Fundraising for special collections

Citation

Paustenbaugh, J.F. (2002), "Fundraising for special collections", The Bottom Line, Vol. 15 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/bl.2002.17015dab.003

Fundraising for special collections

Edited by Gwendolen Rochester Leighty, Development Officer, Smithsonian Institution Libraries, Washington, DC, USA

Fundraising for special collections

Keywords: Fund raising, Special libraries, Gifts, Libraries

Introduction

Special collections have long played an important role in shaping the identity of libraries. Raising funds to support and enhance these collections presents important opportunities to attract new donors to the library and to the institution. Successful programs are built on a foundation of professional care for collections and excellent communication with existing and potential donors. A library development team that includes the head of special collections is needed to sustain such efforts. Effective team members understand the development cycle, how to manage donor relationships, and the challenges of accepting and stewarding gifts to special collections. A successful fundraising program for special collections will spill over to the rest of the library's fundraising efforts.

Why focus on special collections?

Special collections have long played an important role in shaping the identity of libraries and even the institutions they serve. In’an era where technology is making libraries more homogenous, retrospective and rare book collections increasingly distinguish one institution from another (Schreyer, 2001). It is not surprising then that libraries that have not previously focused on raising money to enhance or support their special collections are now developing strategies to do so, while libraries with well established programs in this area are redoubling their efforts.

Fundraising for special collections may be the primary focus or one of several areas of emphasis in a well-integrated library development program. Regardless of the focus, a successful program will attract new donors to the library and/or institution and will require the involvement of library staff to assist the development staff with its work (Terry, 2001).

Lay the framework

To ensure consistent, long-term fundraising results, the special collections department must have or must build a history of providing excellent care to its collections and professional stewardship to existing donors. This includes following best practices for processing, preserving, and making accessible existing collections and knowing how much these activities cost. It also includes adequately and consistently recognizing gifts when they are received and then providing stewardship reports, at least annually, to living donors and others with a strong interest in the material. Donors who have previously made gifts of materials or cash to special collections have already demonstrated a strong interest and commitment and, if respected and nurtured, are more likely to make new, larger gifts than those with whom relationships have yet to be built.

Understand the donor

Donors of collections have typically invested a great deal of time and money in building the collection they are donating or may be presenting the library with their own intellectual output. In either case, they may have far greater emotional attachment to the material than they would to an equivalent monetary gift. It is also more likely that such donors will have had previous experience in providing financial support to an organization, but not the experience of donating a collection of materials. At a minimum, such donors require and deserve explicit communication about the proposed care of the material and what they may expect in terms of stewardship reports. Especially for new fundraising programs, it is important that expectations are realistic. A concise, well-written report sent to a donor at the same time every year is always preferable to unfulfilled promises of grand exhibits, four-color publications, or quarterly updates on the use of the collection.

Communicate about cost and time issues

Unless a donor has previously made a gift of materials to your library, it is safe to assume that the donor has not considered the cost to the library of accepting the gift or the time involved in professionally processing the collection. Whenever possible, it is very helpful to the donor, the library, and the institutional development staff (when they are involved) to understand the costs and timeframes associated with processing and preserving materials accepted for the collection. Additional information about how much it costs to prepare real or virtual exhibits or about how a travel stipend would enable scholars to come on site to use the collection can generate a great deal of excitement for the donor.

With this information, the donor can more easily see the need for a cash gift to process the collection and endowment funds to provide permanent support and enhanced access to the collection. Even if the donor cannot immediately fund this effort, he/she is fully informed and may be in a future position to provide such support. Offering to match the donor's own financial gift from unrestricted private funds is one way to provide additional leverage for cash gifts from donors who may justifiably feel that the materials are so exceptional that no additional gift is warranted. No matter how difficult it is to ask for a monetary gift at the time an in-kind gift is made, it is far easier than trying to solicit an uninformed and possibly dissatisfied donor long after you have received the materials.

A team effort

Although the library director plays the pivotal role in a successful library development program, the head of special collections must be part of the development team – especially if special collections is or is to become a key fund raising priority for the library. Steele observed, "a library director and a head of special collections who share a commitment to fundraising can be a formidable force for library development" (Steele, 1995). It is likely that the head of special collections and the special collections staff have relationships with collection donors and are well aware of potential donors inside and outside the university and/or local community. In spite of what appears to be a natural and profitable alliance, a frequent complaint of library development staff is that the head of special collections is not interested in fundraising or, in’some cases, is even antagonistic toward development efforts (Paustenbaugh and Koch, 2001).

In many cases such responses are a result of poor communication about role expectations (Steele, 1995). When the head of special collections is part of a well-functioning development team, he/she attends regular meetings at which fundraising projects and goals are discussed, donor strategies are planned, and there are opportunities to openly address concerns about the fundraising process. Such an environment fosters shared accountability for results and helps educate all team members. Not only does the head of special collections gain a better understanding of the development cycle and the management of donors, but also the development staff gain a far greater appreciation for the collections and the challenges involved in accepting and stewarding gifts.

Ask the right questions

Even when the head of special collections has few reservations about active involvement in fundraising, he/she may have difficulty in communicating how private funds would be of greatest use to the department. Likewise, a director of library development may not know enough about special collections to effectively guide a development program with this focus. The following questions can help open the channels of communication between the head of special collections and the director of library development:

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  If you had money what would you like to do that you cannot do now?

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  Do you have a wish list and if so, what kinds of things are on this list?

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  Do you have funds available for special opportunity purchases and if so, how have you utilized them?

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  Are there gaps in the collection and could these gaps be filled through purchases?

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  Do you have any collections that are not fully processed?

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  Do you have materials that are unusable because of the format they are in?

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  Are there items in the collections that should be preserved by microfilming or digitizing?

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  Which collections did donors who are still living give and what kind of communication do you have with them?

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  Do you have communication with the heirs of any deceased donors to special collections?

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  What are the most heavily used materials or most frequently requested images in the collection?

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  Are there groups or organizations that are or should be strongly interested in the collections or in what you are doing? What kind of relationships do you have with them?

Realize the spillover effect

Once initiated, a library development program with a focus on special collections will raise awareness of special collections, add to the library's and institution's reputations, and increase private support to other areas of the library (Terry, 2001). Exhibits, tours, and other public events highlighting special collections materials will bring many people to the library that otherwise may have never visited. Some development programs have taken this even a step further by taking treasures from the special collections department on the road, where an even more diverse audience can be inspired and informed about the library (Dunham, 2002).

Thoughtfully planned, a special collections development program allows the library to show off traditional and newfound expertise in areas such as conservation of materials, digitization for access and preservation, and building superb collections in highly visible ways. With these critical ingredients in place, your library should go far in achieving success in fundraising. Good luck!

Jennifer F. PaustenbaughHead of Special Collections and University Archives and Puterbaugh Professor of Library Service at Oklahoma State University (OSU)