too. Equally important, I hope you will tell your friends and help prove that grassroots organization using the tools of social media really can make a difference.  You can sign up for Supergenius here. Use the discount code “paulismyhero”.

The fund-raising goal is $50,000, which can provide clean water to 2,500 people in 10 communities. 100% of public donations go directly to water projects. All operating costs are covered by a group of private donors so every dollar you give can go to people in need.

Charity:water has already funded more than 2,000 projects, but that’s just a start. Deforestation and the rapid expansion of deserts are making access to water the greatest human crisis of the 21st century. Please do whatever you can to help. This page makes it easy for you to contribute and to share the message.

Watch the video. It’s inspiring.