The Central New York Library Resources Library Council and the Friends of Libraries Section of the New York Library Association are happy to present this special program regarding library fundraising this Earth Day 2021!

Webinar Description:

Looking for some best practices for fundraising that can be implemented within pandemic safety guidelines?  When you cannot gather crowds at large-scale book sales, are there other creative projects and tactics your Friends and foundation can undertake?   Rebecca Fuss of the Friends & Foundation of the Rochester Public Library will discuss annual appeals, donor relations, peer-to-peer fundraising, and other community-wide donation efforts that provide a good return on the investment of your time.  Jenny Goodemote and Kathy Shay of Wood Library in Canandaigua will share the details of their “knock-out” fundraiser, Pursapalooza, a sale of purses, jewelry, artwork, and more.  Organized by a committee of trustees, this in-person annual event morphed into an online store of designer handbags in November 2020.  Until large-scale book sales can resume once more, strengthening connections with long-time supporters and adapting the library’s profitable fundraisers is the name of the (socially distant) game!

Learning Objectives

After the webinar, attendees will be able to:

• Adapt previous fundraising techniques to better fit today’s environment.
• Communicate with either your Friends group or Board of Trustees about the future of library fundraising.
• Identify best practices for connecting with your community and communicating your needs to them.
• Begin planning your own library fundraiser using one or more suggestions from our presenters.
• Evaluate online platforms for virtual, in-person, and hybrid fundraising events.
• Expand your ability to reframe and organize library fundraisers.

About the Presenter(s):

Rebecca Fuss is Director of Advancement for the Friends & Foundation of the Rochester Public Library and a Certified Fund Raising Executive.  She is responsible for all aspects of development in the organization’s strategic plan, including the annual campaign, grant proposals, special campaigns, planned giving, and donor stewardship events.  In her previous position as Director of Programming and Outreach for FFRPL, she collaborated with over 80 community leaders and organizations to provide programs with an annual attendance of over 3,500 people.  Rebecca has a BA in Communication/Journalism and Political Science from St. John Fisher College.  She served as President of the Friends of Libraries Section of the New York Library Association in 2018.  Rebecca lives in the city of Rochester with her husband, Tim. Their daughter, Katherine, is a senior at the University of Rochester.

Kathy Shay joined the Wood Library Board of Trustees in January 2019. Kathy has participated in various board committees including Strategic Planning, Fundraising and Governance. She has served as  Chairperson for the library’s signature event, Pursapalooza, as well as the Virtual Challenge Fundraiser. When she’s not volunteering, she works as Senior Vocational Counselor with the New York State Education Department.

Jenny Goodemote has been the Executive Director at Wood Library in Canandaigua since 2012.  She loves the variety in her daily work and during her 15 year career in libraries, has certainly faced her share of challenges from building projects and public votes to a sprinkler flood and now COVID.  She truly believes that each challenge always presents an opportunity for positive change.

About the Friends of Library Section:

The Friends of Libraries Section (FLS) is one of nine Sections of the New York Library Association.  Founded in 1992 as the Empire Friends Roundtable, FLS’s mission is to create a network to connect and inspire Friends groups in all types of libraries to support the New York library community.

FLS webinars are aimed at re-energizing Friends groups by recruiting today’s volunteer corps, encouraging community partnerships, and helping groups run efficient operations that are compliant with nonprofit law.  Over the past three years, FLS has built a catalog of online content that is informative, innovative, and beneficial to Friends organizations of all sizes.

All FLS webinar sessions are recorded by NYLA and posted on the FLS webpage.  Go to www.nyla.org/friends > Events > FLS Webinars to watch past offerings at any time, free of charge.  Past webinars include Best Practices for Management of Friends Boards; Administrative Teams: A New Approach for Friends Leadership; Connecting With Today’s Volunteers to Transform the Friends of the Library; Engaging Millennials as Friends Volunteers; Charitable Planned Giving as a Fundraising Tool; and Effective Boards and Board Meetings.

Live captioning will be provided.

This webinar will be recorded and a recording will be shared with all registrants afterward.

Register via Zoom

**All participants will have the option to request a certificate of attendance for one contact hour.**

All CLRC events are open to CLRC members and members of the Empire State Library Network.