Mutually assured survival: library fund-raising strategies in a changing economy

Library Trends, Summer, 2003 by Lisa Browar, Samuel A. Streit

Noting the important differences between traditional donors and new venture philanthropists the Chronicle continued,

   The traditional donor wants to leave a legacy. The new donor often
   wants to change the world, and wants to do it now. The traditional
   donor invests in established institutions while the new donor may
   have a suspicion of established institutions. The traditional donor
   expects a gift to lead to a predictable outcome but the new donor
   may be more willing to embrace nascent or risky ideas. Traditional
   donors take on volunteer leadership roles defined by the
   institution. New donors may expect to contribute not only financial
   resources but also their expertise. (Marcy, 2001, p. B13)

Soliciting gifts from venture philanthropists may not be right for every library context. Some may not be able to accommodate an additional level of participation from donors who have invested in innovative library initiatives. Yet, the opportunity to join an enthusiastic, entrepreneurial, results-oriented donor with strategic library innovation makes a compelling case for the consideration of venture philanthropy.

Foundation support and contributions from individual donors or venture philanthropists obtained to fund innovative programs of for the purpose of leveraging additional financial support does not address the need to identify and secure funding for other, more traditional programmatic needs. These needs must be accommodated through the use of internal operating funds and the acquisition of assembled external support, usually in the form of traditional modes of giving such as gifts-in-kind to be sold for the benefit of the library and major gifts of cash.

Bequests, particularly those negotiated as a result of a donor's estate planning efforts, can provide useful, specifically targeted support for a library's areas of need while matching a donor's philanthropic objectives. Librarians may be able to influence a donor's estate planning efforts by suggesting bequests that will ensure that the donor's interests and influence will continue beyond the length of his or her life.

Gifts-in-kind, in addition to providing items that are incorporated into a library's holdings, may also take the form of items lying out of a library's collecting scope that are sold to provide funds that will support a library's collecting mission. Before contemplating a sale of gifts-in-kind, tax laws pertaining to sales of donated property must be thoroughly investigated.

Major gifts are typically gifts of cash in excess of $50,000 given for specific purposes. Major donors are those usually defined as persons contributing sums of this size to a single nonprofit organization within the immediate past two years and who maintain at least $1 million dollars in a discretionary advisory account (Fund Raising School, 2001a). As a rule, major gifts are not spontaneous donations but rather are the result of fairly lengthy cultivation efforts on the part of librarians and their development officers. Cultivation efforts are carefully planned and executed. They are based upon extensive research into a donor's background, finances, giving history, and philanthropic objectives and may be protracted over months or years before actual donations are made.