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6 Ways to Help a Charity

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6 Easy Ways to Support Charities and NonProfits on Squidoo

Squidoo make it easy for lensmasters to support a variety of charities, simply by making a lens or a webpage. All it takes is a little bit of your time and you can make a lens that will support your favorite charity...forever.

Using the concept of Microdonations, Squidoo makes it easy for people to raise money for a charity they care about. The company's goal is to raise a hundred million dollars for charity a lens at a time.

Let's take a look at 6 easy ways to support charities and nonprofits on Squidoo.

Image Source: Composite Image. © Kirsti A. Dyer

The 6 Ways to Help Charity

  1. 1. Make a Lens.
  2. 2. Make Another Lens.
  3. 3. Spread the Word within the Squidoo Community.
  4. 4. Start a Group.
  5. 5. Spread the Word Outside the Squidoo Community.
  6. 6. Apply or Encourage Your Favorite Charity to become a NonProfit Member.

1. Make a Lens.

Making a contribution to Charity is simple. All it just takes is just a little bit of time to make a lens. Creating a lens can take 30-45 minutes or less if you are experienced with making Squidoo lenses.

To get started:
    1. Make a lens on something related to the charity, or something else you care about.

    Start by clicking the "Make a Lens" button on this page.


    2. Be sure that you select your favorite Charity from the pull down menu as the beneficiary for the lens Payment Options.

    3. Publish your lens.
When making lenses for charity, please be sure that you submit a quality lens to generate funds for your charity.

Getting Started with the Official How to eBook From Squidoo

Learning how to make a web page or lens for Squidoo can be easy if you follow the directions in the free eBook, Calamari! The Official How to from Squidoo.

This eBook takes you through lens making process from the beginning to publishing and then promoting.

This free "How to" resource is a complete guidebook to help people understand Squidoo. The eBook was written by the people who know Squidoo best, founder Seth Godin and Editor in Chief, Megan Casey.
The free guidebook to Squidoo: Calamari!
Seth's lens page for the free guidebook to Squidoo: Calamari!
Calamari! The Official How to from Squidoo
The direct link to the pdf file of the free Squidoo how to.

How to Make a 20 Minute Lens

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2. Make Another Lens.

The more lenses you build, the more traffic you'll generate.
The more traffic you generate, the more money you'll raise for your charity!Every lens you build has the ability to raise money indefinitely for your charity. Once you have made one lens make another.

The more lenses you build, the more supporters you can get to build lenses, the more traffic you'll generate. The more traffic you generate, the more money you'll raise for your charity!

Do the Math
If you get 500 supporters to make 1 lens each and that lens generated only a $1.00 every month, over the course of a month all of those dollars would add up to $500 per month and eventually $6,000 per year.

That's a lot of money coming from Squidoo going to your charity!

And all you had to do was make a lens, for free.

How to Make Squidoo Lens

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Easy Ways to Improve Your Lens

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3. Spread the Word within the Squidoo Community.

There are many different ways to spread the word about your lens and your charity within the Squidoo Community.
  • SquidCast
    A SquidCast is a way to send an announcement about your lens or an update to all your fans at once. The SquidCast shows up under the "My favorites" category.
  • Squidu
    Squidu is a place where lensmasters learn to build better lenses. It includes a forum for posting messages and reading about the latest Squidoo information.
  • Lensroll
    Lensroll has been referred to as DIGG for Squidoo Lenses. This is one place where you can submit your latest lens and have other people check it out.
  • Isle of Squid
    The Isle of Squid is a Directory of Squidoo Pages that have been screened for quality. It is another place where you can submit your latest lens so other people can find out about it.
  • Squoogle
    Squoogle is an article directory site for publishers who place their content on HubPages, Squidoo, Gather and Associated Content. Lensmasters, Hub Authors and Content Producers are welcome to submit and categorize their best articles.
  • SquidTop
    SquidTop is a way that lensmasters can quickly and easily set up a blog to post about your Squidoo lenses or experiences.
  • Squidoo Lensmaster's Blogs
    Once you create a blog to write about your Squidoo lenses, you can submit your blogs to the Squidoo Lensmaster's Blog where all of the Squidoo related blogs are found in one place.

More about Sending a SquidCast

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Places to Spread the Word within the Squidoo Community

SquidU
SquidU is Squidoo's learning community, where lensmasters learn to build better lenses.
Lensroll Networking / Popular Lenses
Social bookmarking for Squidoo lens masters to share relevant content. Build links, increase traffic, make money for yourself.
Isle of Squid
The Isle of Squid is a Directory of the Best lenses on Squidoo.
Squoogle Article Link Directory
Our aim is to harness the collective power of the finest online publishing sites on the Internet. Lensmasters, Hub Authors, Content Producers, et al, are welcome to submit and categorize their best articles .
SquidTop
A place to create custom Squidoo blogs for Squidoo Lensmasters.
Squidoo Lensmasters Blogs
All the Squidoo related blogs in one place.

Featured Lenses Spreading the Word within the Squidoo Community

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4. Start a Group.

Not only can you make a lens to benefit charities, but you can also create a group to benefit your favorite Squidoo Charity.

Making a group to benefit your favorite Squidoo Charity is simple. It just takes a bit of time to get the group set up.

You can have a group set up within 30 minutes.

To get started:
    1. Pick a topic for the group, something related to the charity, or something else you care about. When you are ready start by clicking the Create a Group link on this page or go to the Group section of your dashboard.

    2. Be sure you select your favorite Charity from the pull down menu as the beneficiary for the lens Payment Options.

    3. Publish your group.
Please be sure that you create a quality group that gets a lot of traffic to generate funds for your favorite charity.

Examples of Groups Donating to Charity

The Charity Giants Headquarters
The Charity Giants This group is all about letting Giant Squids give something back through their lenses.
The Squidoo Activist Group Headquarters
The Squidoo Activist Group is to highlight lenses made by Squidoo Activists. All of the lenses in this group support Squidoo Charity Fund or other Squidoo charities.
We the People - Support the Troops Headquarters
We support the troops by making lenses that benefit organizations helping those who serve and their families.
Help Africa Headquarters
This group supports anyone striving to improve the lives of people living in Africa. We have many hard working and dedicated members, and invite you to view our lenses, rate them, link to them, and help us spread the word.
HIV / AIDS Awareness Group Headquarters
The HIV/AIDS Awareness Group was created to highlight lenses about people, organizations, events or other useful information and resources regarding HIV or AIDS.

How to Make a Squidoo Group on YouTube

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How to Create a Group to Support Charity

Two lenses with information on starting a charity group.
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5. Spread the Word Outside the Squidoo Community.

Remember the old Breck ad?
    I told two friends,
    and they told two friends,
    and so on, and so on,
    and so on
That is kind of what spreading the word is like about your Squidoo Charity Project. Emailing one person, who emails another person, who emails another person and a another.

Eventually the word gets out to other people who might be able to make a lens that you are trying to raise funds for your charity, for free on Squidoo.

Ways to Spread the Word Outside of Squidoo

There are many different ways of using the Internet and Web 2.0 applications to help spread messages and promote your charity.

Some of them you can launch directly from your lens page. Just look for the Bookmark and Share section on the page you want to promote to get started.

  1. Twitter
    Twitter is becoming a powerful and quick tool to help in promoting a Squidoo Lens.
  2. Delicious
    A social bookmarking for the masses. This bookmarking service is actually an invaluable marketing and promotions tool to help spread the word about your Squidoo lens.
  3. StumbleUpon
    StumbleUpon helps people discover and share great websites by matching interests to the person's personal preferences.
  4. Digg
    A place for people to discover and share content from anywhere on the web. Digg is a social media website that allows its users to submit stories and webpages that they find interesting.
  5. Facebook
    A social networking utility that connects you with the people around you. Facebook is another place where you can share and post your Squidoo charity lens.
  6. MySpace
    An online community that lets you meet your friends' friends.
  7. YouTube
    YouTube is the leader in online video allowing people to easily upload and share video clips. If you have Video Clips or Public Service Announcements for your charity, this is a great way to get them available for people to view.
  8. Docstoc
    Docstoc is an online community and professional network geared around user generated, professional documents. If you have PowerPoint Presentations for your chariy, this is a great way to get them available for people to view.

How to Promote Your Lens Outside of Squidoo

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Places to Share the News about Your Lens

Links to resources you can use to help spread the word about your charity lens or project.
Twitter
Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co-workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers.
Delicious
Delicious social bookmarking for the masses.
StumbleUpon
StumbleUpon discovers web sites based on your interests, learns what you like and brings you more. Discover your web with StumbleUpon.
Digg
Digg is a place for people to discover and share content from anywhere on the web. From the biggest online destinations to the most obscure blog, Digg surfaces the best stuff as voted on by our users.
Facebook
Facebook is a social utility that connects you with the people around you.
MySpace
MySpace is an online community that lets you meet your friends' friends.
YouTube
A place where you can broadcast yourself and share your videos with friends, family, and the world.
Docstoc
Docstoc is a community for people to find and share professional documents. Find free legal documents and free business documents.

6. Apply or Encourage Your Favorite Charity to become a NonProfit Member.

One last thing that you can do for a Charity is to encourage them to get on board and apply to be one of the Squidoo NonProfit Charities.

Nonprofits can join with Squidoo to harness the power of the Internet and use Microdonations to raise funds for their charity. Squidoo has developed a quick, free way for people to contribute while giving nonprofits branding and outgoing links on pages built by their friends and members.

Every day, the lens pages built on Squidoo earn money for charity. Those little bits of donations, the spare change or microdonations add up over time.

Let's Do the Math Again
If you get 500 supporters to make 1 lens each and that lens generated only a $1.00 every month, over the course of a month all of those dollars would add up to $500 per month and eventually $6,000 per year.

That's a lot of money coming from Squidoo going to your charity!

And all you had to do was make a lens, for free.

How Lensmasters are Getting Charities Connected to Squidoo

Stories about how everyday lensmasters are getting their favorite charities approved as Squidoo charities.
That's the way to do it! - Getting Operation Helmet Registered
Chef Keem shows us how it's done from Anne Reidy's Cheerleading for Charity Blog.
Care about a charity?
Christine a.k.a. The_Homeopath got Long Hopes set up as a partner charity.

How to Become a Squidoo Charity Lens

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The Squidoo Answer Deck

Hundreds of pages of useful answers. Run by community experts

The Squidoo Answer Deck is a series of lenses created by the people who know Squidoo the best, the people who use Squidoo day in and out, the lensmasters.

The Squidoo Answer Deck comes from the community experts. There are hundreds of lenses with FAQs, how-to's, tips and tricks about using Squidoo from the Squidoo experts.

More Answer Deck Lenses on Charities

FAQ: Donating to Charity
Squidoo is a great way to earn money for charity. This lens will answer our most frequently asked questions about how you can send money to charity.
Make A Lens, Make A Difference
This lens is your guide to fundraising or spreading awareness on Squidoo.
What are the Squidoo Charities?
Squidoo has partnered with dozens of incredible charities and nonprofits, who are leading the Org 2.0 revolution to harness the power of the Internet to raise funds for charity.
Who are Squidoo's Charities and NonProfit Partners?
Squidoo.com currently supports more than 90 nonprofit organizations, from the country's most popular causes right down to tiny local animal shelters. This lens focuses on all of the Squidoo Charities and NonProfit Partners.
How to Become a Squidoo NonProfit Charity
Squidoo was founded by Seth Godin for one purpose, to raise a hundred million dollars for charity. To do this Squidoo would like to help NonProfits raise money, drive traffic to your website and spread your story about your charity.
Squidoo Charity
Squidoo can do some amazing things - it gives lots of people a platform on whatever they choose. Did you know it can also do great things for charities? Lensmasters can raise awareness for their favorite cause and raise money to boot.
What is the Squidoo Charity Fund?
The Squidoo Charity Fund is a general charity fund on Squidoo. The fund was developed for those lensmasters who want to donate their royalties to charity but are unable to decide which one.
The Squidoo Charity Answer Deck
The Squidoo Charity Answer Deck contains hand-selected useful lenses for people interested in promoting or raising funds for charity.
Make, Manage & Promote a Squidoo Charity Group
Creating a Group on Squidoo is another way to help raise funds and promote your favorite charity. A Squidoo Group is a great way to organize and feature lenses made by your supporters and help spread the message of your charity.
Creating a Group to support a charity
Welcome to Creating a Group to Support a Charity class. Here you will find not only a written tutorial of how to create a group to support a charity, but I've included a video tutorial as well.

Time for a little Q&A

Post your questions and suggestions on the How to Help Charities below.

I'll do my best to answer them for you here.

  • Tipi Feb 14, 2011 @ 8:54 pm | delete
    Very clearly stated! I've lensrolled to my Charity Assessment - Charity is LOVE lens.
  • chefkeem Aug 11, 2008 @ 3:32 pm | delete
    The ultimate tutorial for charity lenses. Super job, Kirsti! 5*s
Show All

P.S. Still stuck?

Drop by our SquidU.com forum. Ask for help, don't be stingy, be sure to smile, and we're betting someone will come to the rescue.

Created by a Squidoo Activist

The 6 Ways to Help a Charity lens was created by one of the Squidoo Activists as one of a series support lenses with information for the Squidoo Activists.

This series of Charity Focused Answer Deck Lenses was developed to help these Champions for Charity to do even more for charities and NonProfits using Squidoo.

Benefiting the Squidoo Charity Fund

This lens benefits the Squidoo Charity Fund, created for lensmasters who want to donate their royalties to charity, but can't decide where to send them.

Doesn't that make you feel good?

Image: Squid Donating. © Kirsti A. Dyer. Some Rights Reserved.

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SquidooLibris

SquidooLibris has been created as the archive account for lensmaster Comfortdoc. In this account you will find older lenses, old abandoned groups (like... more »

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