Home > Charity > Show and Tell, with Image and Video

When you live in a small town or close neighborhood you get to see first hand how non-profits help your friends and family. Online, it’s a bit different. That’s why photos are so important for telling your story.

LindaJM, our Image and Video Mentor, is here to help you use visual aids to connect with users and become real to them.

Squidoo: Linda, charities are often new to Squidoo, but what are three quick things they can do to improve their lenses?

LindaJM: Here are my suggestions for making a charity lens more attractive and effective using images and videos:

a) Include large, colorful photographs of people (or animals) being helped by your organization. The photos in the Intro Modules on most charity lenses need to be replaced or enlarged. Most of them were uploaded before the Intro Module was changed so that it would accept larger images. A large Intro Module photo makes the lens look much better! You can make them 250px by 375px, and at that size they would attract a lot of positive attention.

b) Create a video about your organization, upload it to YouTube, and place it on your Squidoo lens using the Video Module.

c) Create a Power Point presentation about your organization’s goals, upload it to SlideShare.Com, and put it on your lens using the SlideShare module.

Squidoo: Do you have any favorite charity lenses that do something well?

LindaJM: Global Youth Village is one of my favorite charity lenses because there are some great photographs of the young people who have attended the camp. There’s also a very well-produced short video showing how much fun teenagers are having at this wonderful camp.

I also like how First Book used their logo as the image in the Intro Module. For a charity lens, this seems most appropriate. First Book also has a slide show on the lens, and a video. You can really see how much the children love getting those books! That encourages me to want to donate.

Squidoo: What’s one very cool thing you’d love to see on a Charity lens?

LindaJM: I’d like to see more personal stories on charity lenses. These could be short human-interest articles written by donors to tell why they chose to give to your organization, or by recipients of aid. People love to read personal stories. They stimulate human emotions and cause people to want to participate. Combine those personal stories with compelling photos, and your charity lens is sure to be memorable.

These are tips we can ALL agree on! LindaJM is spot-on when she says photos, action shots, and human interest stories are powerful catalysts for donors. Be sure to get that camera out for your next event, and snap a few shots to add to your lens. Need help? Our Image and Video Mentor has you covered!