General Recommendations:

Stop passing the buck to the public. The responsibility for fundraising is in the hands of the Library Administration. It seems as if the spiral is downward: “We have no money and we have no future plans because we have no money. . .” This seems like more of the same. The library doesn’t know what it can afford to fund so it can’t raise money because it’s cut down on services, which means that fewer people want to donate money.

If the library administration wants to justify its existence and salaries, then perhaps they could do a little inspirational dreaming and planning rather than being alarmist and cutting vital services. Don’t shy away from big ticket fundraisers — but don’t cut urgent services and expect people to pony up.

The principal stumbling block to patron participation and support is the uncertainty of PPL’s future. If branches might be closed, patrons at those branches will not want to support any fund-raising efforts for the Library as a whole. People aren’t likely to participate in fund-raisers or donation money without a guarantee that their branch would remain open.

PPL’s endowment and savings have grown enormously over the past few years; the Library needs to spend some of its own money and not keep asking taxpayers to contribute more money.

PPL needs a director who is more hands on and aggressive in seeking and maintaining operating funds.

Hire a larger development staff.

Recommended Approaches to Fund-Raising and Image Building

Get the schools (parents and children) involved in library fund-raising—it’s time to broaden the base.

Help establish a friends group at each of the branch libraries to help with some of the small costs associated with the running of the particular library and to help others when needed.

Organize events that will involve large numbers of people and provide the Library with good publicity. The Providence Preservation Society holds both an annual reception, with tickets at $75/$100, and a house tour, at $25, so that there were events that could attract a wide income range. DON’T have a “book” ball.

The library is a stakeholder in all public issues; the Library Director or another member of the staff should be at the table when urban policies are made; library staff members should attend community meetings and serve as an information resource, thereby demonstrating the value of library services.

The library should provide useful services for public officials and general citizens, maintaining, for instance, an online database of city reports.

The library should set up a committee composed of area college and university presidents, to be able to count on their support, monetary and otherwise.

Cultivate donor relationships by holding teas with executives from foundations, corporations, etc.

Keep stressing the idea that “A Great City Deserves a Great Library” with potential donors, including public officials.

Encourage library staff to create an endowment to buy books/materials in an area of interest to them—and the Director should be the first to do so.

Recommended Fund-Raising Events and Activities

1. Work with Area Businesses to Foster Fund-Raising Programs

  • East Side Marketplace has a program where it gives a percentage back on grocery receipts that are collected by various organizations.
  • Whole Foods has days when a percentage of total sales for the day are given to an organization.
  • Using the model that Borders has open a coffee shop and bookstore adjacent to the library for income generation.
  • PPL should set up a registry at Borders and on Amazon, with a wish list of books people could buy to donate to PPL. PPL could then encourage patrons to Give a Book to the Library on their birthday or on holidays

2. Set up Individual Donation Plans

  • Offer people an opportunity to make a monthly automatic donation through their bank. $10 a month adds up to $120 a year and many people who would not have $120 in pocket might want to do this.
  • Find out if PPL can be listed on the Federal Employees donation list. Once a year generally in the fall the list goes around and employees can choose whom to give to during the year. An amount is then deducted from the pay checks at the employee’s request in any amount.
  • Get added to the United Way designated donor list.

3. Collect Money from Patrons and Staff

  • Put the change boxes back by the checkout counter. When patrons pay a fine, they are likely to drop change and even bills into the box. This will add up.
  • Charge $1/hour for computer time.
  • Every Providence resident (and/or every Rhode Island resident) pays $1.00 to help support PPL.
  • Any PPL administrator earning more than $75,000 takes a 10% pay cut—and apply the savings to library services.

4. Hold Fund Raisers

  • Claire Gregorian, a Board member at the time, organized a very successful fundraiser at Rhodes on the Pawtuxet some years back with Charles Kurault. There were food stations/comfort food. It was a modest $35 a head. PPL should do this again (with someone else as the headliner).
  • Some years back, there was also a Telethon using Fleet Bank’s phones that raised $100,000. Do this again!
  • Dyana Koelsch should keynote a fundraiser.
  • Have a fund-raising effort built around a specific holiday or event, like WRNI’s Valentine’s Day roses.
  • Establish an annual spring or fall festival with all of the libraries involved. If such an event were to be held at Central, each branch with a Friends group (or with interested but unorganized patrons) might take a portion of the planning. Charge a dollar at the gate (just as they do at the Cape Verdean Festival). Have music, food, and book sales.
  • Organize a series along the lines of AS220s’s “Speak-Out” forums. There are lots of authors who might participate, and the forums could be held at the various branches as well as at Central.
  • Have a televised auction.