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RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: Fun and fundraising
3:03 PM EDT 6/20/04
as a reply to Chrystie Hill.
Dianna, do you remember how much $$ you made? Would also love to hear what you used the $$ for. Thanks for posting your great program; sounds easily replicable too!
I read about this idea in American Libraries:
"Inspired by the film Calendar Girls...Diane Bowman at the West Hampstead branch of the Camden Library in Greater London, England, persuaded nine of her colleagues - all women between the ages of 37 and 60 - to doff their duds in the interests of charity. Profits from the sale of "For Reference Only: A Calendar of Camden Librarians" are being donated to [the Mayor's] charity fund...Bowman told Am Lib's that the calendar is selling well and she has been 'overwhelmed with inquiries.' American Libraries Feb 04, page 14.
If that's not fun and funky, I don't know what is!
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RE: Fun and fundraising
3:03 PM EDT 6/20/04
as a reply to Chrystie Hill.
By the way, Welcome to the Forum Dianna! Keep the great ideas coming!
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RE: Fun and fundraising
3:03 PM EDT 6/20/04
as a reply to Chrystie Hill.
I think that is such a great idea, plus it's probably a lot of fun for everyone involved.
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RE: Even More Fun
3:03 PM EDT 6/20/04
as a reply to Chrystie Hill.
I know Valentine's Day is over, but I just saw this on LIS news:
Check out [url http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2004%2F02%2F14%2Fnluv14.xml ]this article[/url] about an event called "Mingle" (British Library's "first ever singles night") where they invites singles for a private viewing of romantic books!
Talk about "where minds meet..." (wink, wink)
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Re: Fun & Funky Funding Ideas
10:21 AM EDT 5/11/05
as a reply to Chrystie Hill.
This isn't necessarily under "Funding" but I thought it was a very interesting idea for advocacy and collection building. A St. Paul couple have created a wedding registry website that benefits the public library. The registry consists solely of books needed by the library. Over 140 books and other materials are listed on teh site. Shortly after the April 30 "wedding," guests had contributed $3,846 to buy materials!! Check out <a href="http://www.friends.org/patharris/">www.friends.org/patharris</a>
Great idea!
Max
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Re: Fun & Funky Funding Ideas
11:42 PM EDT 10/14/05
as a reply to Chrystie Hill.
One of our best fundraising events came from a library presenter. One winter I had a mehndi artist come and teach teens and adults how to design patterns and prepare and use henna for temporary tattoos. (For a definition, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mehndi.) She loved our little library so much, she offered to donate her time for a fundraiser. We would only have to pay for the henna used if it went over a certain amount (henna is very inexpensive).
So one spring afternoon, she brought her supplies to the library and applied henna designs for patrons at her regular prices, which are from $5 to $50, with most designs being $25. Mehndi is very popular, especially during the summer months. Many patrons commented that it was nice to get a design at the library instead of fighting off crowds at a local fair. We only did it for a couple of hours on a wet spring day and made $150 dollars, which is the same we make in our lobby booksale in a month. So for us it was a success, as well as being fun for everyone involved. And the artist volunteered to do it again next summer, with the suggestion of tying it into an event we already have going.
For a bigger library, you would probably need two or more artists working at the same time. But it's a fun event with a low overhead.
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Re: Fun & Funky Funding Ideas
12:07 PM EDT 10/17/05
as a reply to Sarah Evans.
I love it! I wish I'd been there. I've been wanting to get a [url http://www.crystalinks.com/henna.html ]mehndi tattoo[/url] for a long time. With the added incentive of contributing to the library, I'm sure I would have been a happy patron. 
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Re: Fun & Funky Funding Ideas
1:26 PM EDT 10/18/05
as a reply to Sarah Evans.
Thanks Sarah! I suppose temporary tattoos are more cost effective for patrons than real tattoos anyway, though I am partial to the real thing! :-)
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Re: Fun & Funky Funding Ideas
11:40 PM EST 11/13/05
as a reply to Sarah Evans.
Have any of your friends groups or library staff tried wrapping gifts fundraisers? Our local Barnes and Noble offers time slots to local non-profits during the holiday season. We send volunteers to man a gift wrapping table at their store and put out a tip jar. B & N supplies the wrap, but some groups bring their own bows. The idea is that generous customers will tip us for wrapping their gifts.
This will be our second year trying it. Last time, it was an awful time slot (a Tuesday in November), so we made all of $12. We have a Friday night in December this year, so I'm hopeful. I'm thinking of bringing a banner or something. I was wondering if anyone else has done this kind of thing and could share some tips on making more profitable. I'm also wondering what kinds of locations also offer this particular fundraiser.
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Re: Fun & Funky Funding Ideas
8:57 AM EST 11/14/05
as a reply to Sarah Evans.
I think it's a great idea, but I would definitely do some sort of advertising for it. I worked many many a Holiday season for B&N and since they got a lot of traffic, they did well financially with the GW. People probably won't expect their local library to do something similar - so they might not come if they don't know about it! Good luck!!
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Re: Fun & Funky Funding Ideas
1:55 PM EST 12/8/05
as a reply to Max Anderson.
I thought I might report on two things.
Our Friends group has done something similar to "Take Your Library to Dinner" a couple of times, with so-so results. I've now got contacts at a couple restaurants (one with a wonderful lakeside view) so I hope to revisit this.
Our Foundation has a bunch of the "I Read" posters that we hope to get autographed ... so we can auction them off. I don't know how successful that will be but have to tip my hat to the Foundation president for doing it.
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Re: Fun & Funky Funding Ideas
1:32 PM EST 12/9/05
as a reply to Bob Watson.
Thanks Bob!
I had someone in the SOLINET region ask me recently about this - how to contact celebrities to see if they would sign their "I Read" posters. I haven't heard back as to if that was successful or not...
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