Voting is closed and ballots are tallied, congrats to Marine Parents for winning our $3,000 charity giveaway!
As you know, this contest was different from past contests. In order to be eligible, charities first had to pay an entry fee if you will. They had to build ten great lenses in just seven days! Over thirty charities showed interest in the challenge, and eight finalists met it, with the help of dedicated volunteers and lensmasters.
With nearly 75% of the votes, Marine Parents took a strong lead in our contest, and won the prize. Here’s what they had to say about how they’d spend $3,000: “We could certainly use the $3,000 to help with the renovations of our new corporate office and/or for the shipping costs to send care packages to our Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan in August.”
While we had a great time putting together this contest, our savviest charities know that contests aren’t the end all of generating donations through Squidoo. For this contest alone, in less than two days, nearly 7500 people stopped by the contest page to vote. Wow! 7500! That’s 7500 registered users who care enough about the future of our partner charities to stop what they’re doing and take action.
The real question is, what are these 7500 people going to do to continue supporting charities above and beyond this one contest?
Let me share a story about charity lenses. A few years ago, I had a problem. My dog was munching through tennis balls like crazy, and it was getting expensive. I built a lens with links to used, bulk tennis balls, figuring it was kind of a goofy thing, and I’d be the only one to use it. I set the royalties to go to charity, and totally forgot about it. But a few months later I realized it was really taking off. People were commenting on the guestbook and buying tennis balls. I was getting referrals from eBay and Amazon sales, and traffic from search engines.
In two years, that lens has generated over $250 for the Humane Society, and I put maybe 30 minutes worth of work into it. That’s $10 a month of easy money that is helping put puppies in loving homes. Even if the lens only made $1 per month, it was 30 minutes well spent.
This means if you could get just TEN volunteers to spend 30 minutes a week to build a lens to support your cause, and each lens made just $1 a month, in two years you could generate over $11,900 to fulfill your mission. Um…wow! It costs your volunteers nothing, and we bet they’ll have a heck of a lot of fun doing it. How does that compare to your current fundraisers’ ROI? Could you find ten volunteers who love you enough to do that?
Over 30 partner charities told us what they would do with $3,000 and we were amazed. The needs of these charities are so real, so immediate, and so worthy. They’re all right here on Squidoo, ready to show you how to help them make our communities better. Visit these charities, learn more about them, and consider sending a donation or making a lens to support them.
WWCD: What Would Charities Do with $3,000?
We want to see that happen, and we want to show you how to use the tools Squidoo offers to accomplish that goal and others. That’s why we’re ramping up the charity resources on Squidoo to provide more training, more partnership opportunities, and more one-on-one answers to your questions.
Keep an eye on the Charity Network Newsletter for more details coming soon. (subscribe here)
I’m looking forward to working with you!
~Kimberly Dawn Wells
YOUR Community & Charity Organizer
