WebJunction

Do you have a favorite fundraiser? Something fun? Something a little wild? Let's use this space to share some of the fabulous and possibly crazy events and activities that have generated a little cash for your library...

One of our libraries recently had a raffle in their library that raised $1700. A local social club put together several packages and sold raffle tickets for a dollar. Participants would drop a raffle ticket (or as many as they wanted to) into a box set in front of that particular package. A raffle ticket was drawn for each package.

The packages were made up of simple items. EX: There was a large plastic tub with rope handles that was filled with assorted children's books, small toys, and games. The value was placed on the package. Another package was an inexpensive spaghetti pot with pasta, jar sauce, cheese, Italian cookies, 2 wine glasses and a few other italian dinner items.

They had at least 15 packages made up. All the items had been donated either by members of the social group or vendors that were solicited by the social group members.

Rebecca Van Der Meer
West Virginia

I think that sometimes folks get so hung up on the fact that if it's a fundraiser it must take tons of time and energy. One of my favorite simple fundraisers I saw while training in libraries around the country was the library (sorry my brain won't allow giving full credit to the source) that had a big bucket by the checkout desk with a sign that read: "Change is Good."

Through the course of a year, they collected significant change to assist with projects, puchases and the like.

I am the director of the tiny Shepherdstown Public Library in Shepherdstown West Virginia. We are extremely fortunate to have a fantastic and very active Friends group (FOSL) and they just pulled off a wonderful fundraiser. The idea came from Berkeley Springs Public Library in WV, and when our FOSL president heard about it, she took the idea and created what has turned out to be a much anticipated community event. About 12 community poets were invited to read for an evening of poetry and refreshments. The poets were thrilled to have the venue and were all volunteers. The musical interludes were provided by a local jazzy trio, also volunteer. Our mayor was the MC, who happens to have a great public speaking presence and a good sense of humor. The wine was donated by a local business, and all the desserts were either donated by businesses or made by FOSL volunteers. We also are lucky to have Donn Marshall of the Shelley A. Marshall Foundation as a library supporter, and he does a fabulous tea service, also free. The whole event was slated for two hours, and was held at a local home (large) where we were able to sell 75 tickets this year, almost double last year's. On the advice of another library supporter who is also a professional fundraiser, the invitations (sent to all members of FOSL and as many other address lists we could get from friends) included a line that said, "I cannot attend, but I would like to make a donation of $_______" That turned out to be a brilliant strategy, as we had many people do just that. Our FOSL president also solicited $250 each from her personal bank and one other business to help cover mailing and other costs. The charge for admission was $25 for FOSL members and $35 for non-members, but the latter included a membership to FOSL so they increased their members as well. The event netted over $3,000 for a wonderful evening where everyone benefited. The only thing we will change next year is to include savory as well as sweet. The major work was in the coordination, but many volunteers lightened the load for everyone. I highly recommend it!

I have an idea that trickled down to me through various sources, so it's in the form of an unsubstatiated rumour. If it's true, though, it sounds great...
Apparently, Outback Steakhouse restaurants offer the opportunity to do a fundraiser where people can go to lunch at the restaurant on a day when it's not normally open for lunch (Sunday?). People pay a flat fee, and get to select from a limited lunch menu, no desserts, no substitutions. The cool thing about it, though (if it's true) is that ALL of the proceeds go to the particular organization for whom the fundraiser has been organized. I briefly checked Outback's website, and was not able to find info about this in the five minutes that I surfed around. Does anyone have more info?

Andrea

I'd like to cross-pollinate this discussion with a related topic over in the Funding forum: [url /forums/thread.jspa?threadID=723&start=0&tstart=0 ]Fun & funky funding ideas[/url]. Between the two threads, there's a pretty nice collection of ideas.

I thought you might be interested in the [url http://www.dishupliteracy.org/ ]Dish Up Literacy[/url] event put on by the Page Ahead organization. It's the same idea as the [url http://www.diningoutforlife.com/home.php?city=12 ]Dine Out for Life[/url] AIDS benefit that has had 13 successful annual fundraisers. I don't know for sure, but I think they approach area restaurants individually to get them to contribute all or part of the proceeds. It's a win-win, because the event is so popular, the participating restaurants are filled to capacity for hours. This is a great association between food and libraries!