Factors for Success: Academic Library Development Survey Results - Statistical Data Included

Library Trends, Wntr, 2000 by Irene M. Hoffman, Amy Smith, Leslie Dibona

ABSTRACT

LIBRARY ADVANCEMENT HAS BECOME A NEW AREA of need and specialization in academic libraries of all types. The results of a nationwide survey (see Appendix) provide information on this new trend and bring a better understanding of how academic library fund-raising programs are structured. The survey results are used to identify characteristics and elements of the fund-raising program that lead to success. The results also provide suggestions and items for consideration to assist library directors in their planning of new library advancement programs.

INTRODUCTION

Academic libraries have become active players in the fund-raising game. Over the past three years, we have witnessed a tremendous growth in fund-raising activities across the United States and Canada. Indicators of this trend include the growth of library fund-raising groups such as ALADN (the Academic Library Advancement and Development Network), the emergence of library fund-raising listservs such as LIBDEV, and a steady increase in the number of publications and presentations on fund-raising. As Charles Kratz (1998), 1997/98 president of ALA's Library Administration and Management Association, stated: "For some time now, libraries have been confronted by the reality of budgetary restrictions and the spiraling cost of library materials and services. One perplexing aspect of this reality is that it will not go away.... This has made fund-raising an increasingly essential function for library leaders and managers" (p. 196).

Internally within the California State University system, we also noted some significant signals that fund-raising was becoming a library priority. Our first indication that a dramatic change was taking place within the profession was in our own institution. The California State University Libraries Strategic Plan (1994) states:

   [W]orking in collaboration with their campus constituencies, [library
   directors will] identify and develop campus-specific targets of opportunity
   for fund-raising and staff-funding initiatives. The CSU should take the
   lead role in developing a new model for State funding of operations and
   capital needs of libraries. The library of the 21st Century will be
   integrated inexorably with academic programs and technical service
   providers, making traditional funding paradigms obsolete. (pp. 43-44)

Today, seventeen of the twenty-three CSU campus libraries have a fund-raising program in place.

This emerging area of specialization has many implications. The two most critical are the skill set that will be required for library directors and the education and professional training that will be necessary to properly educate and prepare new professionals for this task.

This growing trend in academic library fund-raising was the catalyst for this study. As we noted this dramatic trend among ourselves, we began to wonder if what was happening within the CSU was in some way indicative of a larger trend among libraries nationally. Was fund-raising becoming a more prominent priority for other academic libraries? What was the professional background of the fund-raising staff? How much money was being committed to the fund-raising effort, and how much was being raised? We were curious to hear more about fund-raising successes in libraries as well as the makeup of their donor pool.

ABOUT THE SURVEY

The concept of the survey began with the hypothesis that fund-raising was becoming increasingly more prevalent throughout the academic library community. We wanted to learn more about the types of institutions engaged in fund-raising, the educational and professional background of development directors, and how these individuals are classified and compensated. We were also curious to learn how other libraries have progressed, what fund-raising programs were used and were successful and, finally, how we could begin to create a profile for success that could be beneficial for library administrators seeking to establish fund-raising programs. The goal of the survey was to gain a better understanding of the trends within academic library fund-raising and to determine benchmark information that could be used in establishing library fund-raising programs in the future.

In 1996, the three authors, all from CSU campuses at the time, began work on the Academic Library Development Survey. The survey instrument was constructed to obtain information in three major areas:

1. Who is doing the fund-raising?

2. What is actually occurring in these fund-raising programs: how are they managed, how much do they raise, what are the funding priorities, and what programs seem to work?

3. What are the factors that help determine success?

After the survey instrument was completed (see Appendix), a decision on how to distribute it had to be made. Since there exists no formal listing of libraries engaged in fund-raising, the best approach for distribution was to utilize appropriate listservs. We selected listservs from ALADN (LIBDEV); Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL-Forum); Library Administration and Management Association, Fund-raising and Financial Development Section (LAMA-FRFDS); and California Academic & Research Libraries (CARL). However, due to the nature of listservs, we could not be certain of how many surveys were actually distributed. For example, we could estimate the number of subscribers on each list but could not know how many of these individuals passed the survey on to other staff. Nevertheless, we felt that this method of distribution was valuable, cost effective, and provided the greatest amount of visibility for our study.