Endowment Fundraising: Contributions Speak Volumes at the Northville District Library

Barbara Glover, a librarian at Eastern Michigan University Library, served as a trustee on the Board of the Northville District Library from 1994-2003.

Abstract: Five years from the date of the first direct mail letter, the Northville District Library possessed a $200,000 endowment fund at the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan. The five annual campaigns were managed by one volunteer and one administrator, with minimal clerical support from library staff and input from a committee that normally meets once a year. An attractive donor recognition mural decorates the library’s atrium and reminds patrons to continue supporting the library’s endowment.

Early in 1993,voters in the city and township of Northville created a district library by approving one mill in perpetuity to support library operations. They also supported the bond issue for a new building. Being an academic librarian who had originally been attracted to a career in public libraries, I eagerly consented to be a write-in candidate for a position on the first elected Board of Trustees. Six or seven months into my first term, having observed community excitement mounting as library construction progressed, I suggested that it would be a propitious time to launch a fundraising drive. Because several trustees were worried about offending homeowners by asking them for additional support so soon after they had approved millage and bond issues, the Board decided to limit its fundraising at that time to passively offering a list of naming opportunities in the new building.

During the next few years, I attended many presentations on fundraising, read articles and books on that topic, followed up on pertinent listserv postings, and gathered a box full of sample direct mail letters, fliers, and brochures. I also visited numerous library websites searching for successful fundraising methods and messages. Exposure to the following common-sense principles fueled my desire to tap into the generosity of district residents:

• People generally do not give money unless they are asked for it.
• It gives people joy to share their wealth with a quality institution whose goals they support and whose services they appreciate.
• Fundraising campaigns actually provide good publicity for a library by increasing public awareness and therefore public support.

By early 2000, three-and-one-half years after the new building opened, the library had completed the most pressing tasks associated with its transition to district library status and I had gained enough information and confidence to make a second fundraising proposal to the library administration and my fellow trustees. I presented them with a lengthy document containing arguments in favor of fundraising, lists of recommended fundraising practices, information on endowments and foundations, and comparisons of the benefits and tax credits associated with the various possibilities. Perhaps the most convincing portion of the document highlighted successful fundraising campaigns conducted by other public libraries in the metropolitan Detroit area. The document concluded with recommendations that the Northville District Library establish an endowment at the earliest possible date and fund it by means of annual direct mail campaigns. The Board agreed and created the Ad Hoc Alternative Funding Committee to explore options and return with more concrete recommendations.

The committee initially focused its attention on determining the best location for the endowment fund. Having quickly realized that forming our own library foundation would be too costly and time-consuming, we restricted ourselves to comparing the advantages of establishing endowments at banking institutions and community foundations. Michigan law strongly influenced our final choice. We believed our endowment fund would grow more rapidly at a community foundation because community foundations, unlike banks, are not limited to investing the endowment funds of public institutions in low risk instruments. Furthermore, Michigan tax law qualifies donors to endowment funds housed at community foundations to take advantage of the Michigan Community Foundation Tax Credit. This credit equals 50% of the gift up to a credit of $100 for individuals and $200 for married couples and offers similar benefits to businesses. We felt this special incentive would serve to attract a greater number of contributions. The Library Board decided to establish its endowment fund at the highly regarded Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan after interviewing Vice President in Charge of Donor Relations, Robin Ferriby.

To meet the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan’s required initial deposit of $10,000 to establish an agency endowment fund, our next phase involved locating one or two donors who would be willing to provide this seed money. Common sense dictated that we first approach former donors of major gifts. Library Director Julie Herrin and Assistant Director Anne Mannisto teamed up with two trustees to ask two individuals for $5,000 each. Both appeals were speedily fulfilled and the Northville District Library Endowment Fund was created on October 18, 2001. While those checks were on their way to the Community Foundation, it occurred to me that a challenge grant would lend some excitement and urgency to our first campaign. Fortunately one of the two major donors agreed with this idea and offered an additional $25,000 for this purpose. This challenge definitely strengthened our initial appeal for public support.

With ongoing responsibilities to fulfill, our committee quickly dropped the “Ad Hoc” portion of its name. A year later the Alternative Funding Committee was renamed the Development Committee. We are currently known as the Endowment Committee and are comprised of three trustees, one former trustee, the library director, the assistant director, and an officer of the Friends of the Northville District Library. Committee service has not been very time-consuming as we have only met ten times in the seven years since the Board authorized an endowment.

Soon after establishing the endowment fund, the main task facing the committee was planning the first direct mail campaign. The Friends of the Northville District Library endorsed the concept of an endowment from its inception. Even more important than their agreement to underwrite campaign costs for printing and mailing was their willingness to share their membership mailing list of more than 300 proven library supporters. After quickly expanding that list of prospects to 500 by adding all prior donors to the library and 75 local businesses, we wasted no time finalizing a direct mail letter and designing a donor form. Three-and-one-half weeks after establishing the endowment fund and less than one week after obtaining the $25,000 challenge grant, we folded, stuffed, stamped, and delivered 500 envelopes to the post office. Checks started arriving at the Foundation one week later and by year’s end amounted to almost $13,000 on top of the $31,000 of seed and challenge monies.

While preparing for the second year’s campaign, we removed businesses from the mailing list due to an extremely low response rate. In order to reach a new target of 750 addresses, we added the names of all city and township officials, board members, and commission members. We also went through the local telephone directory to identify individuals who had been active in Northville’s various civic organizations. Finally, we utilized a commercial city directory to harvest names and addresses from an upscale city neighborhood. Not surprisingly, increased solicitations produced increased donations. We achieved a 14-16% response from our “in the family” solicitations and an 8-10% response from solicitations in the wider community. The $25,000 challenge had raised $34,500 in our initial two campaigns. Five successful campaigns have verified the following mantras of fundraising literature:

• Nine out of ten charitable dollars come from individuals rather than businesses.
• Most donors to your cause will be individuals who are already known to you or your organization.

Extremely important ongoing tasks are those of thanking and recognizing donors. We issue a locally-produced thank you note for each gift even though the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan promptly provides formal tax acknowledgments. Whenever possible, we personalize the formal thank you cards by using first names and adding handwritten notes with updates on campaign progress. Following the success of the challenge grant in luring contributors during our first two campaigns, the Endowment Committee felt it was imperative to develop a meaningful donor recognition program in order to attract new donors and to inspire former donors to retain the library’s endowment fund on their list of charities they support on an annual basis. In addition to considering the traditional gamut of plaques and giving trees, we also solicited proposals from Mike and Karri Mohr who specialize in painting murals and other decorative art. Their pencil-sketched concept gave us confidence to hire them to paint a trompe l’oeil bookshelf on a prominent wall in the library’s atrium. We were gratified when the donor of the challenge grant agreed to cover the costs of preparing the wall and painting the mural.

As soon as the paint was dry on the mural, we advertised that books in four different sizes were available for donor-designated inscriptions on their spines. The spines of the smallest books were one inch thick and were available for $250, which we hoped would be affordable for most people. Two-inch books were valued at $1,000, three-inch books were $5,000, and the atlases resting on top of the bookcase would honor donors of $10,000 or more. For practical purposes we limited the duration of this donor recognition opportunity to the first five years of the life of the endowment fund. Donations from the first two campaigns were credited retroactively toward mural recognition and donors could take up to the full five years to complete payment on any size book of their choice.

When the five year donor recognition period (2001-2005) had ended, 168 of the 198 books on the mural were printed with inscriptions. Unsolicited donations came in from several community organizations, such as Questers, the Lions, and the Newcomers Club. Seven businesses sponsored books. Twenty-six of the books were painted in memory of a loved one and ten were designated to honor a special person. Most donors had a “come-what-may” attitude toward the placement of their books on the mural, but there were some very specific requests, such as the woman who wanted her book right next to the cute little mouse on the 3rd shelf and her husband who wanted the book right next to his wife’s book. We had only two “difficult” donors, one of whom wanted her money back when her husband opened the Foundation’s acknowledgment letter, thus spoiling her plan to surprise him. Despite a few minor challenges, all stakeholders agree that the donor recognition mural was an extremely worthwhile feature of our campaign strategy. It caught the imagination and activated the generous spirit of the Northville library community while revealing how much the residents love their library.

In addition to placing all orders for printing and supplies, Assistant Director Anne Mannisto assumes responsibility for publicity. She often arranges for articles and pictures in both Northville newspapers and occasionally in the larger Detroit area newspapers. Each fall she places a prominent and timely reminder of the endowment campaign on the front page of the Library’s newsletter that is mailed to all city and township residences. The Friends of the Library frequently support us with articles and reminders in their newsletters. The Friends also covered the cost of the single professionally designed flier that was ordered to explain and encourage participation in the mural recognition program. Not surprisingly, the mural inspired the use of promotional catch phrases such as “Paint your name on the library’s future when you give to the Northville District Library Endowment Fund” and “Your contribution speaks volumes!”

Although the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan maintains official records for tax purposes, there is a definite need for thorough and accurate records at the local level. We have utilized a spreadsheet program to develop the mailing lists, track donations, monitor the payments and requests for inscriptions on the mural, and to produce statistics for reports to the library’s Board of Trustees.

Conclusion

The Northville District Library Board of Trustees, administration, and Endowment Committee members feel that our results have been remarkable considering the rather limited investments of time and money. The value of the Northville District Library Endowment Fund exceeded $100,000 after the first three campaigns and increased to over $200,000 five years after it was founded. Including the cost of our one commercially produced flyer, campaign expenses averaged $1.40 per solicitation. Not including any gifts from our two major donors, each fundraising dollar spent resulted in $18.60 in donations.

Please do not assume that I am recommending amateur fundraising approaches over the utilization of professional fundraising consultants. No doubt we could have raised considerably more money with such assistance. Because the Northville District Library did not have a pressing need to raise a particular sum in a short period of time, we decided to see what we could do on our own. The library’s administrative team is quite lean, so we attempted to keep demands on staff time to a minimum.

Our goals were simply to establish an endowment, to bring it to the attention of people who might be interested in supporting it, and to get those people accustomed to including it in their annual charitable giving plans. In this, we have succeeded. We have been very pleased with the support we have received. Library users are enchanted by the whimsical mural that decorates the public gathering place in the building. The library administration and trustees are relieved to have its endowment housed at a foundation that processes all types of gifts including real estate and securities and offers an array of planned giving products. The growing endowment guarantees a permanent source of funding for the purposes of enhancing the Northville District Library’s collections and technologies and providing educational and cultural programming above and beyond what is supported by tax dollars.

Selected Readings

Burlingame, Dwight F. Library Fundraising: Models for Success. Chicago: American Library Association, 1995.

Gormish, Stanley E. "How to Apply Fund-Raising Principles in a Competitive Environment." Library Administration & Management, v. 12, no. 2 (spring 1998), p. 94-103.

Hansen, Walter (Interview) The Color of Money. American Libraries, Feb. 1998, p. 40-42.

Pearson, Peter D. with Stu Wilson. “Libraries are from Venus, Fund-raising Is from Mars,” Library Administration & Management, v. 20, no. 1 (winter 2006), p. 19-25.

Steele, Victoria and Stephen D. Elder. Becoming a Fundraiser: the Principles and Practice of Library Development. Chicago: American Library Association, 1992.

Swan, James. Fundraising for Libraries: 25 Proven Ways to get More Money for your Library. New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, 2002.

Warner, Irving R. The Art of Fund Raising. Rockville, MD: Fund Raising Institute, 1992.

Warwick, Mal. The Five Strategies for Fundraising Success: A Mission-Based Guide to Achieving Your Goals. San Francisco: Josey-Bass, 2000.