The importance of early donations

In a capital campaign, the early stage of fundraising is extremely important.   That’s when you ask potential donors to commit to your project.  If you are successful securing initial gifts and pledges, you can move forward with your project.  If you are not, you obviously need to stop and reassess.

We were very fortunate to receive important commitments over the last year, especially given the tumultuous economic climate.  Having that support allowed us to move into the public phase  of our capital campaign this summer.    I’d like to take a moment to thank the people, companies, and organizations who said “yes” early on.  Those who shared our vision and agreed to help may not know just how important they were.  But they were; they were key to our ability to progress with our plans.

I think the remarks from our city manager, John Wilmet, at our library’s kickoff event were excellent and should be shared to give proper credit to those who believed in our project.  We have been blessed with additional important donations since then.  We’ll list those in future blog posts.  But today I’ll share with you the listing of the first donations we received by way of John Wilmet’s remarks at the Foster Growth capital campaign kickoff:

I have the honor of announcing and presenting the major gifts that have been secured for the capital campaign.  This project is certainly an example of public/private partnership of which we can all be proud.  The city of Fort Atkinson values its library.   We understand that everyone plays a role in its ability to be the best possible library for our community.  After all, it is not up to someone else.  It is our responsibility.  When shared, the dream can become a reality.  We would like to sincerely thank those who responded to our request for donations in the early phase of this capital campaign.  Because you committed to our project early on, we were able to move forward with confidence during a time when the economic climate indicated it might be best not to.  There were many reasons to continue on in our planning not the least of which is that the library facility absolutely needs upgrading and expansion. Additionally, the building climate is competitive and library use is soaring.  We’ve planned the timing on our debt carefully and staying the course with our city’s capital improvement plan provides stability over the course of time which is always important to taxpayers and vital to our financial health.

The lead gift from the Fort Atkinson Community Foundation in the amount of $1.5 million dollars amounts to half of our fundraising goal of $3.0 million.  I think, on behalf of the citizens of Fort Atkinson, it is safe to say that your investment in our library will pay dividends well into the future.   As the city manager, I believe that the Fort Atkinson Community Foundation’s unwavering support of this (and many projects) does make all the difference in the world and really allows this community to thrive.  Thank you.

A gift of $350,000 has also been secured with the donor wishing to remain anonymous.  This gift, an incredible example of generosity, speaks to us all because it makes a difference for our citizens, one by year, year by year.  We are honored and appreciative to be the recipient of such philanthropy.  Deepest thanks for that.

Philip Jones, of Jones Dairy Farm, was unable to be with us today.  He asked that we read the following:

“Both the Jones Dairy Farm and the Jones family have a long tradition of supporting important community projects.  The library expansion and renovation project is probably the best example I can think of in terms of impact. All of our citizens benefit from a library that is healthy and vibrant.  The businesses benefit too because we see the improvement in the lives of our employees as a result of access to the world of information.  Local tourism benefits because it is yet another place for travelers to explore.  Our community benefits because there is a demonstrated return on investment as a result of a library in a community.  The facility, while not the only factor in providing excellent library services, is a key component.

It’s always been important to Jones Dairy Farm to be an active participant in helping our community, fostering growth at opportune times.  Libraries are more important now than ever.  We are proud to be an early donor to the library’s capital campaign.”

We thank Philip Jones, the entire Jones family, and Jones Dairy Farm for their generosity and consistent commitment to Fort Atkinson.  They have secured the naming rights to the adult collections.

A gift of $150,000 from the Fort Community Credit Union allowed the Credit Union to secure naming rights for the community meeting room.  We couldn’t be more grateful to the Credit Union for agreeing to fund the much needed expanded space for our citizens to gather and meet.  With after-hours accessibility, we know this will be enormously beneficial to our citizens.  This generous gift was especially appreciated because it was given in the early stages of our campaign and allowed us to continue planning our design with confidence that we were able to meet our early financial obligations.  The Fort Community Credit Union has demonstrated the spirit behind the word “community” in their name.  Thank you.

I’m delighted to report a gift of $150,000 from PremierBank.  PremierBank has secured the naming rights to what we are calling our premier entrance.  As we’ve just finished another round of design work, I can tell you that we are putting significant thought and effort into the design of our entry and checkout area.  At the moment, the plan calls for the staircase to be placed adjacent to the existing historic bow window in the 1931 section of the building.  Allowing people to walk next to it, see it, and touch it is one way that we are attempting to rediscover the parts of the library that have been covered in over time.  It is one of the reasons this library will be considered even more of an architectural gem at the end of the project.  Thank you to PremierBank for demonstrating that you are interested in helping us be a premier library.  Your commitment to our project is applauded and appreciated.

The Highsmith Family secured the naming rights to the Young Adult Library.  The library has never before had an area dedicated to the young adults in our community.  A space for them is considered very important in a modern-day library and we are proud to be able to allocate space specifically for this age group.  As teens move into adulthood, it is important to respond to their unique needs in an effort to reach them and teach them.  The Highsmith family understands libraries and their responsibilities to their communities.   We are grateful that they have committed to provide such generous financial support which allows us to deliver on this responsibility for the first time in our history.

Finally, we have received the following major donations that I’d like to announce:

The Spacesaver Corporation has committed to making a substantial in-kind donation for shelving.  As the home of the Spacesaver Corporation we are so appreciative that they continue to support our community.  The gift of past mobile shelving as well as fixed shelving units, the generosity of the company has allowed our library to be enormously efficient.  Since efficiencies are important to this project, we couldn’t be more appreciative.  Your corporate citizenship is to be applauded.

Naming rights to two study rooms have been secured.  The Negus family is generously sponsoring one and the Rotary Club of Fort Atkinson the other.  Because one of the areas of need in our community is for small group study rooms we have considered these a high priority in our design.  Allowing tutoring and small group studying to take place in a room that is sized for the group is not only an efficient use of space, it is much more desirable for the people.  Thank you to the Negus family and the Rotary Club for your gifts to help the education of our citizens, helping them to help each other.

We do have a few more naming opportunities available.  I use the word “opportunity” because this is, indeed, an opportunity.  The chance to make a gift to our community through our improved library will not come along again…at least probably not in my lifetime.  Please contact either Connie Meyer or me if you’d like to discuss securing a naming opportunity.

Those mentioned today are surely deserving of thanks from us all.  It is through their willingness to give to others that we are able to move forward in creating a library that will serve our community in the best possible way for many years to come.

I was informed yesterday that we’ve surpassed the $1 million dollars pledged of our $1.5 million campaign. While it might seem that we are home free and don’t need you, I can assure you that we do.  Five hundred thousand dollars is a great deal of money.  We have a lot of work to do to fundraise that many dollars.  Thank you for your help and support.

Cents and sensibility

Just the other day I read an article in Kiplinger’s entitled Fabulous freebies. The list of fabulous freebies includes “free movies and books from the public library. ” It’s number 15, among some other good ideas.  There have been many similar articles citing the library as an excellent choice if you are interested in saving money and still having incredible access to resources.  It just makes “cents.”

That reminded me that even though the timing on our capital campaign might not be the best in the world, the timing on our relevance to our community couldn’t be better.   The library board discussed that very thing as we were deciding whether or not we should head into the fundraising phase of our project just as the stock market plummeted last  Fall.  How could we ask people to be generous and philanthropic now?  But then again, how could we not when our usage is soaring and continues to demonstrate our importance to our citizens?  Also, wasn’t there opportunity in moving forward with a construction project at a time when prices had either stabilized or dropped on building materials?  And what about the fact that the project would employ people in a vast array of construction trades during a time where companies are looking for work as opposed to too busy to bid on the project?

Most things in life have both opportunities and threats, pros and cons, good and bad.   I’ve always believed the “double edged sword” is worth acknowledging and understanding.  Delving deeper generally allows you to find a place of balance…and likely your best solution.

Every day I see people using the library to research, study, examine, explore.  Whether they are looking up the review in Consumer Reports or studying alternative investments, people use resources to help them make good decisions and, ultimately, to make sense of their world.  We are honored to help in the process.

This actually reminds me of our library’s vision statement:

The Dwight Foster Public Library seeks to ignite the quest for knowledge and understanding and provide the necessary resources for life’s journey for each member of our community.  Our facility, programs, and collections must be the anchor of our community, as we strive to preserve the record of history, inspire discovery, and make accessible the vast body of information so that all can learn, share, grow, and contribute.

I’m embarrassed to admit that it took me longer than it should have to cite our library’s vision statement in this blog.  But that doesn’t mean I don’t think about it every day.  It’s the driving force behind all we do and the reason we have moved forward with fostering growth in Fort Atkinson.

So libraries really are about cents…and sensibility.  (My apologies to Jane Austen; I just couldn’t resist.)

Giving is as easy as ABC…or is it BGZ?

Being a librarian, I’m naturally an ABC kinda gal.  I like alphabetic order.  I like order in general.   Much of life follows a certain order.   A capital campagin certainly does.  First you do your homework.  Then you talk with potential major donors.  Then you turn things over to the community and hope the citizens will respond by giving.

We turned the page on our capital campaign last week, kicking off the public phase of our Foster Growth campaign.  We had great media coverage at the event.  Thank you to James Debilzen of the Daily Jefferson County Union (click on the link to read about it) and Michael Clish of WFAW.   We appreciate the story by Barry Adams in the Wisconsin State Journal too.

So now it’s your turn.  We sincerely (and gratefully) hope you will consider helping Foster Growth in Fort Atkinson.  We’ve been working on ways to make giving as easy as ABC.   Our brochure has a super easy tear-off panel.  Just fill out the form on the back and either attach a check or pledge an amount for future giving.  (We accept pledges over a three year period.)   The brochure (please note: this link takes you to the PDF of the brochure but it does take quite awhile to download) is available on the web site and, of course, inside the library.  Soon we’ll be taking the brochures out into the community and mailing them as well.

You may also donate using your credit card.  Simply go to our library’s web site and click on the Building Project tab.  Click the donate button and you will be taken to the Fort Atkinson Community Foundation’s web site to make your donation to the library fund.

If you’d like to learn more about our project, the plans and the renderings are now on our website.  You can click on the thumbnail images to see each of them enlarged.  If you would like to see the plans in a really large print format, they are available to view in the library.  Come in and see!  Please remember, though, that the plans are not yet finalized so they are still subject to change.

Giving really is as easy as ABC…or, if you look at the image below, you could say it fits neatly under BGZ.    Gee, the alphabet is a versatile and wonderful thing!

A big COMMUNITY boost

Fort Community Credit Union delivers a check for $150,000 (Photo courtesy of James Debilzen of the Daily Jefferson County Union)

I’m delighted to report that the Dwight Foster Public Library received a check in the amount of $150,000 for our building project from the Fort Community Credit Union several days ago.  (I rushed to deposit it before the ink was dry!)  The Daily Union was there to report the story.  You can read all about it online at the Daily Union’s web site.

That gives a big boost to our library’s Foster Growth capital campaign in terms of reaching our goal.  It secures naming rights for a community meeting room for the Fort Community Credit Union and allows us to continue to move forward with our plans to improve our library facility.

Thank you, thank you to the Fort Community Credit Union.  Your gift demonstrates your understanding of and commitment to the word “community.”   Your willingness to live your name will be appreciated by many people…for many years to come.

Act the way you want to feel

I am a fan of Gretchen Rubin.  She is spending a year working on something she calls the Happiness Project, which will hit the shelves in the form of a book at the end of 2009.  She’s been spending her time test-driving every principle, tip, theory, and scientific study she can find on the topic of happiness.  She’s reporting along the way in her daily blog.

She has very interesting blog posts and the one from October 15, 2008 really caught my attention.   She talks about the importance of doing something for someone else…which has a dual purpose.  It helps YOU and it helps the other person/entity.

In the post she talks about the importance of donating money, even if you feeling poor when you look at the latest report on your 401K.   She reminds us that many people don’t have a 401K.  Part of happiness is recognizing that you probably have a great deal to be grateful for.  If you can’t give money, you can donate books to libraries, she advises.  (Hey, I’m all for that!)   Or give blood.  An action that gives life to another.   No pricetag on that gift.

According to Gretchen:

“So act the way you want to feel. Acting with generosity, with gratitude, with compassion, will change your perception of your own situation. And it will improve the lives of others.”

In the not-too-distant future and we’ll be going to the community with our library’s capital campaign.  We’d love to be able to Foster Growth…and happiness…all around.  Such a wonderful and unique opportunity to give a gift that means something important today that will also last beyond any of our own lifetimes.  Happiness…for you right now as a result of giving…and for countless others, some of whom you will never know, but for whom a strong library will help to create a happy life.  (More about that in another post.)

Action expresses priorities

Thank you to the Fort Atkinson Community Foundation board of directors.  On behalf of the Dwight Foster Public Library board of trustees and its staff, we want you to know how grateful we are for your decision to contribute the lead gift of $1.5 million dollars to the library’s capital campaign.

During this time, especially, we know the meaning of your gift.  We understand the magnitude of your commitment and are appreciative beyond words.

A favorite quote of mine is from Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi:  “Action expresses priorities.”   With your donation, you’ve continued your long tradition of making the Fort Atkinson community your priority.  Investing in our library is a tangible way to reach into the future with a priceless present.  It’s a gift that will bear fruit well beyond any of our own lifetimes.

Thank you.

In my search for a way to say thanks electronically, I found the following video on YouTube.   Through song and images, perhaps this will convey a proper sense of gratitude. 

(Note: On 9.1.09 I changed to video link because the original video was removed due to copyright issues.  This is a “cover” of the Josh Groban song.)

What’s so special about Andrew Carnegie?

I’ve asked myself this question over the years.

Andrew Carnegie was a really important person in the history of libraries in our country. However, he didn’t actually donate to build Fort Atkinson’s library.

According to our history books, Carnegie was asked but denied the request (citing the fact that we already had a library building). So when the citizens wanted to replace the house which served as a library with an actual library building, they had to rely on other benefactors, including the generous descendants of Dwight Foster.

Andrew Carnegie’s contributions for the good of public libraries in America were beyond significant. His gifts profoundly improved the library experience for thousands of communities. He donated to many Wisconsin libraries, including Jefferson. You can read about that (and more) at the Wisconsin Library Heritage Center.

Carnegie had a number of quotations that I admire. One is, “The man who dies rich dies disgraced.” He was certainly an example of someone who lived his philosophy, giving away almost 90 percent of his fortune before he died.

There is an interesting piece about Carnegie on the National Park Service’s web site (Carnegie Facts). It indicates that by the time of his death, Carnegie had given gifts to various charities totaling nearly $350 million. I’m unsure what the present value of that amount of money would be. I’m not going to do the math on that (I’ve got other math problems taking priority). Anyway, I think it’s sufficient to say it’s a whole bunch of money.

Andrew Carnegie was a wise and complex man who believed in libraries as the place where you “teach people how to fish.” I happen to think that this is one of the highest purposes of libraries. And a task for which we are inherently well-equipped.

Napoleon Hill, motivational author, discusses his meeting with Andrew Carnegie in the video you can see below. Fascinating!

Giving helps the giver

These days, organizations doing fund raising are acutely aware of the fact that poor economic conditions, or fear of such, can deter giving.  As we are embarking on a capital campaign, it’s certainly on our radar screen.  After doing a little research and talking with some fund raising professionals, it seems to me that if history is any example, people continue to give to causes that are important in their own minds and lives, despite the fact that it costs more to actually live our daily lives at the moment.

Donating to a worthy project has many benefits.  Recently I was reading a fascinating article by Economist Arthur C. Brooks about philanthropy.  His premise was that giving actually makes you rich.  Here is an excerpt of the article (click on the word “article” to read the entire article):

…Emerging evidence—crunchy statistics from real data, not the mushy self-help stuff—supports the contention that giving stimulates prosperity, for both individuals and nations. Charity, it appears, can really make you rich.

…This is precisely what is found in the S.C.C.B.S. data: More giving doesn’t just correlate with higher income; it causes higher income. And not just a little. Imagine two families that are identical in size, age, race, education, religion, and politics. The only difference is that this year the first family gives away $100 more than the second. Based on my analysis of the S.C.C.B.S. survey, the first family will, on average, earn $375 more as a result of its generosity.

How can this be? Is it a statistical anomaly—or even a metaphysical phenomenon…Psychologists and neuroscientists have identified several ways that giving makes us more effective and successful. For example, new research from the University of Oregon finds that charity stimulates parts of the brain called the caudate nucleus and the nucleus accumbens, which are associated with meeting basic needs such as food and shelter—suggesting to the researchers that our brains know that giving is good for us. Experiments have also found that people are elevated by others into positions of leadership after they are witnessed behaving charitably.

…In short, giving plays a positive role in American economic growth. It is a good investment for our country. Some might even go so far as to say that donating to charity is a patriotic act.

I’ve always known that to be true for myself on some basic level.  (Although my definition of “rich” isn’t necessarily simply money.)  How else could I explain the feeling of strength I’ve had when I’ve walked out of the blood donation center or finished my laps at Relay for Life?  In theory, after the physical toll, I should most certainly not be feeling better.  But I do.  And when I write the check for my membership in Friends of the Library, work at the Rotary pancake breakfast, read with an inmate through the Jefferson County Literacy Council, or give to my church or one of a number of other organizations that matter to me, I always feel mysteriously better.  I believe it’s true.  Giving helps the giver.

So I’ll leave you with a graphic (that is somewhat difficult to read due to the background, my apologies for that).  I find it beautiful and inspiring just the same.  I think it describes well an overall philosophy that people who give to others probably universally espouse.