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Fundraising Using
a Direct Mail Campaign
(Originally from SIGNAL, Spring 1998)
An Interview with Karen Schecter, CEO, Smiths Falls Public Library
Smiths Falls is a town of 9,000 people situated south of Ottawa. It has a lovely old Carnegie library building that is too small for the population and the services the library now offers. The library is on 3 levels, which makes for very heavy staffing requirements. The library automated several years ago. Funding for library services has not kept pace with the activity in the library. The library considered closing for several days in 1996 in order to meet its budget, but instead ran a deficit which put the 1997 budget in difficulty. Karen Schecter, the CEO, attended "Expanding Your Fundraising Savvy" with Ken Wyman at the OLA Superconference in January and told participants about the wonderful success Smiths Falls had with a recent direct mail campaign.
WHAT WAS THE PURPOSE OF THE CAMPAIGN?
The purpose of the fundraising effort was to keep the library open through 1997. We needed additional operating funds just to keep the doors open. Public opinion was very negative on the issue of closing for several days or weeks as a way to stay within budget. Newspaper articles had made it known that this was an option being considered by the library board, and the public reacted. They didn't want the library to close for even one week.
WHAT WERE ITS COMPONENTS?
This was a direct mail campaign only. A committee of the board discussed the approach and drafted a flyer to be dropped in each household in Smiths Falls. One board member and I finalized the flyer, and then we tested it on a sample of library users by handing it out in the library. The response was excellent, so we went ahead and had the flyers printed. We paid for printing so they would look professional and serious, but we couldn't afford to mail. The flyers dropped in households had a tear-off section to return with donations, but no return envelope.
We also sent a package to library supporters identified by staff. These were mailed to them and included a letter and an unstamped return envelope. We used the library data base to create this mailing list.
HOW LONG DID IT TAKE TO MOUNT THE CAMPAIGN?
It took about 5 months from beginning discussion at board meetings to being ready to send out the flyers.
HOW MUCH EFFORT AND HELP WAS REQUIRED?
One of the best things about the campaign, besides the money we raised, was the low level of effort needed to do it. Staff were not required to donate extra time; the board worked on it as part of its regular meeting and committee structure. A local credit union agreed to deliver the household flyers as part of a drop it was doing. This credit union has been helpful to the library in the past, and we thanked them with a sign in the library. Envelopes were stuffed by a co-op student.
CAN YOU TALK A BIT ABOUT THE ISSUE OF USING THE LIBRARY PATRON DATA BASE AS A MAILING LIST.
This was never an issue for Smiths Falls. The board and staff had no difficulty in using our data base for a library purpose. We didn't think it was very different from using our data base to send out publicity material for programs, or for overdue notices, for that matter. We had no negative comments from the library users who received the directed package. In fact, the only complaint we received about the campaign was that it was too close to Christmas. It was November.
YOUR CAMPAIGN WAS OBVIOUSLY SUCCESSFUL? HOW HAS IT BENEFITED THE LIBRARY?
We raised enough money to keep the library open through 1998, and that was our objective, but I think there were a lot of other benefits to the library. The request for operating funds struck a nerve in the community. They hadn't realized how serious our situation was.
The campaign has been a major part of a board focus on advocacy. Council changed its view of the library and now sees us as a pro-active and responsible organization. We aren't whiners.
Even the public that did not donate felt positively about the library as a result of the campaign. It certainly raised our profile in the community.
It also showed the board and staff that funds could be raised without a huge effort on their part. This approach gave us the maximum return for a minimum of effort.
WOULD YOU DO IT AGAIN? WOULD YOU CHANGE ANYTHING?
Yes, we will probably have to do it again. We are trying to develop a donor data base to use next time. I would prefer to focus a fundraising campaign on a specific project, but who knows what our future holds.