Libraries are vital community hubs that offer a wide range of services and resources. However, when it comes to raising funds for expansions, renovations, or new facilities, libraries often face unique challenges. Funding the gap between public dollars and the full cost of your building project will likely have you considering a library capital campaign.

Capital campaigns, while essential, can be daunting undertakings for library staffs, boards and friends groups who have never tackled this type of major gift fundraising. Let’s explore how to overcome the specific challenges faced by libraries during capital campaigns and how a bond election might impact a campaign.

Overcoming Challenges in a Library Capital Campaign

Limited Donor Base

Libraries often serve diverse communities, but their donor base may be limited. Major gift fundraising is not always top of mind for all libraries. This can make it difficult to imagine who will make the large donations or pledges that will make a capital campaign successful. Consultants can help libraries identify and cultivate the donors who will provide leadership gifts to the campaign -- local business leaders, community leaders and wealthy individuals who recognize the importance of a modern library in their community. The success of the campaign will hinge on engaging community leaders and local philanthropists.

Engage with this group of prospective donors first during a campaign planning study (also called a feasibility study). During a professionally managed campaign planning study, your consultant will work with you to identify leadership level donors and community leaders with whom to share the campaign. Then your consultant will meet with them individually to test the project – discussing it with them, answering their questions, and getting their feedback on the project and the campaign, including any gift commitment they would consider making.

Your feasibility study should deliver many important findings:

• Your library’s fundraising strengths and weaknesses.

• Your community’s perception of the library.

• A case for support for your unique campaign that will resonate with donors.

• Lists of potential campaign leaders and donors (individuals, corporations and foundations).

• Other campaigns in the area that might impact yours and ideal campaign timing.

• Potential opportunities for and threats to your project and campaign.

• A detailed plan for moving forward with a campaign.

Armed with this information, your library will be well-prepared to expand the donor base and launch a capital campaign.

Lack of Fundraising Experience

Many libraries do not have dedicated fundraising staff or the experience necessary to run a major capital campaign; however, there are great success stories of libraries that have risen to the challenge. At CampaignCounsel.org, we have managed a number of successful library campaigns that started from scratch. We helped an all-volunteer friends group raise $2 million to renovate their rural library. We planned and managed a campaign for a city library with zero fundraising experience and a foundation with one part-time staff member that through a bond issue and a capital campaign built a $35.65 million library. That library was named Public Library of Year in 2022 by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA).

While it is challenging to take on a capital campaign with little fundraising experience, a consultant can help develop and manage a strategy that you, your board and your volunteer leaders can implement successfully. Following your feasibility study, your consultant should have the information and insight to develop a comprehensive plan for your campaign to follow. Consultants also offer leadership and guidance throughout the campaign. They assist with volunteer training and management and staff support, ensuring that everyone involved is motivated and informed.

A solid capital campaign plan will be driven by “quiet phases” in which major, leadership level donations are committed first. The plan should call for those donors identified during the study and other prospective major gift donors to be approached face-to-face by campaign committee members who are peers. Your consultant should develop solicitation materials, train your committee members on how to make a professional solicitation and ensure best results. After about 90 percent of the goal is reached, the campaign goes “public” asking the entire community to make gifts at any level.

Communities and their philanthropists value their libraries. With solid campaign planning, professional campaign management, and thoughtful communications library campaigns can expect to be very successful.

Public Perception

Convincing the public of the need for a new or improved library may be a challenge to address. Libraries must effectively communicate their value and the impact of their services to garner community support. During your campaign planning study and within your campaign plan, your consultant should help your library articulate its vision and the importance of the campaign to prospective donors. Your consultant should anticipate pushback and develop responses to questions like, Why should I donate to a capital campaign if my taxes pay for the library? What relevance does the library have in today’s world? Hasn’t the internet made the library obsolete?

Your campaign planning study should result in a case for support that resonates with your prospective donors and answers their most important questions. From that case for support your consultant will help you craft compelling messages and design an effective communication strategy. Consultants help libraries articulate their vision and the importance of their campaign, creating materials that resonate with potential donors and the community.

Bond Elections and Library Capital Campaigns

A successful bond election or other public funding may be necessary to secure the majority of funding needed for a library project. In our experience, embarking on a capital campaign before a bond election can serve two purposes: demonstrating support from the philanthropic community for the project, thus enhancing the bond campaign; and allowing you to raise the funds that will bridge the gap between public funding and your fully imagined modern library.

 By positioning the capital campaign before any public funding, your library shows its value: respected individuals, corporations and foundations are supporting the project; therefore, it must be worthwhile.

In some instances, our company has helped libraries raise capital to help pay for their public funding efforts, which can be quite expensive. In our experience, private philanthropy only enhances public funding. It builds credibility and expands the library’s fundraising capacity.

What’s Next?

Library capital campaigns are critical for building and maintaining the spaces that foster community learning and engagement. While campaigns present unique challenges, your determination and the support of an experienced consultant can be invaluable in navigating the intricacies of capital campaigns and building libraries that become vital community hubs.

If your library has made the transformative decision to embark on a capital campaign, what comes next? There are five very basic stages to plan for if you’d like your capital campaign to be successful. Click here to read more about campaigns.

If you have questions about how your library might approach a campaign, contact us. We’d love to hear about your project!

Melissa Sais is vice president and partner with CampaignCounsel.org.