03/06/2003 - Packet AGENDA
TIGARD LIBRARY BOARD
THURSDAY, MARCH 6, 2003 - 7:00 P.M.
TIGARD PUBLIC LIBRARY—PUETT ROOM
13125 SW HALL BLVD.
TIGARD, OREGON
1. CALL TO ORDER Braun
2. ROLL CALL: BRAUN_ CHAPMAN_ DIAMOND_ KASSON_
LAWTON SMITH THENELL TURLEY
3. Approve Minutes of February 13, 2003. Braun
4. Agenda Additions and Deletions. Braun
5. Call to the Public. Braun
6. Monthly Report for February 2003. Bames
7. CLAB/LDB Report. Barnes
- WCCLS Formula
8. Patriot Act. Barnes
9. New Library. Chapman
10. Library Foundation. Diamond
11. Board Communications. All
(Reports from Board members on community and citizen activities)
12. Other Business. All
13. Adjournment.
TO ENSURE A QUORUM TO CONDUCT BUSINESS,PLEASE CALL CONNIE MARTIN OR
MARGARET BARNES AT THE LIBRARY (503-684-6537), IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO ATTEND.
Agenda items-for future meetings:
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TIGARD LIBRARY BOARD
MINUTES
February 13, 2003
Call to Order: 7:02 p.m., by Chair Braun.
Roll Call: Anne Braun, David Chapman, Marvin Diamond, Jane Smith and Suzan
Turley. Staff: Margaret Barnes and Connie Martin.
Minutes: After discussion of acronyms, Smith moved to accept the minutes of
January 9 as written, seconded by Chapman. Motion passed unanimously.
Agenda Additions and Deletions: None.
Call to the Public: None.
Reports: January Monthly Report: The library conducted its annual survey of
patrons in January. There were 1,481 respondents. A wide range of
comments were generated. Staff will use the comments to ensure patrons
have a positive experience at the library. Sr. Library Assistant, Ning Wang
has been hired on a regular basis. Barnes indicated he will be invited to
an upcoming Board meeting. Library staff is in the process of hiring the
Reader's Services Division Manager, more details later. The library
experienced a 1% decrease in circulation this month. This is believed in
part due to a decrease in VHS and DVD renewals because of the now 7-
day loan period. With the timeout software SAM, library staff is now. able
to track Internet use by hours as well as users. There was a significant
jump in users this month. Staff will be calculating hours for the remainder
of the fiscal year. The library now receives a report from WCCLS that
tracks checkouts by hour blocks. The Children's Museum continues to be
the most popular destination in the Cultural Passes Program. In the
future, the Art Museum pass will allow 2 adults and 2 children to use at a
time.
CLAB/LDB Report: Barnes distributed a report from WCCLS Director, Eva
Calcagno sharing WCCLS levy election information, formula projections
and service reductions. Since there are concerns with the new formula
and how the dollars will be distributed, there was discussion at CLAB of
bringing back the consultant to provide additional analysis. Library
Directors will participate in the process. There will be lengthy discussions
to review how the formula will take into account monetary resources.
There was talk of the possibility of another levy to the voters in May 2004.
Patriot Act Update:
Barnes indicated the City attorney's office has reviewed the wording of the Patriot Act
and based on their recommendations the library should follow its existing confidentiality
procedures and protocol in terms of information being requested. There was discussion
regarding library staff roles and responsibilities in following the rules of the Act. Barnes
will review with library staff the City attorney's response and the library's responsibilities.
Annual Meeting with City Council:
The Library Board's annual meeting with City Council is scheduled for Tuesday,
May 20. Board discussed what their focus might be and what topics might be
presented. Barnes suggested that Library staff can be a resource for information.
March Library Board Meeting:
Barnes announced there is a conflict in her schedule with the March 13 Board meeting.
Barnes asked the Board if they would be willing to move the meeting date to March 6 or
accept another library staff member to be present at the March 13 meeting. Board
discussed and decided to move the meeting to March 6.
New Library:
The New Library Resource Team had their first meeting of the new year on
February 10. The Public Art Committee sent mailings to 25 local businesses. The goal
is to raise $100,000 for public art for the interior and exterior of the building. The
groundbreaking ceremony will take place Saturday, May 17. Chapman indicated that
the architects and City and Library staff are busily going through schematic designs and
refining the pre-construction documents. Barnes indicated that the budget is very tight
and many features and amenities are being scrutinized. Library staff is developing an
inventory of existing furnishings to use in the new library.
Library Foundation:
Today, February 13 is the first day of ticket sales for the Michael Allen Harrison
fundraising event scheduled for Friday, April 4 from 7:30-9:30 p.m. Foundation
members are in the process of soliciting for donations to offset the costs of the event.
Tickets will be made available at the Library and at the Friends of the Library book sale.
Publicity for this event will begin this week. The Nature's Northwest store in Lake
Oswego has chosen the Foundation to receive 5% of its profits on Monday,
February 24. Contributions will help purchase books and new furnishings for the new
library.
Board Communications: None.
Other Business:
Chapman commented on the on-line renewal glitch with the 2.0 Polaris upgrade. The
system will not show any outstanding fees until the amount reaches $5.00.
Adjournment: It was moved by Chapman, and seconded by Diamond to adjourn the
meeting at 8:56 p.m. Motion passed unanimously.
Next meeting is scheduled for March 6, 2003.
MEMORANDUM
TO: Bill Monahan, City Manager
FROM: Margaret Barnes, Director of Library Services
DATE: March 6, 2003
SUBJECT: Library Monthly Report for February 2003
Personnel: A conditional offer has been made to the candidate for the Readers
Services Manager position. Ideally, the candidate will begin on March 24, 2003.
Technical Services: In February 1,790 items were added to the collection. The
average number of days for items to be cataloged and processed was 52. The fiscal
year average for the number of days for an item to be cataloged and processed is 33,
which is a little above the Division goal. .A total of 1,210 items were placed "on order."
The average number of days from order submitted to being placed was 1.1. The total
number of materials withdrawn from the collection was 1,031.
Amy Emery continues to participate in the beta testing of Polaris 3.0, including
download and import of bibliographic records to purchase orders and EDI ordering.
Testing of Baker & Taylor's TitleSource 2 system began at the end of the month with
one order sent. Testing will continue in March.
Reference Desk: Total service interactions set another new record! Reference desk
interactions for February totaled 6,293. Of these interactions, 97% were reference
questions. This is an increase of over 30% from February 2002.
Adult Services: Future program plans include a non-fiction author visit in May. K.P.
Burke, an Oregon Book Award nominee, will discuss her book, Proof Through the
Night. Also scheduled in May is a second round of Job Hunting programs presented by
Tualatin Workplace Resource Center. Kudos to Erik Carter for his efforts to set up
these programs and also for his on-going work with the tax forms.
Circulation: Circulation staff processed 471 intralibrary crates this month; an average
of 15.4 crates per day. 68% of the holds on the daily hold list were filled, a total of
2,986 items processed to fill holds.
During February 54,782 items were checked out. The Self-Check Machine handled
about 5% of these checkouts. We are developing a plan to encourage additional
patrons to use the Self-Check Machine. Circulation for February 2003 was slightly
higher than February 2002. The highest checkout day forthe month occurred on
Tuesday the 18th, the day after Presidents' Day.
Sundays remain the busiest day in terms of checkouts per hours: the average for the
month of Sundays was 341 checkouts per hour and 146 patrons through the door.
Community Service: Six individuals performed Community Service hours served in
February for a total of 107 hours. Of these six individuals, two were Peer Court and
four were others serving court ordered hours.
Cultural Passes: Twenty-three new individuals joined the program, and we have 20
reservations for the future. All the passes were used this month. The most frequently
used pass was the Children's Art Museum; used 18 times.
New Library: A community meeting for further discussion concerning the site was held
on Wednesday, February 26 at 7:30 p.m. An additional community meeting is
scheduled for Thursday, April 3. Dan Plaza from the Parks Department is coordinating
this program.
This month the staff continued to work with SRG to further define the interior design of
the new library. A committee is also planning the Ground Breaking event, which is
scheduled for Saturday, May 17, at 10:00 a.m. The Friends of the Library and the
Library Foundation have been actively fundraising and promoting the new library to the
community.
Volunteers: This month volunteers donated 1061.5 hours to the Library. For the
month, these hours represent a slight decrease, 4.7% when compared to 2002.
Volunteer Type Number Hours
Regular Volunteers 92 762.50
Youth Services 25 104.00
Boards and Committees* 12 20.50
Friendly Visitors 5 10.50
Other** 9 35.50
Community Service*** 6 108.00
Sery-Fest (from 1/25) 9 31.50
Total 158 1,072.50 = 6.2 FTE
* Board and Committees includes Library Board and New Library Resource
Committee
** Other includes Local History, Homework Center and Adopt-a-Shelf
*** Community Service includes Peer Court, Municipal Court and other county
courts, both adult and youth referrals
WORK INDICATORS BRUARY 2003 FEBRUARY 2� FEBRUARY 2001
Circulation
Total (from WCCLS) 54,782 54,746
(Self-Check machine) 2,959 3,623
Days of Service 27 27 25
Average Daily Circulation 2,029 2,028
Hours of Service 264.5 264.5 248.5
Materials
Circulated per Hour 207 207
Increase in Circulation +.07% *% *%
Materials Added 1,790 1,304 1,070
Materials Withdrawn 1,031 1,781 507
Borrowers Registered 308 302
Cultural Passes Program 371 (YTD) 302 (YTD) 20 (YTD)
48 (Month) 26 (Month) 7 (Month)
Adult Programs 113 188 116
(Number of sessions) (6) (7) (22)
Preschool Story Time 245 580 116
(Number of Sessions) (4) (15) (7)
Little People Storytime 287 63 81
(Number of Sessions) (8) (4) (5)
Special Programs 338 99 460
(Number of Sessions) (9) (5) (9)
Children's Computer 89 126 90
Word Processors(stand alone) 155 232 237
Internet Access Station Users 4,587 4,469 2,866
Hours of Use 1,106 N/A N/A
Typewriter Users 7 40 N/A
Visitors
(Gate count _ by 2) 23,303 23,980 20,901
Increase in Visitors -3% +15% +20.9%
Fines/Fees Collected $4,889.17 $5,474.26 $2,788.91
Gifts Received $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00
* No statistical report from WCCLS was generated.
TIGARD PUBLIC LIBRARY
CONFIDENTIALITY OF LIBRARY RECORDS
February 2003
Policy
The Tigard Public Library recognizes that all library users, regardless of age, have the
right to confidentiality and privacy with respect to information sought or received and
resources consulted, borrowed, acquired or transmitted.
User records of the Tigard Public Library showing 1) use of specific library materials
consulted, borrowed, acquired or transmitted, by a named person; or 2) consisting of
the name of a library patron together with the person's address or telephone number, or
both, are conditionally exempt from disclosure. These records include, but are not
limited to:
• Circulation records
• Borrower registration records
• Records created to facilitate access to and/or use of library information, materials
and services.
Tigard Public Library reserves the right to use library records for administrative
purposes, such as recovering overdue materials, payment for lost items, customer
surveys and other administrative mailings. Circulation and registration records may be
used only by a library employee working within the scope of his or her duties or by
outside agencies charged with the enforcement of library rules and policies or collection
of library property, unpaid fees, fines or other charges.
The Tigard Public Library recognizes that the disclosure of a person's record showing
the use of specific library use is an invasion of privacy. Circulation records, including
information which identifies materials checked out by a patron currently or in the past,
will not be divulged voluntarily to anyone except the patron or someone who can
produce the patron's library card number. User records will be provided pursuant to
lawfully issued subpoenas or warrants issued by a court of competent jurisdiction.
When a subpoena or warrant is served on the Library, the subpoena or warrant shall be
delivered to the Library Director or designee, who shall guide the Library's response.
The Library Director may consult with the City Attorney if served with a subpoena or
warrant.
Rationale
Protecting the privacy and confidentiality of library users is a fundamental library value.
I:\L.IB\L,ibrary Polices and Procedures\Privacy and Confidentiality Policy.doc
Oregon State Law recognizes the Tigard Public Library as a public body subject to the -
Public Records Law. However, ORS 192.502.22 provides the--following exemption from
disclosure of library public records:
"The records of a library, including circulation records, showing use of a specific library
material by a named person or consisting of the name of a library patron together with
the address or telephone number, or both, of the patron."
This law allows the library to set policies to protect library circulation and registrations
records from disclosure. In setting these policies, the library tries to strike a balance
between the privacy of the user and convenience for that same user.
Adopted by the Tigard Library Board March 6, 2003.
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v
MEMORANDUM
TO: All Library Staff
FROM: Margaret Barnes, Library Director
RE: USA Patriot Act
DATE: February 27, 2003
The USA Patriot Act moved through Congress quickly and as a result lacks an
extensive legislative history that can be referenced to fully answer all of the questions
raised.
1. What is the USA Patriot Act?
On October 25, 2001, Congress passed the "Uniting and Strengthening America
by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act"
(USA PATRIOT Act.) The Act broadly expands law enforcement's surveillance
and investigative powers.
2. How are requests under the USA Patriot Act different than requests the library
has had in the past?
Typically, a court of competent jurisdiction must subpoena requests for patron
records. The Library Director releases the records if the subpoena is legal and
binding upon the library. The director or her designee determines this on the
advice of the city attorney.
It is not clear how requests for information will be presented to us under the Act.
Some requests will be the same as in past instances: that is, oral and informal,
progressing to a subpoena or court order, in a few cases. Under the Act,
requests may also come in the form of a search warrant from law enforcement
authorities. Inquiries may or may not be identified as being made under the
Patriot Act, or for purposes of homeland security. Experience will tell us this.
3. Does the USA Patriot Act change the procedures staff should follow concerning
requests for patron records, including from law enforcement authorities?
No. The procedure remains the same as outlined in the library's policy on
Confidentiality of Library Records. This policy is located in the Policy Manual.
Please review the policy and the procedures therein.
4. What is the protocol for referring requests to the appropriate authority in the
library?
The protocol for referring requests is as follows: Library personnel should:
• Refer the person requesting information to their supervisor, and in their
absence, to the person-in-charge (PIC).
• The supervisor/PIC explains that the library director or designee authorizes
requests (in any form), and,
• Expedites this by informing the director's office and helping the person
presenting the request make contact with the director's office.
• In the,event that the director is not available, designees include the following:
o Library Director, Margaret Barnes
o Circulation Division Manager, Linda Parker
o Tech. Services Division Manager, Sandy Birkner
5. What if the request is after normal library business hours?
The protocol for reporting the request is.the same as for other incidents requiring
a library official.
• During normal business hours, the supervisor or PIC should contact the
director's office. The library director or designee will be promptly notified and
will contact the supervisor or PIC.
• During all other library hours, the supervisor or PIC will determine the
urgency of contacting the library director or designee.
6. What if the law enforcement authority insists on executing a search warrant; for
instance, confiscating computers?
In this event, staff should obtain a copy of the warrant, the identity of the
presenting authority and a receipt for property removed from the library. Identity
of the presenting authority includes name, agency and identification number,
such as a badge number. Library personnel should not challenge such action.
They should report the incident as soon as possible to the supervisor/PIC or
directly to the director's office, or to the designee, whichever is most expeditious.
7. 1 have heard that the USA Patriot Act includes a "gag" provision. Does this mean
I may not speak about requests for information or related actions at all?
The "gag' provision means that you cannot inform the person about whom the
information is requested, nor speak to co-workers, press, or to other government
officials about the inquiry.
As a matter of course, you must refer and report only to a higher authority within
the library. To disclose the information more broadly, whether inside or outside
of the library, is a potential liability for the employee, the library and the city.
You may convey the information about the incident to library officials at the
appropriate levels. You are acting within the scope of your job or refer requests
for library records to the director's office and to report related incidents. In our
library, the director is authorized to release records, acting on the advice of the
city attorney. The library director delegates to library persons-in-charge authority
to handle and report incidents.
8. What is an appropriate response to questions from the public about the library's
position on the USA Patriot Act and about the library's practices relative to the
Act?
The USA Patriot Act is law, and the library will comply with it, as we are required
to do. The library's long-standing policies relating to privacy and confidentiality of
information sought and received, developed with the advice of the city attorney,
have not changed as a result of the Act These policies protect the confidentiality
of patron records subject to state and federal laws. We will respond to specific
requests for information as we have done in the past, that is, in keeping with
these policies and procedures.
There is no one right answer to this question. Unlimited possibilities exist for your board to help .
raise funds.A variety of suggestions can be found in the following article, 55 Ways for Boards to
Raise $500, written by Kim Klein, founding publisher of the Grassroots Fundraising Journal.
All good fundraising plans have one thing in common: they show a diverse number of sources for
their income. The board of directors plays a crucial role in the selection, implementation, and
evaluation of fundraising strategies. In addition to other ways that board members may participate
in fundraising, they individually commit to raising and giving a certain amount of money, or
commit to working by themselves on specific strategies with no financial goal attached.
It is a good idea for board members doing fundraising on their own to write up their plans. This
"contact"allows staff to know when they might be called on to help, ensures that events don't
happen on the same day, or the same donors aren't solicited by several board members, and
also helps to remind board members of their commitments.
In order for this method to work, the organization or the board fundraising committee should think
of many specific ways board members could actually raise money by themselves. The fifty-five
ways suggested below are by no means an exhaustive list, nor will they all work for every group.
Few board members could use all fifty-five ways, but almost any board member should be a able
to use two or three of them.
All of these methods have been used by different volunteers in a wide variety of organizations.
Some methods are much more popular than others. Some depend on access to certain
resources.
Presenting board members with fifty-five ways that would work for your organization helps
counter the excuse, "I would help but I just don't know what to do." Having each board member
write out a plan,with goals and a time line, also gives them a sense that if they do their best with
this plan, they will have helped significantly. Many board members feel that fundraising is never
ending, and that no amount of effort is enough. '"Whatever I do, I could have done more, and
probably should have,"they say. This feeling of inadequacy leads to high turnover, burn-out, and
resentment in boards. Specific fundraising contracts can help avoid that result.
55 Ways for Board Members to Raise$500
1. Give it yourself. This is the easiest way for those who are able, although if you
are able to give them that much money you should be helping raise much more
than $500.
2. List all your friends who are interested in your organization, or similar
organization. Decide how much each one should give. Write to them on your own
stationery, include a brochure from the organization and a return envelope.
Phone those people who don't respond in two weeks, Some people will need 10
friends to give $50, and some people need 50 friends to give $10. Most people
will need a combination such as: 2-3 @ $50, 4-5 @ $25, 15 @ $10.
3. Give part of the $500. Then ask your friends to join you in giving $25, $50, or
whatever your gift is. This is most effective because you are not asking them to
do anything you haven't done.
4. Set up a challenge campaign. Challenge gifts can be quite small. Tell people
you'll give $5 for every$25 they give, or will match every$10 gift up to ten gifts.
r
For added suspense, make this challenge during a fundraising event. You or the
host can announce, "We now have the Dave Buckstretch Challenge for the next
five minutes. Dave will give $5 for every new member that joins Worthy Cause."
5. If your organization has a diverse funding base with several grassroots
fundraising strategies in place, use them all:
o sell 100 raffle tickets for$100
o give$50
o bring 10 people to an event that costs $10 to raise $100
o buy two gift memberships @ $15 each to raise $30
o get 15 friends to join @ $15 each to raise$225
6. Help with your organization's phone-a-thon. Bring the names of people you think
would like to join and call until you have raised $500. Or trade names with
someone in the organization and call their friends until you have reached $500.
This is particularly effective for people who are shy about asking their own friends
for money, but not afraid to ask people they don't know.
7. Acquire mailing lists for your organization. If you belong to another group,
perhaps you can set up an exchange, or perhaps you have access to a list of
members of some other group. You can ask all your friends to give you the
names of 10 to 15 people they think would like to join. You would need to recruit
about 25 members at an average gift of$15. Depending on how"hot"your list is,
you might need as few as 200 names (to do a bulk mailing)or as many as 1500-
3000 (if you expect a 1-2% response.)You would have to have a greater
response if you wanted the mailing to pay for itself and also generate $500.
8. Give the organization something they need that is worth $500, such as a fax
machine, filing cabinets, couch, adding machine, computer program, etc.
9. Pledge$20 a month, and get one other person to do likewise. Then sell $20
worth of raffle tickets.
10. Teach a seminar on a topic you know: fundrasing, knitting, organic gardening,
organizing, proposal writing, environmental impact reports, gourmet cooking, dog
grooming, starting your own business. Charge $20-50 per person, with a goal of
20-30 people. Either absorb the cost of promotion, or have enough participants to
cover it.
11. Give some or a lot of things to your organization's garage sale, making sure they
are worth $500, and then help to sell it all.
12. With 4 or 5 friends, have a spaghetti dinner at a church or union hall or other big
room with a large kitchen. Charge$10 per person and feed more than 50 people.
You can charge extra for wine or garlic bread, or for dessert.
13. Have a fancy dinner at your home or a regular dinner at someone's fancy home.
Serve unusual or gourmet food, or have special entertainment. Charge $25 or
more per person, and have 20 or more guests.
14. Get three friends to help you have a progressive dinner. Start at one person's
home for cocktails and hors d'oeuvres, progress to the next person's house for
soup or salad, the next person's for the main course, and the last person for
dessert. Either charge by course, or for the whole package. To make it extra
special (and much more expensive), get a limousine for the evening that carries
guests from house to house.
15. Host a wine and cheese party. Do not charge admission and invite as many
people as you can. During the party, give a short talk about your organization,
and ask everyone to consider a gift of$25, $50, or$100 or more (depending on
the crowd). Either pass out envelopes and ask people to give then, or after the
party contact everyone individually who came and ask for a major gift:Indicate
that you have given, and if appropriate, how much you have given.
16. Get your gambling friends together. Charge a$5 entrance fee, and have a poker
evening, asking that every"pot" be split with the organization. Individuals win and
so does the organization. You can charge extra for refreshments, or include one
or two glasses of something with the price of admission. (Watch the laws in your
community on this one. In some communities it is illegal to gamble, even in your
own home.)
17. Do one fundraising event every other month that nets at least$75. This might
look like:
o Poker party raises $100
o Fancy dinner(8 people at $25) raises $200
o Sell 50 raffle tickets @ $1 raises $50
o Book sale raises $50
o Recycle newspapers raises $100
18. Solicit small businesses, churches, synagogues, or service clubs for$500. If you
are active in a church, or own your own business and are involved in business
organizations or service clubs, this can be very effective. You can often raise
$200-$500 with a simple proposal and oral presentation.
19. Take a part-time job in addition to your present work, and give everything you
earn up to $500.
20. Ask 5-10 people to save all their change for 3-5 months. You save yours. Count it
at the end of the prescribed time and use one of the other methods to raise the
rest. (You may not need to.)
J
21. Ask 2-5 friends to help with a bake sale, book sale, or garage sale. You and your
friends bake the goodies, or get the books or other stuff required for the sale,
staff it, and help clean up afterwards. This is an excellent way to get people
involved in fundraising without ever actually asking them for money.
22. For the fairly rich: give your organization $5,000 as an interest-free loan for a
year. They invest it, earn 8-10% and at the end of the year, they give you your
$5,000 back-.
23. Sell your organization's materials, buttons, T-shirts, bumper stickers, or whatever
else they have for sale. Also, help distribute these to bookstores or novelty
shops.
24. The Farming Out Method: Entice 5 friends to sell 100 raffle tickets each, or to
raise $100 however they like. Share this list of suggestions with them. Give them
a nice dinner at the successful end of their efforts (or a bottle of good wine, or a
weekend away).
25. Get a famous or popular person to do a special event. Watch the costs on this, or
you may lose money.
26. Invite people to your birthday party and ask that in lieu of gifts they give money to
your organization.
27. Conduct a volunteer canvass. For one evening, you and a group of friends take
literature to all the neighborhoods around you asking for money at the door. Be
sure to comply with city and county ordinances.
28. Lead or get someone to lead a nature walk, an architectural tour, a historic tour,
a sailing trip, a rafting trip, or a horseback ride. Charge$15-25 per person, or
charge$35 and provide lunch.Advertise the event in the newspaper to draw in
people from outside your organization.
29. Start a pyramid dinner, or a chain dinner. Invite 12 people and charge $12 each.
Get two people of the twelve.you invited to invite 12 people each at$12, and two
people from each of those two dinners to invite 12 people at @$12, and so on.
Here's the income:
Your dinner-- 12x$12 = $144
From your dinner-- 12x(12+12) _$288
From those dinners-- 12x(12+12+12+12)_ $576
Twelve is used in this example because it worked very well for the Nuclear
Freeze Campaign in California, which was Proposition 12. In many communities,
most of the income for the campaign was generated by 12x12 dinners.
30. Collect cans for recycling. Ask all your friends to save their cans and bottles for
you and turn them in to a buy-back recycling center.
31. Sell your frequent flyer mile to friends or donate them to the organization for a
raffle. Watch the rules of the airline on this but most airlines let you give away
miles, and you may be able to sell your miles as long as you don't go through a
mileage broker.
32. If you live in a nice house or own a getaway cottage in a beautiful place or in an
expensive city, rent it out for a week or a weekend two or three times during the
year and give the proceeds to your organization. Or rent a room in your home for
much less than the cost of a hotel room to people needing a place to stay while
they are on business in a big city. You may even make a new friend in the
process.
33. If you own a valuable dog and you breed it, donate the proceeds from one or two
puppies. (I know some animal lovers will join me in feeling mixed about bringing
more animals into the world when so many need homes; this suggestion is for
people who were already planning to breed their dog. It is not intended as an
incentive.)
34. Organize a service raffle. Get four people (one can be you)to donate a simple
but valuable service that many people could use and sell raffle tickets for$345
each. Keep the price a little high so you don't have to sell so many and so that
the buyers have a higher chance of winning. Services can include child care for a
weekend or for any weekend night two weekends in a row; one day of
housecleaning;yard work; house painting (interior or exterior), etc. Sell the
tickets to neighbors, work mates, and to other board members. Encourage
people to buy several by offering discounts for multiple purchases, such as one
for$5, 3 for$13, 4 for$17, 5 for$20. If you are really bold or live in a more
affluent area, or have few friends, sell the tickets for$20 each. A full day of
housecleaning for$20 is a real bargain, and buyers have a high chance of
winning with fewer tickets sold.
35. Offer to do something your friends and family have been nagging you to do
anyway, and attach a price to it. For example, quit smoking on the condition that
your friends donate to your group, or get your friends to pay a certain amount for
every day you don't smoke up to 30 days.Agree to match their gifts at the end of
thirty days if you didn't smoke. Give them their money back if you did. (This
method could be applied to other healthy behaviors, such as exercising or not
eating sugar.)
36. If you belong to a church, research whether your church or theirs has a
discretionary fund. Many churches have small pools of money available to
groups through a women's fellowship or pastor's discretionary fund or various
seldom-used endowments. Grants are often in the $50-$500 range and so go
largely untouched by fundraisers. Sometimes simply writing a letter will free up
this money and it tends to be renewable if someone is willing to ask the church
yearly.
37. Research all the service clubs in town and see what their giving policies are.
They often have formal giving guidelines for large grants of$2,000 and up, but
have smaller amounts of money available for specific small projects.
38. Find out what items your group needs and try to get them donated. This is good
for people who really hate to ask for money but who don't mind asking for things
that cost money. Items that one can sometimes get donated include computers,
paper, office supplies, office furniture (second-hand from banks and corporations
as they redecorate), typewriters, adding machines, food, even cars.
39. Ask someone to donate $50 a month for a year. Ask four people to donate $10 a
month for a year. Ask nine people to donate$5 a month for a year. Get the
organization to send reminders to them or send the reminders yourself.
40. Find a few friends who have small savings accounts and pool them into one
account. Invest the pool in a Treasury Bill or CD and when it comes due, give
everyone what they would have made if they had invested only their little amount,
and give the group the rest. For example, if four people invest$2,500 each for a
pool of$10,000 in a CD that matures in a year, they may be able to earn 6%
interest for a total of at least$600 (actually more, depending on the compounding
factor). If each person invests only$2,500 for a year individually, they may not be
able to earn more than 4%, for a total of$100 each or$400 for everyone. The
$200 difference can be given to the group while everyone gains the interest they
would have made. Find more friends or invest for longer to make up the $500.
41. Give it yourself. (This is so good I have to say it twice.)
42. Strategy with a long-deferred payoff(we hope): leave the group a bequest.
43. With similar hopes as above, get friends to include the group in their wills.
44. Ask friends who belong to service clubs, sororities, antique collecting groups,
support groups, bridge clubs, etc. to discuss your organization in their group and
pass the hat for donations. A once-a-year sweep of even small organizations can
yield $100 from each.
45. For the church-going: ask if your organization can be a "second collection."The
church passes the plate for its own collection and then you or someone from your
organization gives a brief talk (or sometimes the whole sermon)about your group
and the plate is passed again; the proceeds go to your group.
46. A variation on the above is to organize a "second collection Sunday"and get as
many churches as you can to take up a second collection for your organization.
Someone from your group will need to be at each service and give a brief talk.
Second Collection Sundays can be very lucrative, as witnessed by the Catholic
Campaign for Human Development, which collects $8 million on one Sunday in
all the participating Catholic churches in the United States.
47. If, as a child, you collected something avidly that you now store in a basement,
consider selling it. Coins and stamps are particularly valuable and have usually
increased in value over the years. But your collection of rocks, toy ships, rockets,
arrowheads, or dolls can also be valuable.When you donate the income from the
sale, you can deduct that amount from your taxes-- an added bonus of this
strategy, since you probably paid little or nothing for the items in the collection.
48. Have a sidewalk sale or garage sale for your whole neighborhood or building. Go
around to your neighbors and tell them you will take their stuff outside and sit
with it all day to sell it if they will donate half or all of the proceeds to your group.
Since this is stuff people want to rid of anyway, it is a good deal for them.,In one
apartment building with ten units participating in donating stuff, an organization
netted $3,000 in one day. Three people from the organization helped with the
selling. With a few high-ticket items, such as a washer/dryer or some nice lamps,
you can make good money.
49. If you have an artistic bent, offer to design greeting cards to specification for
organizations or individuals for a fee. If you are good at calligraphy, sell your
skills to schools for graduation announcement, friends for classy but low-cost
wedding invitations, or just fun certificates such as "World's Greatest Dad"for
Father's Day or"Outstanding Friend." Create unique Halloween costumes or
masks. Donate the proceeds from your artistry.
50. Create a take-off on the "adopt-a-highway"techniques by naming budget items'of
your group as available for adoption. You could develop a flyer that reads, "The
following,items have been found near death from negligence and abuse. Won't
you help? $25 per month will ensure that our computer is maintained. $100 per
month will release our photocopy machine from toiling with no toner and a dying
motor. (We can lease a new one.)"
51. An idea for people who live in border towns --get permission to place a large
container in stores or even at the airports of towns near national borders. Have a
sign that asks people (in several languages)to throw in any coins or paper
money they have not exchanged. Many times people leaving Canada or Mexico
don't have time to exchange all their money or cannot exchange their loose
change. Multiply this times hundreds of shoppers or travelers and you can make
a lot of money. UNICEF does this in many European airports.
52. Hold an "I'm Not Afraid"Auction. You do this with just a few friends or hundreds
of people if you have enough items to auction. You survey a few people (and use
your own common sense)about what things need to be done in their home or
office that they are afraid of or would really rather not do. This is different from a
service auction --there has to be an element of dread in the activity. For
example, some people cannot wash their windows because their apartment is
too high or the second story of their house is too high and they suffer from
vertigo. If you are not afraid of heights, you can sell your window-washing
service. This goes for drain cleaning, minor roof repairs, antenna fixing, etc. Or, if
you are unafraid of cockroaches or waterbugs or spiders, you can offer to clean
out that dark corner of a garage or basement for a small fee. Snakes can be
found in gardens and woodsheds, but maybe that doesn't bother you. The
problem doesn't need to be as serious as a phobia. How about allergies to dust,
pollen, weeds? if you don't have them, you can mow, sweep, clean for a fee. By
marketing it as an "I'm Not.Afraid"Auction, you also have the option for people to
name something they need done to a group of volunteers, and then have a
volunteer say, "I'm not afraid to do that." In that case, you need a set fee for
service.
53. Similar to the suggestion aboye is the "Details Auction."This is for all your friends
whose desks are overflowing.with papers or who can't get their receipts in order
to give to the tax preparer or"who complain they can never find anything. If you
are well organized, offer to clean up their desk, get their rolodex in order, file their
papers, etc. If you like to shop, sell that to people who don't and do all their
holiday shopping for them, or buy birthday, baby shower or niece/nephew•
presents for them. Anything that people feel they cannot control is the organized
person's fundraising dream come true.
54. Find out which of your friends (perhaps this is true for you also)work in
corporations with matching gift programs. Then ask them to donate and get their
gift matched, and ask them to ask their co-workers to donate and get their gifts
matched.
55. Get an "affinity" credit car. (This is for really large organizations or chapters of
national organizations.)A firm, such as Working Assets, sets up a credit card
with your logo on it, and a small percentage of each sale goes to your group. The
Nature Conservancy, the Women's Building in San Francisco,and others are
using this successfully. It requires a guarantee of volume of users.
As you can see, almost all of these strategies involve asking for money and giving money
yourself. These are the basic premises of fundraising --you must ask, you must give..Everything
after that involves creativity, imagination and a sense of fun. I also listed two twice--give it
yourself and ask someone for it. That's not because I didn't really have 55 ways -- it is because
those are the best, fastest and easiest ways to get money.
Reprinted with permission. Copyright(c)1986 Chardon Press/Grassroots Fundraising Journal.
ACRONYM LIST
CLAB - Cooperative Library Advisory Board -A citizens advisory board to WCCLS.
FOL - Friends of the Library - A group of advocates for the library that fundraise to
help support programs that are outside the normal funding levels of the library.
GIS - Geographic Information Systems - A tool that allows stored, manipulated and
displayed geographic/map information.
LDB - Library Director's Board - An advisory group made up of library directors of the
11-member libraries that make recommendations on policies and services provided by
the Cooperative.
LSTA — Library Services and Technology Act — Competitive Federal grant monies
administered annually by the Oregon State Library
MAGIC - Metropolitan Area Geographic Information Consortium - group that came
together to form the GIS system.
Polaris - A Gaylord Brothers software product that provides library automation featuring
these modules; circulation, cataloging, acquisitions and OPAC (On-line Public Access
Catalog).
WCCLS - Washington County Cooperative Library Services - An 11-member library
consortium that share automation and resources.
WILT or WlLlnet - Washington County Inter-Library Information - WILI is not a
group, the Cooperative and libraries use WILI and WlLlnet interchangeably to describe
our cooperative library database - which is on the Polaris System. This cooperative
database allows member libraries to give fuller access to materials for their patrons.
Patrons with a Washington County card can use their card at any of the member
libraries to place holds, check out materials and check their account information. They
can also access WlLlnet over the Internet from anywhere in the world.
WUG - Wili Users Group - A group that advises the Library Director's Board and the
Cooperative Library Services Automation Program Specialist on the operation of the
automated system, including, but not limited to developing operational procedures for
WlLlnet, and making recommendations regarding operational policy, shared software
applications, system upgrades, the addition of new subsystems or databases, resource
allocations, and web site development and content. WUG consists of one voting
representative from each WlLlnet contractor, one from West Slope Community Library
and one from the Outreach Program.