1. Fundraising Ideas
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Good morning! Welcome to the presentation of the PLAN Quick Class on Fundraising Ideas. I am Regina Burgess with PLAN, and I will be presenting the webinar today.
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I’d like to state a disclaimer first – I understand that some of these ideas for raising funds may seem a bit repellent, especially for a group of people who love to provide free access. It is unfortunate that stagnant budgets and increased costs have put us in this position, but if we want to continue to provide quality services to our patrons, well, needs must.
This program is funded under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, administered by the Florida Department of State’s Division of Library & Information Services.

2. Vending Machines Soda Candy and Snacks Candy and Gumball Coffee & Tea
Office Supplies
The standard vending machine that comes to mind is one that offers water and sodas, followed by ones that offer candy and snacks. Some vending machines also offer freshly brewed coffee, hot chocolate, and tea. There are even vending machines that offer office supplies, such as pens, USB flash drives, notepads, small staplers, and envelopes. Candy and gumball vending machines are also popular. To find the vending companies in your area, just Google vending and your city. You could also purchase your own vending machine, but that means that you would be responsible for stocking it and processing the monies.

3. Bookstore / Gift Shop
Does your used bookstore only sell books and DVDs? Consider branching out to book bags, bookmark sets, coffee mugs, magnets, and more. At the New York Public Library, they actually curate their gently used books into sets, such as the summer fiction curated set or the kids chapter books curated set. You could also sell office supplies, which is something that patrons seem to frequently need.

4. Take It On the Road
Take your gift shop on the road to area festivals and events where you can rent a table or booth. You can sell gift items AND market the library at the same time. Consider having a free children’s art table to drive traffic to your booth.

5. Sales Tax
A quick word about selling items other than books. It is my understanding that used books sold by libraries are exempt because they are considered capital assets. But don’t take my word for it. Talk to your administrator or city or county attorney. However, it is also my understanding that any other items you sell (such as book bags, coffee mugs, and other gifts) are subject to sales tax. You will need to register with the Florida Department of Revenue. The link is on your handout.

6. Sponsorships Furniture Programs Material Collections Events
Periodicals
Charging Stations
Need new library furniture? This is a sponsorship opportunity for an individual or business; put a brass plaque on the furniture. A charging station would make a great sponsorship opportunity. Instead of the library’s logo, ask a local business to sponsor it. Programs and events are great sponsorship opportunities. And you could have different civic clubs sponsor certain collections, such as the garden club sponsor your gardening books, a local auto club sponsor your auto books, a computer repair shop sponsor your computing books. You should just make clear that sponsorship does not include choosing or eliminating items from your collection. You can also try to get sponsors for magazines and other periodicals your library subscribes to (or wants to subscribe to).

7. Receipt Advertising
You can use your ILS receipts to advertise your own programs, of course, but you could also use them to sell advertising. There’s a link on your handout to a company that offers this and that says it is compatible with all ILS systems.

8. Become a Passport Acceptance Facility
And, I quote, “The U.S. Department of State wants you to join our network of acceptance facilities. Thousands of facilities already provide the traveling public a convenient way to submit their passport applications. Demand for U.S. passports remains high as we project to issue nearly 20 million passport books and passport cards this year.” And the best part? “You retain the $35 execution fee for each passport application.”

9. Naming Opportunities
The Aberdeen Library in South Dakota sold library naming opportunities when they were raising money to build a new library. You could also do it for your existing areas. Generally, naming opportunities should be for no less than 5 years, and no more than 30 years. Your handout has links to sample policies as well as the brochure put out by the Jefferson County Public Library in Colorado.

10. Own a Day at the Library
For a certain amount of money (I’ve usually seen $100), a patron can “buy” any day of the year, and in return they’ll get special recognition at the library branch of their choice, a certificate of appreciation, and a mention of their gift and honoree on the library’s website.

11. Rentals – Meeting Room & Equipment
Projector
Laptop
DVD Player
Sound System
Video Camera
SMART Board
Microphones
Special Set-Up Fee
If you have a meeting room, you may charge a nominal fee for the use of the room, but do you charge for the use of your equipment? You may want to consider it. When I rent facilities at FSU – Panama City for our conferences, I’m charged for the room, plus any microphones, laptops, projectors and other things that we use. I also have to pay for the IT person to be available to help if I need it. I’ve also seen libraries that charge when a special room set up is required. Also, consider charging more for events that require staff to provide access to the room before the library is scheduled to open.

12. 50-50 Raffle
A raffle involves many people buying tickets for a chance to win a prize or prizes. In the case of a fundraising raffle the prize is 50% of the money taken in by the raffle ticket sales. The other 50% is retained by the nonprofit group holding the raffle. Please be aware that a raffle is considered a game of chance in Florida, and as such, certain rules apply. The organization holding the raffle must be a 501(3)(c) organization and while you cannot sell tickets, you can request a minimum donation for each ticket. There’s a link to the statute on your handout.

13. Crowdfunding
Crowdfunding is a popular and effective way to raise funds to help people and organizations, including libraries. In the campaign seen here, they are trying to raise funds to build a new library in their rural community. You could start a campaign for something much smaller, such as a new reading area, AWE computers for the children’s department, summer reading programs, and more. There is no cost to start the campaign, but the crowdfunding site will take a small percentage of your donations. GoFundMe is free to use and has standard payment processing fees of 2.9% plus $0.30 per donation. In my research, it is the least expensive and probably the most popular crowdfunding site.

14. Art Sales
Work with local artists to show art in the library in exchange for a commission of all sales while the show is at the library. Or you could commission a special edition of signed and numbered prints from a well-known artist and have them professionally matted and framed.

15. Author Sales
Request a commission of book sales for authors that you invite for programs in your library. Or host a local author fair and either sell tables to the authors or request a commission of book sales. Or both.

16. Memorial Bookplates
Request memorial donations for the purchase of library materials in honor of friends and relatives, and include a bookplate in the book listing the person being honored and the memorial donors. I recommend one set price for each book, regardless of the cost of the book. So if your memorial donation minimum amount is $50, buy one book; don’t try to buy three books with $50.

17. Library Mini Golf
Stage a mini golf course in the library. You can make money by charging a fee to play, plus have a main event sponsor and sponsors for each hole, and have a raffle and silent auction. Also, try to have food donated by a local grocery store so you don’t have to eat that cost. A library in New Jersey hosted an adults-only mini golf tournament on a Friday evening (with cocktails), and a family-friendly event the next day.

18. Game Tournaments
Host a bridge tournament, bunco tournament, Mah Jongg tournament, trivia tournament, Scrabble tournament, chess tournament, crossword tournament or video game tournament in your library. Have attendees pay-to-play and ask sponsors for prizes and snacks. You could also have a business or organization sponsor the entire event.

19. Athletic Competitions
Host athletic competitions where participants run and/or walk. You can either host a free event and make money through sponsorships, or host an event where there is a registration fee AND you can make money through sponsorships. Maybe you can give special t-shirts to all athletes who register by a certain date, which may make paying a registration fee more palatable.

20. Advertising
Offer advertising space in your newsletters, your calendar, digital signage, website, podcasts, and more. Here we have two ads from the Toronto Public Library newsletter. The ads are denoted as paid advertisements, and must meet the library’s advertising policy. I’ve provided a link to the policy on your handout, and there is also a link to the Dekalb Public Library’s page on advertising opportunities. The Denver Public Library advertisers their sponsors on one website page that is just titled, “DPL Sponsors.” The link is on your handout.

21. Food and Drink Tastings
Host a food or drink tasting with chocolate, tequila, bourbon, wine, cupcakes, craft beer, cheeses, or a combination of these. Maybe all of these!  Or have a food competition, such as a chili cook-off, or barbeque competition, or best chicken wings. Or host a high tea with cucumber sandwiches, scones, and pastries.

22. Mystery Theater Dinner
I have been trying to talk my local Friends’ group into hosting a mystery theater dinner and I have finally succeeded! We are hiring a local theater group who offers these events, and also a local caterer to take care of the food. We hope to offer a cash bar, 50/50 raffle, and a silent auction. There’s also a theme to the dinner that matches the mystery – a 50s sock hop so people can dress up if they want to.

23. Cookbooks
Collect recipes from your Friends’ group, patrons, and staff members and create a cookbook you can sell. I personally love these types of cookbooks. Even though I rarely cook.

24. Restaurant Fundraiser
Work with a local restaurant and ask them to donate a percentage of their proceeds for one day to the library. There are also many chain restaurants that do fundraisers, too, such as Buffalo Wild Wings, the Cheesecake Factory, TGIFridays, and Chick-Fil-A. See if you could work with a group of restaurants that would sponsor 1 day each for National Library Week, and maybe work with the local television station or radio station to advertise daily. This is being done right now in Tallahassee for Vet Events Tally, and they’ve had a different restaurant daily for about 2 weeks now.

25. Donation Container
Since the Friends of the Bay County Public Libraries has put out a donation box requesting cash at the library, they’ve averaged about $50 in donations per month. They also request donations at Friends’ sponsored events, such as their quarterly concert series.

26. Amazon Smile
Have your Friends group set themselves up as a charity on Amazon’s Smile program. AmazonSmile is a website operated by Amazon with the same products, prices, and shopping features as Amazon.com. The difference is that when your patrons shop on AmazonSmile, the AmazonSmile Foundation donates 0.5% of the purchase price of eligible products to the charitable organization of their choice.

27. And More… Bake Sale Pizza Candy Doughnuts Rummage Sale Quilt Raffle
Pancake Breakfast
Poinsettias
Mums
You can also raise funds with bake sales, pizza sales, candy bars, doughnuts (mmmm… Krispy Kreme!), a rummage sale, raffle off a quilt donated by your local quilting group, host a pancake breakfast, and sell mums in the fall and poinsettias in the winter.

28. Planned Giving
Planned giving involves someone leaving money to the library through their will or living trust. They could also make the Library a beneficiary of their retirement plan or a life insurance policy. According to ALA, “The best planned giving prospects are those who have been loyal to the library by consistently giving on an annual basis, attending events, and volunteering. It is not too early to start talking about planned giving. And planned giving is not just for the elderly! Chances are, they have already completed their wills and estate plans, and it’s hard to get added at the latter part of these individuals’ lives. Instead, think about donors in their 40s and 50s. They often are just beginning to think about estate planning.“

29. For Further Reading
For further reading, I recommend this book, 40+ New Revenue Sources for Libraries and Nonprofits, available at the ALA store for $58.50 for members. In addition to some fundraising ideas, it details how to use statistical data to engage sponsors, how to use case statements to convey your value, and how to create contracts for your naming opportunities.

30. Now Share Your Ideas!
What successful fundraisers have you done in your library or are considering doing? Let us know in the chat box.