The Official Squidoo Thanksgiving Cookoff (for Charity)

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Ranked #3 in Food, #9 overall

Donating $1000 a day to charity

Starting November 2nd, Squidoo is donating $1000 to charity every day through Thanksgiving.

With a $5000 grand prize on Thanksgiving Day.

To enter and raise money (for free) for your favorite charity on our list, just make a foody lens. Great apple pie recipes, best locally grown squashes, tried and true baking secrets, best coffeemaker recommendations, your family's Thanksgiving menu -- anything and everything food or kitchen, it all goes.

Read on for details. It's simple, powerful, and a great way to be thankful this holiday season.

P.S. Lovely pumpkin photo courtesy of Muffet on Flickr.

Why we're hosting a Charity Cookoff 

Raising money for charity is a huge part of why we started Squidoo

We've invented a completely new way to raise money (for free) for charity online. It's called Squidoo.

Yes, Squidoo's been running for a few years, and yes, we've already given away hundreds of thousands of dollars to incredible organizations like The Acumen Fund, Room to Read and JDRF. But that's not enough.

Not enough organizations are ready and eager and fearless enough to empower their volunteers and let them each make a page about something (anything) they care about. A page that raises money for that charity, for free, every month, forever.

So for the month of November, we're making it even easier for smart charities to get on board.

How it works 

Win $1000 for the charity of your choice, for free

Starting November 2nd 2009, Squidoo will be giving away $1000 to charity every day through Thanksgiving. With a $5000 grand prize vote-off on Thanksgiving Day.

If you want to:

* Win $1000 for your favorite charity on our list of over 100 charities
* And get featured as the Lens of the Day (with exposure to over 100,000 people)
* And have fun sharing your best food and kitchen tips and recommendations.
*And even get a cute exclusive Thanksgiving theme on your lens....

Then enter the virtual Cookoff here!

All you do is create a great 'foody' lens on Squidoo as part of the contest. That's it. Lenses are free and easy webpages to make. Could be about your grandmother's pumpkin pie recipe, your family's thanksgiving dinner menu, tried and true baking secrets, top 5 holiday coffee flavors -- anything and everything food, it all goes. Every day we (that's us at Squidoo HQ) will pick 1 lens we like best, post the winner on our Lens of the Day blog, and award the charity you selected $1000.

It's that simple. Real people raising money for charity, just by making free lenses about the stuff they love most.

Pie photo courtesy caitlinator on Flickr.

How to enter 

Just a few rules 

It's pretty simple

1. Your Thanksgiving Cookoff lens must be created as part of this project. Existing, earlier lenses don't count.

2. When you make your lens, change the royalty setting (in your lens Workshop) to give 100% to the charity on our list that you like the most. That's how we'll know which organization to donate the money to.

3. If you steal or cheat or fake anyone out, we'll disqualify you and delete your lenses. If you enter with a bunch of empty, spammy lenses, we'll do the same.

4. Yes you can make as many lenses for the Cookoff as you'd like! The more great food lenses you make, the better your chances of getting picked. Maybe. Maybe all it takes is one tremendous one. Your call.

5. We'll post every day (weekends too) on the very popular Lens of the Day blog, starting November 2nd, with the daily winning Cookoff lens.

6. Participating nonprofits: Yes, absolutely, you should invite as many donors and volunteers and friends to enter. It's free. And the real win is that you get donations, for free, every month, for every lens, long after this contest is over. It really adds up.

7. The Grand Prize: On Thanksgiving Day 2009, we'll take all 25 winning lenses from earlier in the month and put them into a big vote-off. The lens with the most votes by November 30th 2009 wins $5,000 for the charity it supports.

P.S. Give yourself a leg up 

Make as good a lens as you know how.

Make it genuine and tasty and useful and full of recommendations and howtos and photos and comments.

You can even nominate yourself, to be sure your lens gets noticed, at squidoocookoff@squidoo.com. But we'll be picking whatever catches our eye, whether you nominate or not.

Have fun. If you need help, stop by SquidU and ask the veterans for some hints!

Cupcake photo via kristinausk on Flickr.

We'll post each day's winner on the official Lens of the Day blog 

Nov 16, 2009 @ 2:26 pmSpice Tea. Ahhhh? from Squidoo Lens of the Day
What a stressful day! I can't wait until later when I can kick back with a relaxing cup of hot tea. Ahhh...and Sylvestermouse makes it so easy with her wonderful Spice Tea Recipe. Great as a treat f...
Nov 15, 2009 @ 5:58 pmKick Back with a Thanksgiving Movie from Squidoo Lens of the Day
My movie from earlier this afternoon (Mystery Science Theater: 3000) wasn't exactly Thanksgiving related, but it sure was nice to kick back this afternoon and watch (snooze through) a favorite flick....
Nov 14, 2009 @ 8:00 amColor your Food from Squidoo Lens of the Day
Thanksgiving is a great time to teach kids about food: about being thankful for it, about giving it, and about what makes it good for you. Lensmaster GonnaFly makes it easy with her selection of Food...
Nov 13, 2009 @ 3:44 pmGarden Fresh Pumpkin Pie from Squidoo Lens of the Day
To me, pumpkin pie from scratch means making it out of a can instead of buying it from Sara Lee. To lensmaster PJWuebker it means growing a pumpkin, picking it, slicing and dicing it, and turning it...
Nov 12, 2009 @ 8:00 amHave a Wild Turkey Day from Squidoo Lens of the Day
Most Thanksgiving fans know turkey comes in an enormous frozen lump from the grocery store. But where did they come from before that? And what happens to wild turkeys when they are harvested? Learn h...

Nonprofit Signup 

It's free to you, too

If you're already a Squidoo partner nonprofit... Great! You're in. You can start telling your friends and supporters about the Cookoff right now. The more lenses people make for your nonproft, the better your chances of winning, as well as the more free donations you'll get from Squidoo month in and month out, forever.

If you're not a partner yet.. .and you work for a nonprofit organization and want to get in on the Food Drive as a beneficiary (so you can win $1000 or $5000 for your org) -- please hurry. We want to include you. Just send us a note at squidoocookoff@squidoo.com with these five things:

1. Your organization's name and a quick blurb about what you do.
2. A link to your org's site.
3. Your 501(c)(3) info.
4. Contact name.
5. Paypal address where you can receive donations.

Here's a lens with a lot more info, but the above is everything you need to do in order to participate in the Squidoo Thanksgiving Cookoff for Charity. Thanks.

Comments on the Cookoff 

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by MeganCasey

Welcome to the Charity Cookoff 2009! We're delighted to be able to give away so much money to charity. (more)
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