Sign up to be a Squidoo Charity!

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How can you get more donations sent to your organization?

A big big part of Squidoo's mission is to send more money to deserving non-profits so they can do good in our online and offline communities. We do that by matching hard-working charities with our hard-working lensmasters.

Lensmasters build webpages called "lenses" -- pages that snap their point of view on a particular topic into focus. They can earn royalties from the ads on these lenses, and if they sell things on the page, like books from Amazon, or kitchen gear on eBay. Now here's the cool part: When they set their earnings to go to a charity we support, that charity gets the donation. For free!

If this is something your organization would like to get involved in, signing up is the first step towards getting more recognition, more passionate volunteers, and more money.

This page will tell you all about the (easy) application process. We can't wait to hear from you!

At this time, for tax and legal reasons, we can only accept US-based organizations that specifically have a 501(c)(3). We can only accept applications from a charity official, not a volunteer wishing to collect on their behalf. Thanks!

Photo used under Creative Commons by Paul_Chenoweth.

Five (count em) five little steps

to apply as a Squidoo-supported nonprofit.

Step One: Create a lens about your organization! 

Go ahead and build a lens. About your organization, the work you do, your mission, your goals, your donors, your favorite success stories, the 5 things people should know about your cause, about your best volunteers.

To get started, you'll need a squidoo account if you don't already have one. It's totally free to get started, just sign up here.

Once you've done that, you can click create a lens to start your first lens. Just follow the directions and play around a bit. It you need help, Margaret is our First Lens Mentor (a passionate volunteer here to help you!) and has a great lens about building your first lens.

Feel free to start out short and sweet, and don't worry, you can always perfect it as you go!

Besides helping us learn more about your organization, spending a little time to build a lens will also help you get familiar with our lens-building process, so you tell your volunteers about it and get them to create lenses for you. (That's the big win, really. But I digress...)

Tips for your "About our organization" lens 

Your "about us" lens should be an all-inclusive lens that tells us about your organization. Just like a website has different pages, you can use a variety of building blocks, or "modules" to show off your stuff.

Visit "About Your Charity" for more tips on building your "about us" lens.
  • What are you all about?
    Tell us about your organization. When was it founded, and why? What is your purpose, your mission, your vision? What do you do on a day-to-day basis? Do you have fundraisers? Contests? Events? Training?
  • Include a link for your organization's website, please!
  • Who are you?
    Lensmasters and readers are much more likely to identify with you if they know who you are and what you're all about. So post pictures, tell us your name, and give us someone real to talk to. We should also know who the main contact person is (you, probably), so we can keep you up-to-date about special stuff.
  • Where are you?
    Where are you located, and how can people use your services?
  • How can volunteers get involved?
    Besides building great lenses, how can interested volunteers contact you and get involved? What can they do to help out? What are the time or financial requirements?
  • P.S. Be sure to include your org's logo on the lens!

STOP! About that lens...

Creating a lens for your charity is a task that should be given a lot of thought. Read here for more tips on creating that winning lens, or have one started for you.

Step Two: Sign up for PayPal 

there are like a billion people using it. it's safe.

Before you do anything else, go set up your PayPal account for your organization. You'll need it to receive royalties and donations. Sorry, we can't send checks.

We pay all our lensmasters and charities via PayPal. PayPal is a system of sending and collecting funds via email addresses.

If you're not familiar with how PayPal works, you can learn more at PayPal's help system.

We've also written a short explanation of how PayPal works for you on Squidoo. Keep in mind that for PayPal technical support you can contact them directly through their help system.

Step Three: Get the Goods 

Sign up for our Squidoo Charity newsletter

Sign up for our Charity Network Newsletter so you'll get all the important updates about charities on Squidoo and your account.

No, we don't spam or sell your email address or hassle you or kick puppies. But we do ask that in order to apply as a Squidoo-supported charity, you grab the newsletter so that we can stay in touch with each other. We'd be sad to have fun contests and new features and big donations to give, and no way to let you know about it!

Here's where you go to get the newsletter. Go, go do it now!

Step Three and a Half

One more time, here's how you get the Charity Newsletter. Have fun. Sign up here.

Step Four: Whip up a logo and blurb 

In order to showcase your charity for Squidoo and the world to see, and add your organization to our donations module, we need your logo and a short blurb about your organization. Images are best sent in JPG, GIF, or PNG format and are under 1 MB. The description MUST be 256 characters or less, including spaces, in order to fit in the space allowed for the Donations Module.

*NOTE: failing to keep the blurb under 256 characters (including spaces) is the number one reason applications get denied the first time around. You can double-check this in a word processor.

What does the Donations module look like? 

Here's an example of Chimp Haven's Donation module. It gives you an idea of how to write a blurb and pick a graphic to represent your organization.

Don't go bananas on us yet...your application is nearly done!

Chimp Haven serves as The National Chimpanzee Sanctuary. We are an independent, nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide lifetime care for chimpanzees who have been retired from medical research, the entertainment industry or no longer wanted as

We at Squidoo passionately believe in creating new ways to support good causes online. By making a donation to Chimp Haven from this page, you are sending money directly to that organization, in whatever amount you want. We don't touch it. We don't even see it. The author of this page doesn't either. And if you made it this far, thanks for caring.

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Step Five: Send us a note! 

Okay, when you've done Steps 1 though 4 above (told you it was easy), it's time to apply!

Send a note to charitysignup@squidoo.com with these four things:
  • 0. Your official name as you want it to appear (30 characters or less is best).
  • 1. Your "about us" lens link (the URL). This will include all the accurate info about who you are, what your org does, what your goals are, etc.
  • 2. Your 501(c)(3) information. (Your tax-exempt #.)
  • 3. The PayPal email address where you want to receive your donations.
  • 4. Your logo and short blurb (256 characters or less).
  • BONUS: tell us why you want to be a Squidoo non-profit! If you have any special aims or online goals in mind, we'd love to help you achieve them.

Okay, you applied. Now what? 

When we receive your application we'll take a peek to make sure it's all in order and that you've included all the information required. If something is missing, we'll send you a note so that you can finish your application.

Then, if your organization is approved as a Squidoo-supported nonprofit, we'll contact you within 7 days to share the good news!

Photo used under Creative Commons by J. Star.

One more time:

A complete application includes:

1. Your About Us lens (this will have a link to your organization's website, and details about what you do, right?)
2. Sign up for PayPal and tell us which email address you want your donations to go to.
3. Sign up for our charity newsletter.
4. Whip up a logo and blurb for us to use.

Include all of this and your 501(c)3 info in your note to charitysignup@squidoo.com

Hooray for charities!

What about non-US charities?

Sorry, with the way US tax laws are set, our tiny team can't handle the amount of red tape involved with donating to non-US, non-501(c)(3) charities at this time. Of course, charities are still welcome to create lenses and accept donations directly!

Have questions about the sign-up process? 

If you're stuck on the sign-up process, leave a note here and we'll help you out. Be sure to leave your email address so we can contact you. (No email will mean no reply. Sorry!)

(Sign-up questions only please! If you've already submitted an application and are just waiting for approval, or are already a sponsored charity, please use the contact info we've sent you for those questions. Thanks!)

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Of course

... it's not about just becoming a partner charity... it's about what you're going to do with that power once you're here.

While you wait... 

While you're waiting to see if your application was accepted, or if you just want to do a little extra research and reading, here are some great lenses to tell you more.
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Donate to a Worthwhile Cause 

Acumen Fund is a non-profit global venture fund that uses entrepreneurial approaches to solve the problems of global poverty.

We at Squidoo passionately believe in creating new ways to support good causes online. By making a donation to Acumen Fund from this page, you are sending money directly to that organization, in whatever amount you want. We don't touch it. We don't even see it. The author of this page doesn't either. And if you made it this far, thanks for caring.

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by SquidooKimberly

I'm Kimberly, your Community & Charity Organizer on Squidoo. Check out these lenses for more helpful tips on using your favorite internet service - Sq... (more)

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