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

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

BUILDING UP A KNOWLEDGE BASE

A substantial body of literature devoted to the practical aspects of library development has accrued in recent years. Donor prospect identification and cultivation, major gift solicitation and stewardship, friends programs, events planning, and leadership competencies comprise the substance of much of this valuable reading, offering sound practical advice for novices as well as those experienced in library fund-raising. A recently published essay by Mark D. Winston and Lisa Dunkley is typical of the genre. In their article entitled "Leadership Competencies for Academic Librarians: The Importance of Development and Fund-raising," Winston and Dunkley stress leadership qualities such as adaptability, effective interpersonal communication, and good decision-making as essential for effective academic library leadership in general and fund-raising in particular. Providing lists of fund-raising responsibilities and core competencies for academic librarians involved in development and fund-raising, they note,

   The data suggest that today's fundraising professional needs to be
   able to identify gift opportunities through strategic planning, to
   create successful solicitation and cultivation plans, and to provide
   stewardship to donors. In a library setting, obtaining these
   requisite skills can be challenging. Previous experience is a highly
   valued asset, and most librarians will not have professional
   fund-raising experience when they enter the profession. Yet, they
   need to have these skills to be successful in future leadership
   roles. (Winston & Dunkley, 2002)

Although true, this observation does not address a critical oversight pervading most of the available literature devoted to library fund-raising. That is, emphasis on the importance of a fundamental knowledge of the nonprofit sector and the way in which it is financed, without which librarians' efforts to create, advance, and facilitate philanthropy may falter.

In his extended study, America's Nonprofit Sector: A Primer, Lester M. Salamon, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies, remarked, "if health is the largest component of the American nonprofit sector, education is the second largest. One out of every five dollars of nonprofit expenditures is spent by nonprofit educational institutions" (Salamon, 1999, p. 95). He reported that in the mid-1990s education expenditures were only half as large as those for health care, but nevertheless represented 7 percent of the gross domestic product. One percent of the amount spent on education was designated for library services.

Salamon analyzed that income in the form of tuition and other fees provides at least 70 percent of total revenue for private colleges and universities. Government agencies provide approximately 17 percent of total funding. The remaining 13 percent of financial support for private schools is derived from the combined revenue from private gifts, grants, contracts, and endowment earnings. In contrast, he noted, public colleges and universities receive 45 percent of their income from tuition and other fees, relying on government support for almost 50 percent of their income, and on private gifts, grants, contracts, and endowment income for the remaining 5 percent. Regardless of the disparity in their funding sources, philanthropy provides the third most important source of funding for both public and private institutions of higher education. Yet, this third component of private and public school revenues often means the critical difference between initiatives moving forward or dying for lack of financial support (Salamon, 1999).