Working With Friends Groups
This article, by Sara Lowman and Mary Bixby, talks about the
Friends of Fondren Library at Rice University and how instrumental they are in helping
create interest and event to support the library.
Friends of the library are great advocates of the library. They
can help raise money for special projects that the library is trying to do.
They can also host events that can create interest in the library and help
raise the number of patrons that visit the library and materials checked out of
the library. If librarians are nice to their Friends then their friends will be
nice to them. Friends can help build loyalty with the community, so that the
community will support the library. A library that has Friends shows that the
library is a part of the community that the community wants to try to give back
to the library.
Key Donor Cultivation
This article, by Thomas Leonhardt, talks about cultivating
donors of the library.
This article has good ideas for seeking external funds from
outside donors. It is important to have an “elevator speech” or an answer ready
when a current or potential donor asks about what the library is doing. Having
a fundraising board is very helpful in focusing on the outside donors of the
library. The board, once it gets big enough, sounds just like a library board
but focuses on outside donors and does not have to follow the strict rules of a
public library board. The board would have more time to “romance” the donors
for their donations. It is also important to recognize donors when they make donations
to the library because they will know that the library appreciates the donation
and be inclined to donate again at a later date. The article also talked about
having a strategic plan for the donations that do come in and having a priority
order shopping list in which the money will go the most important thing on the
list at that time. Strategic plans, which we learned about last week, is a
great way to focus donations that are coming into the library and put the money
where it is need the most.
We Would If We Could, But It Is Not In The Budget
This article, by Jack Goodman, shows different examples of
partnering with other organizations and gives a step by step guide to
partnering.
Partnering with other organizations is not a new idea to me.
I have learned about partnering with other organizations in Youth Services
class and learning to set the library apart by offering programs that others
can do better and partnering with others to do programs at the library. The step
by step guide is expanded already-put-into-words guide of what I have learned
about partnering. It was interesting the different partnerships formed by the
libraries in the article and that when the grants ran out and the program was
very successful, the library made room in their budget to continue the program.
Amy:
ReplyDeleteI found the article by Leonhardt this week held my attention greatly. And as you mentioned he layed out very well how to "romance" your donars....but also people important in cultivating your future pipeline of resources and funding. This author got down to business and said it like it is....and so many points he made i understood from the point of the university activity. This activity can be misunderstood by people not involved closely as spending the funds in manners that are over the top and blowing the funding. Unfortunately, it is a long standing expectation to operate this way to achieve success with your program...and often the most clever person/group will win the carrot at the end of the stick.
I think that Leonhardt did have an interesting and valid method in how to raise donations for the library. The methods implemented to "romance" the donors is a common method many people use in business to gain clients and other beneficiaries. In a sense I think that the it's simply like networking, getting to know the "whos who". Also, the strategic planning is also a great method to use because it helps the library work with the areas in most need.
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