Have a birthday in September? Get ready to give it up.

You could be among thousands of people, celebrating their September birthdays by asking people for donations instead of gifts — all to benefit Charity: Water’s campaign to bring safe drinking water to the Central African Republic’s Bayaka Pygmies.

The September campaign, which began Monday, aims to raise $1.7-million to dig and build wells there. So far, it has raised $16,588 for the effort this week alone.

Scott Harrison, president and founder of the four-year-old New York group, says he only needs 1,700 participants for the effort to succeed — since the average sum of donations per birthday “party” is about $1,000. “It’s really the idea of scaling through individuals,” he says.

One-hundred percent of the money raised, he says, will go to the water projects. The funds will bring clean water to about 90,000 people in the landlocked African country, according to Mr. Harrison.

Much of the focus in bringing attention to the Bayaka’s plight will be through Charity: Water’s social-media marketing, such as Facebook and Twitter. Last year, the group started its own mini “Give Up Your Birthday” campaigns at mycharitywater.org, through which participants raised a total of $3-million. Even celebrities on Twitter got in on the act — Alyssa Milano raised close to $100,000 on her 37th birthday.

This year, Facebook is the place to be to get daily behind-the-scenes short video clips of the often arduous daily task of obtaining potable water in the Central African Republic. Women and children often have to walk for several hours per day only to get unclean water.

There will be one or two videos featured each week on Facebook for the 45-day campaign, says Paull Young, the group’s director of digital engagement and fund raising. He adds that these efforts will give supporters a tighter connection to the cause since they can share these videos easily with their Facebook friends. A trailer of the campaign released this week has already attained 100,000 views, Mr. Young says.

Charity: Water has given more than $1-million to build 199 water projects in the Central African Republic, providing safe drinking water to more than 200,000 people. On September 7, donors all over the globe can watch a video of that day’s drill of a well at charitywater.org/September.

See Charity: Water’s September campaign preview on Vimeo.