Have you ever wondered how library foundations can open doors to untapped funding for your library? On this show Craig Palmer, Fund Development Manager for Sonoma County Library, shares how library foundations can activate fundraising for your organization and what drives giving for libraries. Whether you have an established library foundation or are thinking about this for the first time, this is useful information.
Transcript
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Adriane Herrick Juarez:
This is Adriane Herrick Juarez. You’re listening to Library Leadership Podcast, where we talk about libraries and leadership, and speak with guests who share their ideas, innovations, and strategic insights in the profession.
Have you ever wondered how library foundations can open doors to untapped funding for your library? On this show Craig Palmer, Fund Development Manager for Sonoma County Library, shares how library foundations can activate fundraising for your organization, and what drives giving for libraries. Whether you have an established library foundation or are thinking about this for the first time, this is useful information. Enjoy the show!
Craig, welcome to the show.
Craig Palmer:
Oh, Adriane—thrilled to be here. Thank you.
Adriane Herrick Juarez:
Question #1: And I’m thrilled to have you here. Today we are talking about building strong foundations for libraries. Why is this important, and why now? 01:30
Craig Palmer:
Adriane, thanks for that. In short, the business model is changing. There was a time when libraries could count on the public sector, bond measures, sharing, and taxes, maybe part of a city/county budget. But libraries are no longer those dusty places with books and librarians who say, Be quiet.
Communities are turning to their libraries now for all sorts of modern-day resources to meet needs that are transforming these state institutions into energizing, joyful noise of dazzling librarians at the ready with a makerspace, or tools to enter the workforce, or resources that address citizenship and immigration, or computers to check out—not to mention the treasure trove that they all have available online. A new and reliable stream of sustainable income is needed. And ta-da, here we are at the private sector.
Adriane Herrick Juarez:
Question #2: Here we are. So, how do foundations open doors for libraries and what is their mission? 02:31
Craig Palmer:
The foundations are separate 501(c)(3) institutions, as I think we all know—independent of the libraries they serve. That means that foundations can move with greater agility, with far fewer restrictions than libraries can, who are often stifled by bureaucratic rules and regulations. It’s very easy for foundations to tap into volunteers, partnerships, elected officials—hold activities that showcase library successes and their great staffs, and also be advocates.
As for mission, I think about that on two levels. And fundamentally, I always want to make the point when I’m talking to a foundation—the core job of all of these kinds of foundations in the library world is to raise the money, raise the money, raise the money. But I also know that foundation board members are also inspired by that higher level mission, which is the mission of the library itself. So they often blend the two together.
Adriane Herrick Juarez:
Question #3: So blending the two together—I know you talk about the roles directors play in working with foundations. Will you share about that? 03:32
Craig Palmer:
We like to say that foundations open doors, and then the next thing we say is the library director opens hearts and minds. I love to cite Urban Libraries Council: The success of the Library Foundation’s work on behalf of its library depends on an open and mutually supportive partnership between the library director and the foundation.
In Sonoma, we are especially fortunate to have Erika Thibault as our Library Director. Our foundation board members think of her—just cherish her, as their ace designated hitter. She’s a first-string player on the foundation’s leadership team. She helped set foundation goals and priorities. She participates in strategic planning. She updates foundation leadership on what’s going on in the system that the foundation needs to know about. And most importantly, she is always ready to participate in fundraising calls. Beyond that, she goes an extra mile and donates to key charities in which board members are involved, and also volunteers on community boards that are reinforcing our mission. In a presentation to prospects or at any number of different kinds of events where the foundation will want to make its best impression, the library director is the embodiment of trust, the obvious commitment to excellence, often the personification of hope. And for us, Erica is just the beacon of public awareness.
Adriane Herrick Juarez:
Question #4: Erica is remarkable and definitely a beacon of public awareness, which supports the mission of your foundation and the library as a whole. Overall, why do foundations fundraise, and why do donors choose to give to libraries? 05:07
Craig Palmer:
Why do we fundraise? The answer is—because we can. In 2021, according to the National Philanthropic Trust, more than $400 billion—that’s with a ‘B’—was given to charities who could make a meaningful connection with a donor with interest in their cause. Eighty-five percent of that came from—wait for it, individuals, people, folks, neighbors. Ten percent of it came from foundations and only five percent came from the corporate sector.
So why do donors give to the library, especially thinking about all those people? First of all, it’s not remotely because, quote unquote, We need the money. Please give. That’s buzzkill. Donors give because they see the library serving a need that they care about deeply and personally, and they see that their gift, their participation, can make the exceptional difference. They also give because they were asked. Somebody did the favor of giving them a chance to participate and make a difference.
Adriane Herrick Juarez:
Question #5: And you talking to us today is going to help people understand the importance of inviting people to participate and make a difference. You talk about four activities that drive fundraising. What are these? 06:27
Craig Palmer:
You know the nice part about fundraising, it’s an art and a science. There’s clearly a great romance to it. We’re clearly looking to appeal to the jugular, but there’s actually a very careful method to it also.
There’s only four things that you’re ever going to do when you’re involved with fundraising. The first one is identification and discovery. What we’re looking for is people and institutions with interest and capacity. We’re not looking for neighbors. We’re not looking for buddies. We’re looking for people who have an interest in our cause and capacity to participate at any level.
Sometimes when I’m talking to a new board members’ nominating committee, I’ll say that capacity can be defined in two ways. Capacity can mean affluence, We have money to give. It also can mean influence. We have contacts with people who can give money. The second thing is really important—its cultivation. This gives us a chance—the donor and the library, each of us, to get to know each other better. It’s not, Hi. How are you? Here’s my self-addressed envelope. We want you to learn more about us. We’d like to learn more about you—cultivation.
Then comes solicitation. What I tend to call, Extending the Invitation. That comes when the time is right, when we know the person is ready to join sincerely and for authentic reasons. And then comes something I want to talk about a little bit more in a minute—stewardship. This is Thank you, yes. But it’s really all about, Look what we’ve been able to accomplish because of you.
Adriane Herrick Juarez:
Question #6: You say that this work is about relationships. Will you share about that? 08:10
Craig Palmer:
When we’re orienting new boards to fundraising, inevitably I hear the plaintive cry, I hate fundraising, I hate asking for money. I can’t do that. And I always like to smile for a moment, and then I say, Great, because I don’t want you to ask for money…at first. I want you to build relationships with good folks who share your own commitment to our community. Before it’s about the money, it’s always about the people who care.
We just talked about the four activities that drive fundraising. If you think about it, identification, cultivation, that’s all about getting to know each other better. But the one that is the most misunderstood and misused is stewardship. There is a practical reason to make the most out of this. The closer the donor’s relationship is to the foundation, the more likely it is that that donor is going to increase their giving and sustain it over a longer period of time. They’re going to become evangelists to their friends and colleagues. They may even want to include the foundation in their estate planning.
So this isn’t about that thank you letter that we grind out within twenty-four hours of receiving the gift, or whatever our policy is, we try. It’s more about a sustained relationship across 365 days in a year.
Here in Sonoma, we have something called Board Buddies. Each board member has six high value donors. Periodically, through the year—maybe four to six times, their job as a board member is simply to call their buddies and say things like, Hope you got that invitation to an event coming up. I’ll see you there. I see you made a contribution. I just wanted to call you personally and tell you how much we, as board members, appreciate that. I see you have a special interest in literacy, fiction, youth programs—I’d love for you to be able to meet so-and-so, who really is our expert on that. Can I arrange that for you?
And yes, we give them talking points. The interesting thing that happens with this is there’s this initial moment where we say, No, we don’t want you to ask for money, we want you to build relationships, and we want you to call high value prospects. There’s always a little bit of a knee jerk about, What will I say, what will I do? Well, we give them talking points. And frankly, [laughter] most of these calls go to voicemail, but they still have impact.
But what came out of it—the next board meeting or two after we did that, board members would report back and say, They were thanking me for what the foundation is doing, and we got into a chat together around the common cause that we both appreciate. So I, the board member, now feel better about my job and I’m looking forward to the next time I can talk to my board buddy.
Adriane Herrick Juarez:
Question #7: Is there anything else you’d like to share? 10:53
Craig Palmer:
Well, here’s the back-of-the-envelope, quickie, two-cents version of this whole conversation we’ve just had. I’ve been really lucky, and enjoying the chance to talk to folks about foundations. And they say, How do we do it? And I say, Really? It just comes down to three things. And the first, most important thing is, you gotta have a great cause.
It needs to be urgent. It needs to be worthy. It needs to address a critical need in the community, and it needs to tug on heartstrings with an irresistible hug. Folks want to hear that cause and say, I’m in. What do you want me to do?
The other two points are that the library director needs to be personally involved. She, or he, is the evangelist. They are the best person to tell the story. And ultimately, the foundation—to get away from some of the fundraising jargon, I like to think of the foundation as a bandwagon. We’re gathering up folks in the parade and building momentum, and pretty soon everybody wants to get on board. We’ve got a cause. We’ve got an evangelist, a parade Grand Marshal, if you will—and now we have momentum from the foundation itself.
Adriane Herrick Juarez:
Question #8: Thank you. Do you have any favorite leadership books or resources, and why? 12:01
Craig Palmer:
You know, I’ve been lucky in my career, I’ve had a chance to be a development officer with the University of California, San Francisco; was Chief Advancement Officer for the Friends of the San Francisco Library; the training programs along the way; you go to conferences; you find out what’s going on. But, THE thing that is the Bible in our department is the Chronicle of Philanthropy.
There’s a lot of fundraising, like anything else—has a lot of changing trends, things that used to work now don’t work. People are trying new things. THE place where you can absolutely stay in touch with what’s going on in fundraising is the Chronicle of Philanthropy—the Chronicle of Philanthropy. Everybody should have a subscription, print and online—both. I have worked with two wonderful people here at the library. I gave them subscriptions and said, This is going to be your Bible. This is going to be our night-time reading. When we have our department meetings, sometimes somebody will come in with an article and say, Oh, here’s an idea they’re trying in another library system. Should we do it? And it’s like, Let’s see how this could work. Yeah, so—Chronicle of Philanthropy, that’s my answer.
Adriane Herrick Juarez:
Question #9: And Craig, what I’m grateful for in this conversation is the fact that what you do as Fund Development Manager helps libraries keep doing the kinds of things you’re talking about. So thank you for what you’re doing, and thank you for sharing that with all of us, because I will say from experience, librarians are not always comfortable asking for money. 13:08
Craig Palmer:
It’s a little bit—I’ve experienced that myself. I came from a lot of deep experiences in the private sector—worked for a long time building the fundraising program for National Eye Research Institute. In private practice, I worked with a lot of folks who are building fundraising plans—all in the private sector. The thing I love about the private sector is there is money there for causes that are worth it.
The library world understandably has been able to survive on public sector sources. It’s just that now that whole model is changing and we need to get past that part. The thing that I always enjoy when I have a chance to talk with folks at a conference or whatnot, is frankly, this isn’t about asking for money. It’s about giving people a chance to make something happen, which is what they already love their library doing anyway.
The business model is changing and now we need to find another source. Here’s this huge big pot just waiting for you. And who can have a stronger mission for that than a library? So, I’m hopeful that, actually driven by the fact that we’re going to need to develop these augmenting resources—streams of money, I think that library folks end up being the best ambassadors for this anyway. So, I think it’ll change.
Adriane Herrick Juarez:
Question #10: That’s a helpful way to think about it, Craig. In closing, what do libraries mean to you personally? 14:40
Craig Palmer:
It gets a little emotional for me and I’m almost speechless to answer it. But the library—you know, the world’s in a difficult space right now, internationally as much as the challenges that we are facing here. The library is the one safe place where absolutely everybody can go—toddler to senior, regardless of what your interests are, regardless of what your concerns are, regardless of what your needs are, and they are community centers in the best sense of the word. What I love about them is—you gotta problem? You gotta challenge? You gotta hope? You have an ambition? You want to spend some time with a good book? The library is where we can all go. With that very upside view of libraries, I do like that expression that goes, A good library has something in it to offend everyone. [laugher]
Adriane Herrick Juarez:
Question #11: Craig, thanks so much for being here today.
Craig Palmer:
Absolutely my pleasure, Adriane. Thanks for asking me.
Adriane Herrick Juarez:
You’ve been listening to Library Leadership podcast. This is Adriane Herrick Juarez. For more episodes, tune in to Library Leadership Podcast.com, where you can now subscribe to get episodes delivered right to your email inbox. Our producer is Nathan Sinclair Vineyard. Thanks for listening. We’ll see you next time.
We would like to thank the Park City Library for their dedicated support of this show. The opinions expressed on this show are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect the views of Library Leadership podcast or our sponsors.