10 Tips for a Great Annual Fund

There is one type of fundraising that virtually every Friends or Library Foundation should be doing: it’s called the Annual Fund and it is truly the cornerstone of all fundraising activities. The concept is simple. The Annual Fund is a letter writing appeal to your members and donors (individuals; not corporations) requesting a contribution to…

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Four Types of Board Members – And Why You Should Recruit Each

When a Friends or Foundation board looks for new directors, it can be tempting to prioritize deep pockets over all else. It’s an understandable impulse. After all, fundraising is a major part of our “raison d’être.” Moreover, as we’ve said before, you should strive for a 100 percent Board donor rate. Even so, board donations…

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Attracting and Retaining Young Donors

Nearly 85 percent of employed Millennials (age 18-34) donated to a charitable cause last year, according to a recent Millennial Impact Report. That’s impressive in itself – and doubly so when you factor in that America’s youngest working generation is also its largest. Eighty-five percent of Millennials translates to something like 67 million donors! Furthermore,…

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10 Traits of a Successful Foundation President

At Library Strategies, we’ve had the privilege of working with countless foundation executives. It’s no surprise to anyone to learn that some of these executives are extremely successful at what they do and others may not be. What sets the really good executives apart from their less successful peers?   1) Passion for the Mission…

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Strategic Planning for the Folks Who Raise the Money

Friends and foundations need a plan as much as the library does. All too often, however, these organizations operate from year to year with no direction or plan in place. So, it’s time to think about development planning! Development planning is strategic planning for the support organizations that raise funds for their libraries. A development…

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5 Ways Friends Groups Attract Millennials

Across the country, Friends of the Library groups of all sizes are reporting declining memberships. This is troubling in and of itself, and doubly so because the number of active members willing to take on vital volunteer responsibilities core to the operation is also dwindling. At a high level, this trend is no mystery. In…

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Six Great Ideas for Library Partnerships

Partnerships have great potential to expand your library’s capacity to offer more, reach broader audiences, and leverage your resources. As libraries continually seek new ways to stretch their budgets, partnering is a valuable option to consider. There are several natural partnerships that many libraries have formed: 1) Literacy Partnerships. Partner with your local literacy organization…

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Does Board Size Matter?

Through our work, we see many different sizes of Boards of Directors for Library Friends and Foundations. Many people ask us if it really matters how big a Board is. We also frequently hear that it is getting more difficult to find and recruit good Board members. What we often find ourselves telling people is…

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Should We Be a 501(c)(3)?

Many people consider nonprofit and 501(c)(3) to be synonymous. Well, that’s not always true… Nonprofit refers to an organization being a private, not-for-profit corporation. That means the organization has registered as a non-profit business in the state in which it operates. In most states, registration is pretty simple. But, to register, the organization will need…

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What Makes a Good Friends Group?

Over the years since Library Strategies was created, we’ve worked with dozens of Friends groups across the country. Some were led by board members who’d been serving as volunteers for as many as thirty years and were praying for a way out, but were too committed to just leave. Other Friends groups have a kick-butt…

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