Taking advantage: capitalizing on your library's advancement strengths

Citation

Rochester Leighty, G. (2003), "Taking advantage: capitalizing on your library's advancement strengths", The Bottom Line, Vol. 16 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/bl.2003.17016aab.002

Taking advantage: capitalizing on your library's advancement strengths

Taking advantage: capitalizing on your library's advancement strengthsKeywords: Fund-raising, Libraries, Philanthropy

In keeping with its title, this article intends to "take advantage" of the excellent advice offered by Adam Corson-Finnerty in the Fundraising column of a previous issue of The Bottom Line: Managing Library Finances (Vol. 15 No. 3). In that article, entitled "Pitching the powers-that-be: how do librarians 'sell' library projects to their campus fundraisers?", Adam argued cogently for a strategy of rising above traditional perceptions of libraries as "campus utilities" and adopting a "guerrilla fund-raising" approach in order to be noticed and taken seriously. He also stressed the importance of focusing the attention of the organization's President on the library and of using a variety of means to snare major gift donors for library priorities. All of these are excellent ideas, and easier to initiate than you might think. At the core of his thesis is that library directors and fund-raisers must have confidence in themselves and in their library's vision before undertaking to raise significant funds and reach out to the donor population. Sister Maria had it right as she was skipping up to Captain von Trapp's imposing home in The Sound of Music: "I have confidence in confidence alone; besides which, you see, I have confidence in me!"

Assessing current strengths

Stepping back to a broad view of the library fund-raising world, I would like to start off this year's fund-raising column by bringing to the forefront some of the major factors that influence the success of library fund-raising, and by making a few suggestions on how to capitalize on them to the library's ultimate benefit. These factors can be divided into two primary camps: those that are mostly not under the library's control, and those that mostly are. Let us look at them in turn.

Factors mostly not in library's control

Of the influential factors that are mostly not under the library's control, some are internal to your institution, and some are external. Internal factors that can have an impact on your Library's fund-raising efforts include, but may not be limited to:

Internal factors

• •

  institutional readiness for change;

• •

  beginning of an institutional capital’campaign;

• •

  beginning of new major institutional function or methodology (e.g. new IT system) where the library plays a role;

• •

  new administration (president, provost, vice president over libraries);

• •

  new significant peer (Dean of Arts and Sciences);

• •

  major change in student enrollment or alumni relations activities;

• •

  major new accomplishment (instructional center or new building).

Nearly all libraries will face, at least, some of these changes within a given five-year period. At my own institution, the Smithsonian, we have an institutional secretary (read "president") not quite three years into his tenure, we have had two under secretaries (vice presidents) over the libraries in that time, the Smithsonian is installing a completely new financial and human resources system, and the institution has been hit hard by the drop in tourism in Washington, DC since last September. Being in good company, however, may not give you as much comfort as you would like. No matter how common they are, major changes that affect you and your library often feel more dramatic and painful than they might seem to others looking in from the outside. Like a great meal, even a very positive change, such as having a terrific new president who shows great promise for elevating the university and all its components and whose spouse is a librarian, can be hard to digest. Being informed and prepared for such changes, as best as possible, will lead to a quicker acceptance of these changes and a concomitant ability to incorporate them into the library's strategies.

Of the external factors that may influence your fund-raising activities, the following also occur with regularity in the academic world.

External factors

• •

  media coverage of institution or library (public relations coup or disaster);

• •

  major change in community or state (political or social);

• •

  significant audit, report or survey showing lack of something libraries can provide in the future, or lack of something libraries should be providing today (such as 24/7 access);

• •

  visibility/invisibility of institution;

• •

  partnerships with external groups (non-profit or corporate) or end of such partnership;

• •

  major increase or decrease in rank (ARL, Philanthropy 400, etc.);

• •

  rising prominence of library donor or board member;

• •

  scandal involving library donor or board member.

If internal changes can seem uncomfortable to the library, external changes such as those in the above list can seem positively frightening. Many libraries, and with excellent reasons, have made a career out of providing available, high quality, uncontroversial service to their campus and external communities. Being caught up in, or knowingly becoming involved with, such high profile events may seem counterintuitive to survival at times, and difficult to manage at best. Yet libraries operate in an increasingly transparent world, where we claim to want visibility and endeavor to serve ever-broadening constituencies. Being a "player" means taking the bad with the good. Again, preparedness makes the difference in both weathering the external environment and capitalizing on events even when you have had no role in their creation.

Factors mostly under the library's control

If thinking of dealing with uncontrollable events and/or changes in the library's environment is stressful, you can take heart in the fact that there are many more factors that can be, at least, somewhat orchestrated by the library, and to its benefit. I have divided these into two main categories for consideration. The first is the category of "challenges to be overcome." These can include:

Challenges to be overcome

1. 1.

   Poor attitudes:

2. 2.
   • •

     demanding;

   • •

     complaining;

   • •

     "it's not fair";

   • •

     "it's our turn" (depends how you say it);

   • •

     acting pathetic;

   • •

     defeatism;

   • •

     revealing unflattering thoughts about administration to outsiders (or certain peers).

3. 3.

   Tradition/history of library invisibility to donor community.

4. 4.

   Lack of institution's willingness to share prospects/alumni with library.

5. 5.

   Perception of poor or declining service to users.

6. 6.

   Perception of poverty (not enough books, journals, services).

7. 7.

   History of inattention to libraries at the institution.

8. 8.

   Lack of planning.

9. 9.

   Lack of knowledge of goals.

10. 10.

    No development and/or public relations staff.

11. 11.

    Director or dean with no interest in development (skills are easier to develop than interest).

My list may seem surprising, partly because some of it may be so obvious and partly because it leads off with attitudes about our situation rather than simply events or specific actions that can be taken. I submit that the attitude libraries and their staff take about what they face and what they want to accomplish is not only important, it is the primary predictor of success or failure in fund-raising. Library directors who want to achieve success must learn to be positive, persistent, and action-oriented in changing perceptions about the library in order to clear the air and become ready to focus on activities that will attract donors and their dollars to the library.

The second half of the above list contains challenges ripe for the organizational and persuasive skills of librarians to be put to best use. Most of these fall into the cliché made paramount by Nike: "Just do it". If you do not have a written set of goals for the library or a written plan for achieving those goals, get your staff together and make one. Sure, it takes time, but it is needed in order to convince others you are worthy of support and, perhaps more important, it guides your decisions on how to spend your time and effort on fund-raising. For example, if your goals document says you aim to reach new audiences through the Internet by digitizing major portions of your collections, then you will need to spend time finding donors to help pay for this. Plans also help you deliver what you promise: if, say, you want to ask lots of people to help "adopt a book for preservation" but you have only one conservator, you are not going to be able to live up to the promises you make in a reasonable period of time. Keep in mind that frustrated donors are worse than no donors at all!

If you have no development staff and/or need training for yourself or another library staff member in development, invest in getting what you need. Academic Library Advancement and Development Network (ALADN) can help train new library fund-raising staff, and there are workshops and conferences available through the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and others that offer excellent fund-raising training. Use the available resources of your university, too. Courses may be offered through central development. Fear not, it is a learnable skill.

The good news: strategies for success

OK, now comes the good news. There are many strategies for success that will help you overcome negative influences, whether external or internal, and set you on the path to fund-raising accomplishment. I will subject you to one more list of these, below.

Strategies for success

1. 1.

   Have good attitudes:

2. 2.
   • •

     confidence;

   • •

     advance preparation;

   • •

     persistence;

   • •

     positive thinking (the libraries will be successful!);

   • •

     flattery (we need you to contribute to our success);

   • •

     persuasion (through the library, you can support the entire institution);

   • •

     be a team player for the institution;

   • •

     have the courage of your convictions but express them in a non-threatening way.

3. 3.

   Show up at administration events and meetings.

4. 4.

   Network and develop good relationships among peers (other deans or directors).

5. 5.

   Have and share hard data on successes and accomplishments.

6. 6.

   Communicate regularly and meaningfully with management.

7. 7.

   Include the administration (not just top two people) at your events.

8. 8.

   Do your share of administration work at the institutional level (yikes – serve on a committee or two with the deans).

9. 9.

   Use the "honeymoon" of a new library director to meet people.

10. 10.

    Do show and tell for the administration.

11. 11.

    Do show and tell for development colleagues across the institution (feeding them doesn't hurt).

12. 12.

    Do regular programs for internal and external audiences (include all who have helped you).

13. 13.

    Enlist staff – work all networks, not just directors/deans or administration.

14. 14.

    Know what you want/need.

15. 15.

    Have a good case for support – internal and external.

16. 16.

    Do good strategic planning.

17. 17.

    Have defendable and reachable goals (financial and other).

18. 18.

    Establish a library board or friends board or both, with clear expectations (nothing helps more than having external advocates).

19. 19.

    Work hard at achieving one major fundraising success (major corporate partnership foundation grant, major individual gift) for something close to the administration's heart.

20. 20.

    Get testimonials from external sources (visiting scholars, corporations, etc.) that administration hears.

21. 21.

    Work with an external consultant if entering a campaign, even if you cannot afford "full service" throughout the campaign – help yourself.

22. 22.

    Meet all administration deadlines (e.g. if they request your top 25 prospects by January 30, give them the list with your rationale on time!).

23. 23.

    Thank the administration regularly for their help.

24. 24.

    Provide opportunities for the administration to look good by helping you (ribbon-cutting, speak at opening reception, etc.).

25. 25.

    Remind the administration regularly of your reference services useful to them (obvious and maybe not so obvious – such as currency converters, value of $$ in a previous year, etc.).

26. 26.

    Bottom line: identify, cultivate, solicit and steward your top administration as if they were your most important "donors", they are.

And there you have it – lots and lots of ways to make your library visible in your academic community and seen as worthy of support by both the administration and the private sector. Some of these take longer than others, and some of them do not come as naturally as others, but you can make great progress by trying at least some of these tactics. If your library is a good "corporate citizen" and works collaboratively within the institution, your chances of getting access to donors and help in cultivating them will rise.

If you can only remember three things from this article, remember these:

1. 1.

   Just do it! If you do not try, you will not get anywhere.

2. 2.

   Do your homework: take care of all the planning and administrative matters, and know what you want and can do.

3. 3.

   Be positive and have confidence in your success – your attitude will rub off on others, from the president and campus development staff to the donor community.

Be Maria von Trapp (OK, and Xena, as Adam Corson-Finnerty recommended before) – the costume may be different, but the person wearing it is the star library fund-raiser underneath – YOU!

Gwendolen Rochester LeightyDevelopment Officer, Smithsonian Institution Libraries, Washington, DC, USA