This group has the daunting task of making certain that enough funds are acquired to pay for the entire project. In all but a few of the communities I have worked with, the people responsible for raising funds worked the hardest and lost the most sleep. Burnout of members of this committee is often quite high.
Only in a perfect world will everything fall into place and the necessary funds be acquired with a minimum of effort.
Committee members must be goodwill ambassadors of the library construc- tion project. They must, in effect, do everything right in order to obtain the needed dollars in a minimum of time, whether through donations, grants, bond issues, city dollars, a variety of fund-raising projects, or a combination of one or more of these.
The responsibilities of fund-raising committees are not for the faint of heart. I have seen rapid turnover once members realized just what was expected of them. Raising money, whether a few thousand dollars for a small remodeling or several million for a new facility, can be a challenging job that not everyone can or should accept. It is important that members of this committee be informed early in the project exactly what they will be asked to accomplish, along with suggestions as to how they can accomplish it. Members must have access to all of the information: funds on hand and their sources, expected revenue and ex- actly where it will come from, and a breakdown of planned expenses. No rose- colored glasses here.
For instance, the majority of construction dollars may have to come from in- dividual donations. If so, every member of the fund-raising committee should be given the opportunity to attend a fund-raising workshop that covers the nuts and bolts of how to ask for money. Often the facilitators will walk the partici- pants through the steps of asking for donations. Even so, it is a skill that not everyone can acquire, and I have seen few people born with this admirable ability. There are many books and videos available on fund-raising and how to make re- quests for major donations. These can be very helpful. Regional and state library consultants may also be able to share their expertise in this area.
After the books and videos are reviewed and experiences shared, nothing beats continuous practice. Even in the best situations, it can be very difficult to ask for money. But it must be done, and in a way that makes the donor feel good about doing it, perhaps even willing to encourage friends and relatives to do the same.
Not everyone on the committee must be able to sit down one-on-one with a prospective donor and successfully ask for money. On the other hand, someone will probably have to be responsible for this aspect of fund-raising. In my experi- ence, this is the only way to obtain sizable personal donations.
Success seems to beget success. It certainly increases self-confidence on the part of the fund-raisers. Again, communication with both current and former members of the community is of utmost importance. Unless people believe that a new or remodeled library is needed and that it will become a reality, they are often reluctant to support the project.
Some library foundations have hired the services of professional fund-raisers to bring in the money needed for new or remodeled libraries. The communities I have worked with have not had particular success with this method. Nothing seems to surpass the simple plan of meeting personally with individual friends, neighbors, and relatives to ask for donations to better the hometown.
Inexperienced fund-raisers often believe that charitable foundations are the best source of large grants. Although there are several foundations that are in- terested in making donations for library construction or remodeling, most of them have specific criteria that must be met. For example, the organization may require that 50 to 75 percent of the funds be raised locally before the grant ap- plication will be considered. Other stipulations might be that the parent organi- zation does business in that community or that the library will be named after the foundation. The foundation’s annual allotment of funds may be expended for the current year, or the entity’s focus of giving may have changed. I urge fund-raisers not to put all of their eggs into one basket when it comes to grants but instead to try to determine the correct mix of contributions for the project. The committee may devise several methods of increasing public awareness and may undertake many projects to raise funds. The types of programs that can be used as fund-raisers are numerous, and several books are available on how to successfully undertake everything from raffles to silent auctions, from gala din- ners to fund-raising on the Web. As someone who had personal experience raising money for a library addition once told me, “Soup suppers won’t do it.” Although these projects can be time-consuming and may not garner a great deal of money, they do serve to publicize the fact that funds are needed for the new facility in a way that a simple newspaper article cannot. They also allow community mem- bers to come together in a show of support and enthusiasm for the project.
Throughout the fund-raising process, information on the status of the project needs to be publicized. How much has been raised so far and where did it come from? Some donors may prefer to remain anonymous, but who in the community is willing to come forward to talk about his or her donation and to encourage others to do their part? No one should be overlooked. Major contributions may come from those whom you least expect to make a donation if they are given the per- sonal opportunity.
CONCLUSION
This very brief overview of community involvement in the construction project should help you to build not only a new or remodeled facility but also a foundation for long-term library use and support. Throughout the process, there will be good days and bad days, times of exuberance and feelings of defeat. The entire project may take much longer than you expected. You will be working with people from diverse backgrounds and dealing with a wide range of issues. There will be nights of seemingly endless meetings and occasions when you will wish for expertise in human relations, accounting, or construction rather than skills in referencing or cataloging.
When you begin to doubt that all of the effort will be worthwhile, rely on colleagues in the library profession who have been through similar building proj- ects. They will be the first to tell you inspiring stories of strengthened commu- nity pride and a very noticeable increase in library use. Once the project is complete, you will be trading worries about where construction money will
come from for concerns about meeting-room scheduling demands and the in- creased need for popular fiction. And that’s just the way it should be. Enjoy!
REFERENCE
Vare, Daniele. 1938. The Laughing Diplomat. New York: Doubleday.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Clow, Faye. Forming and Funding Public Library Foundations. Chicago: American Library Association, 1993.
Dolnick, Sandy, ed. Friends of Libraries Sourcebook. Chicago: American Library Association, 1996.
Grassroots Fundraising: The Kim Klein Video Series.Oakland, CA: Grassroots In- stitute for Fundraising Training, 1995. Available from Headwaters Fund, 122 West Franklin Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55404.
McCarthy, Richard C. Designing Better Libraries: Selecting and Working with Build-
ing Professionals.2nd ed. Fort Atkinson, WI: Highsmith Press, 1999.
Sannwald, William W. Checklist of Library Building Design Considerations. 3rd. ed. Chicago: American Library Association, 1997.
Woodward, Jeannette. Countdown to a New Library: Managing the Building Proj-