Here’s an important announcement from the Communicate Magazine team which hosts CommsChat on a Monday evening on Twitter. This week’s discussion at 8pm is about the challenge of charity communications and includes a fundraising call for the crisis in East Africa.

This week’s #CommsChat was scheduled to be on measurement. But something came up that we felt was more important.

Amidst the anger of News International and the vacillations of the Euro crisis one story this past week [has] been pushed to the sidelines – the story of ten million lives at risk due to the crisis in East Africa.

We are postponing the measurement session to hear how comms teams from charities can get cut-through in a heavy news week and the other communication challenges that face the third sector.

Our guests will be Thomas Schultz-Jagow, director of communications for Oxfam, and Leigh Daynes, director of advocacy, campaigns and communications for Plan.

For once, however, we’d like everyone to participate in the next CommsChat in a way beyond 140 characters. What is happening in Africa is truly terrible. We don’t often get the chance in life to make a difference.

Everyone who takes part in CommsChat knows how entertaining it is. And it’s always been free (and will carry on so). But how much would you pay for an hour of entertainment? How much does half a play cost; or a third of a dinner bill; or two-fifths of a ticket at the Brixton Academy?

This week we’d like those who take part in CommsChat to donate what they’d normally pay for an hours entertainment. You don’t have to. It’s not obligatory. But it’s a nice thing to do. It’s the right thing to do.

I’ve chipped in. Will you?