Recently a friend commented on the blog about the British charity Book Aid International and I decided to look into it a bit further. It is similar in some ways to Room To Read which I blogged about last month. The main differences I can see is that BAI focuses on Africa while Room To Read operates all over the world. I like BAI’s concept of the ‘reverse book club’ where the donor pays a few pounds a month and a book gets sent out. That strikes me as a bit more accessible than the model Room To Read has adopted. I finished reading a book about Room To Read (Leaving Microsoft to Change the World by John Woods) today and I was struck by the emphasis placed on fundraising from the rich, venture capitalists and investment bankers.BAI, on the other hand, is something that strikes me as more accessible financially speaking. I also wonder if BAI gains something through its focus on Africa specifically. I haven’t examined these organizations in great detail but I find them interesting.
It appears that these organizations both do better marketing and operations than library foundations in the developed world. Many public and academic libraries engage in fundraising activities but I wonder what happens to the funds. One of my alma maters, Trinity College at the University of Toronto, routinely raises $100,000 in its annual book sale but where does it go? I gather that some of it goes to collections and various other projects. But, as a donor, I struggle to connect the dots and outcomes. I don’t mean to pick on Trinity – the same could be said for many other organizations around North America, Europe and elsewhere. Based on reading John Wood’s book, I suspect the problem may lie in having an excessively lean overhead. Without staff to plan the programs and communicate how a donation purchases a concrete change or improvement, it appears that it just doesn’t happen. Another possibility is that library organizations in developed countries don’t seem to have the same potential to make dramatic strides in improving literacy and implementing radical socio-economic improvements. Maybe fundraising organizations for libraries in developed countries DO make that kind of impact but I don’t know about it.
What do you think? Do you know of any library/literacy organizations that are making a major impact in Canada? The United States? The UK? And, for bonus points, does that organization clearly communicate its impact to donors? If so, please share it in the comments.
Related posts: