Building a Better Board Through Professional Development

Professional development is not just for library staff. Library, foundation, and Friends boards also should engage in regular, annual professional development activities. Some key professional development activities include: Board Orientation – Certainly for all new members, but also may be valuable as refresher periodically for all board members. Annual Training Activities – All board members…

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WEBINAR: Merging a Friends and Foundation

United for Libraries Webinar: Merging a Friends and Foundation Tuesday, October 4 at 2:00 pm Eastern $75 ($50 for United for Libraries members) Click Here to Register In the library world today, there is a huge need for support organizations – Friends & foundations –  but often the lines between these two groups are blurred…

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Donor Stewardship: Managing Your Donor Assets

What does stewardship really mean, anyway? Webster’s defines stewardship as “the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care.” While most of us recognize that this refers to the responsible management of an organization’s financial assets, for nonprofits it also means the careful and purposeful management of donor relationships. These relationships have significant…

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Capital Campaigns Don’t Just Happen: Planning for Success

We’ve been fundraising for many years. While some things have changed on the margins, fundraising remains simply this: people give to people. In other words, major donors give to campaigns because someone (preferably a peer) asked them to do so. In a face-to-face meeting. With a very specific request for a gift. These very thoughtfully…

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