Spring is the time of year for library fundraisers in Northeast Pennsylvania. The season kicked off on March 5 at Tunkhannock Public Library

with “The Perfect Pair,” a wine and beer tasting event featuring six wines and six beers paired with specific hor d’oeuvres complimenting the beverages perfectly.  The library was decorated with white lights; white tablecloths were spread over the bookcases; food was arranged on tables and bookcases; a chocolate fountain bubbled, and live music played softly in the background.  There were raffle prizes, silent auction items and a live auction featuring a yellow and chocolate diamond necklace.  It was a fun evening.  The tickets were $35 per person.

On April 2, Hawley Library had their 2nd Annual Book Lover’s Ball at Ehrhardt’s Waterfront Banquet Center on Lake Wallenpaupack in Wayne County.  The “First Chapter” hor d’oeuvres are from Italy, France, China, Mexico and Poland.  Then the “Main Plot” is served buffet style with international dishes, and the “Conclusion” is a 50th Anniversary theme cake for the library. The festive evening included a silent auction and dancing.  The tickets were $40 per person or $75 per couple.

April 16 is Library Auction Night at Susquehanna County Library

in Montrose.  This year marks their 13th annual auction of art, antiques, collectibles, special baskets, jewelry, extraordinary desserts, gift certificates, furniture, event tickets, and many more useful, fun, and unique items.  The dinner is a Summer Barbeque, and tickets are only $8 for dinner and a full evening’s entertainment.

Wayne County Library in Honesdale has their 4th annual wine tasting, “In Good Taste,” on April 29.  The local Ford dealership empties out its showroom and lets the library decorate it for the event, and it looks spectacular.  You wouldn’t know you were in a car dealership.  This year’s event has a South American theme and wines.  It is a fun evening with delicious food, fine wine, and lots of great raffle prizes.  Tickets are $28.

Another fun fundraiser is  Susquehanna County Library’s Author Luncheon on May 18.  This will be their 3rd annual luncheon, and this year’s author is nationally known writer Amy Dickinson, author of the New York Times best-seller The Mighty Queens of Freeville, columnist (“Ask Amy”), and NPR personality (Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me, Talk of the Nation).  The event will be a sit-down lunch at the Summit Restaurant in New Milford, and there are always unique raffle prizes.  Tickets are $25.

As you can see there is a range of events and ticket prices.  Libraries charge what they think their community will support, and they couldn’t have these fundraisers without the support of their community.  The board of trustees plays a very important part in fundraisers because without the hard work of the board, most successful fundraisers wouldn’t happen.   The libraries also get sponsors for their fundraisers, and these are the people and businesses who go the second mile with their support.   It truly takes a “Library Community” to make a successful library fundraiser.

Can or should libraries do something similar, such as slipping an advertiser’s coupon or information in a checked-out book?  
 How much money could libraries make on this?  Should we save ‘book loading’  for our own pleas for funding?  

What do you think?

Here’s the school article: 
Roman, Jesse.  “Notes to Parents Soon to Have Ads,” Salem News (Education Week, October 1, 2010).

Partner with local artists or put local celebrities to work in fundraisers such as these:

Paint a chair fundraiser OR Decorate a doll fundraiser OR have them decorate the cover of a book (a blank one or a ‘book sale’ item).  Then auction them off at fantastic prices (of course, after they have been displayed at the library! Have any libraries done something similar?  Share!

Restaurant Night
Information on holding restaurant night fundraisers is provided by The Fundraising for Small Groups Newsletter.

Read about other fundraising events to stimulate your own ideas (or to copy)! 
Did you hear the one about the polar bear dip or fundraising dance competitions?  Take that and create something new!  Hey!  Why not a dancing competition in the library stacks—special moves and points for dancing in the mystery aisle? or dancing  in reference? dancing with Dewey?!!!!)  ok, I am stopping now…. Get ideas at sites such as the Association of Fundraising Professionals

Preston, Caroline.  “Five Trends Help to Create “Nonprofits of the Future,” Chronicles of Philanthropy. November 9, 2009. http://philanthropy.com/news/updates/index.php?id=10105

Cohen, Rick. “Amaze your Friends with these Nonprofit factoids,” Blue Avocado http://www.blueavocado.org/node/460 (November 4, 2009)

Anderson, Katya. “Four Essential Tweaks to Your Appeal in a Recession,” Katya’s Non-Profit Marketing Blog October 26, 2009 http://www.nonprofitmarketingblog.com/site/four_essential_tweaks_to_your_appeals_in_a_recession/

ENDOWMENTS and FOUNDATIONS

Martignetti, Tony “Get Going On Planned Giving” Guidestar November 2009
http://www2.guidestar.org/rxa/news/articles/2009/get-going-on-planned-giving.aspx?source=nov09nwsltr

FORUMS/TRAINING

December 8th
“Is Your Story Big Enough? Uncover the emotional spark that turns current and potential supporters into true believers”
Register for any of the free Nonprofit 911 training series provided by  Network for Good  at http://www.fundraising123.org/training

FREE OR SOMEWHAT FREE

Free multimedia–also learn more about public domain:
Dybwab, Barabra. “Website for 26 Places to Find Free Multimedia for your Blog,” http://mashable.com/2009/08/04/free-blog-media/, Aug 24 2009

Free web services through Grassroots.org and Taprootfoundation.org.  Find out more at FundraisingIP:
http://www.fundraisingip.com/fundraising/find-free-web-services-for-your-non-profit/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+FundraisingIP+%28FundraisingIP.com+Fundraising+Ideas%

GRANTS and CONTESTS

Chase Community Giving
Can you muster your patrons to vote for your library on Facebook?  Voting deadline for round one is December 11, 2009
Amount: one hundred awards of $ 25,000, five awards of 100,000 plus a one million dollar winner!
More Info: http://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/

Grant Writing
“What Tone Should I Set in Our Grant Proposal?”  Seeking Grant Money Today . November 8, 2009. http://thegrantplant.blogspot.com/2009/11/what-tone-should-i-set-in-our-grant.html (November 16 2009)  Explore this site for other grant tips

Outback Steakhouse
The restaurant helps out community organizations with food and volunteers.  One library sold tickets to a dinner at Outback and all proceeds were kept by the library.  Outback had supplied the food and volunteer servers!  Get your proposal ready!
More Info: http://www.outback.com/companyinfo/outbackgivesback.aspx

National Museum of the American Indian
Exhibitions and Publications program awards grants of $7,500 to $15,000 to support exhibitions and  installations, publications, and critical writing that interpret and present the work of contemporary Native visual artists to the public and encourage dialogue and critical commentary
More Info: http://www.americanindian.si.edu/icap/

The IRS

Do you ever solicit to out of state donors? Should you be registered? http://www.onphilanthropy.com/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=7893

MISCELLANEOUS

Combined Federal Campaign (the Federal government’s workplace giving campaign and the world’s largest source of unrestricted funds for non-profits)  Are you listed?
Find the non-profit financial statistics you need at http://nccsdataweb.urban.org/NCCS/V1Pub/index.php