Fundraising

Success Stories

• Libraries Matter - Check out their inspiring success stories and their successful wristband sales program.

• Save Libraries - We are looking for contributors to the site. Please email us at: [email protected]

       * Subscribe to the site: http://savelibraries.org
       * Show your support with a Twibbon on Twitter and Facebook: http://twibbon.com/join/Save-   Libraries
       * Join our Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/SaveLibraries
       * Help us collect testimonials by emailing them to us or tagging them with “savelibraries.”

   Together we can make a difference. Together we can come up with a solution. Together we can save libraries!

Fundraising Tips

• Check out IN MY BOOK ®, a unique combination of greeting card and bookmark in one, now in eighteen styles. For resale by FOL groups, at booksales, at the library shop or at the circulation desk, these bookmark/cards make a great fundraiser, and offer a bit of a change from all those tee-shirts, mugs and bookbags! Buy wholesale for $2.50 per card, sell them for $4.95, and enjoy the profits. Minimum wholesale order only 35 cards. Please visit : our libraries and FOLs page.

• Penny Wars [1] was originally used for schools as a fundraiser, but can easily be adapted by libraries for the same purpose. Different branches of a library system, or neighboring systems, could compete against each other not only to raise funds but as a way to promote camaraderie.

Here's another nice fundraising idea... Light up roses!

Blogs/Websites to Watch

• Funding by WebJunction
• Friends of Libraries USA IS NOW KNOW AS ALTAFF */ ALTAFF and includes trustees and foundation members as well as friends of the library.
• Check in daily for the very latest in library news with LISNews. Come by, read an article, add your comments, write a blog, or submit an article. LISNews needs YOU!
• LISWire provides constantly updated information via press releases of interest to libraries and librarians.
• Librant Grants BlogVisit the library grants blog to find out about all types of grant opportunities available for your library! Maintained by two librarians, Stephanie Gerding and Pam MacKellar.
• MHLS Fundraising Resources Page (includes in-depth section on Friends Groups) Mid-Hudson Library System.

Specific Blog Posts/Articles/Books to Check Out

• Public Libraries monthly column: Bringing in the Money (ALL Public Libraries issues from Jan/Feb 2003 through Nov/Dec 2008 reside as freely available full-text PDF files on this page). -- The Bringing in the Money column first appeared in the March/April 2005 issue with a reprint of a 2004 article by John Pepper/Minnesota Library Association. Stephanie Gerding started off the column in the May/June 2005 issue, and her final byline appeared in the March/April 2007 issue. Lee Price took over the column with the May/June 2007 issue.

• Grants for Libraries: A How-To-Do-It Manual and CD-ROM for Librarians Neal-Schuman Publishers. 2006.

• Gerding, S. (Feb. 2003). Small Library, Big Fundraising: Community Support Is Way Above Par. Computers in Libraries, 23(2), 14.