9 Ways to Make Your Grant Proposal Stand Out

Grant proposals can stand out for any number of reasons. In some cases, it’s because they’re missing two attachments, or they’re trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. Or sometimes, they’ve buried the mission statement somewhere in a blizzard of text. Below, we’ve included tips to stand out—for all the right reasons.…

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Caring for Your Major Donors

First, who are your major donors? You’ll have to analyze your donor base and identify those individuals – not foundations – who have given your most significant gifts. There is likely a small group that rises to the top as your major donors, whether that is gifts of $5,000 or $50,000. This group of your…

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A Guide to Corporate Sponsorship

Corporate sponsorship opportunities and benefits differ greatly depending on the size and cost of the event, but there should be an incentive for any business to sponsor your event at some level. If you are fortunate enough to have a corporate sponsor who is willing to underwrite the entire cost of the event, you can…

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The Law of 80/20 and Capital Campaigns

The Pareto Principle, or the law of 80/20, seems to apply to many things in our lives – from Pareto’s original observation of wealth distribution to a wide range of phenomenon revealing that 80% of effects come from 20% of causes. This principle certainly applies to capital campaigns. In other words, you can expect to…

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10 Tips to Plan for an Uncertain Future

The one thing that is certain in our future is change. Unfortunately, we can’t predict the future, but here are 10 ways that your library or organization can more effectively deal with the change and uncertainty it faces: Create a Culture of Continual Improvement – Deal with future change by having your library always look…

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The Power of Endowments

Every non-profit organization strives to create endowment funds as a part of their finance strategy. But why are they so important and how should newer organizations attempt to create them? Let’s start by defining an endowment, which can be described as a sum of money that is permanently invested in equities (stocks) and fixed income…

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Capital Campaign in Your Future?

Are you anticipating a capital campaign to help fund a new building or renovation of your library? Before launching a campaign, there are several steps you should be taking now to prepare your organization and improve your potential for a successful campaign. Long before launching a capital campaign – and to strengthen your library’s future…

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Building a Better Board Through Professional Development

Professional development is not just for library staff. Library, foundation, and Friends boards also should engage in regular, annual professional development activities. Some key professional development activities include: Board Orientation – Certainly for all new members, but also may be valuable as refresher periodically for all board members. Annual Training Activities – All board members…

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WEBINAR: Merging a Friends and Foundation

United for Libraries Webinar: Merging a Friends and Foundation Tuesday, October 4 at 2:00 pm Eastern $75 ($50 for United for Libraries members) Click Here to Register In the library world today, there is a huge need for support organizations – Friends & foundations –  but often the lines between these two groups are blurred…

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