Bulk Mailing - It's not that difficult

Today I went to the Bulk Mailing Office at the Hartford (CT) Post Office.  As usual, it was a breeze and my two mailings, both membership requests, one ffor 840 and one of 1016 went really well.

Welcome to direct mail marketing.  For non-profits, Bulk Mail is a pretty easy process.  While the postal regulations change on a regular basis, it's not difficult to get the answers you need.  Be careful about taking advice from another individual that "does bulk".  They may have a different permit and then send you off on a wild goose chase.  You need to ask the right questions.  So here's a primer of questions and answers for you.  I'll say one thing, the staff at the Bulk Mail office are so helpful!

How do I get started in bulk mail?

You need to get a Permit for non-profits.  There is an application process, Form ps3624, and your 501(c)3 letter, articles of incorporation and some of your typical paperwork like newsletter, brochures, meeting minutes to name a few.  There is annnual fee to keep the account.  Depending on the size and frequency of mailings, you can save a bundle.  Generally, you need 200 pieces in one mailing to use Bulk and get the discount on the rate.

How do we get the stamps to mail our letters in bulk?

Once you get your permit, you'll have a indicia - it looks like a stamp and lists your permit number.  Have you printer print it on your mailing envelopes.  Actually print it on all your envelopes.  If you use an envelope for regular first class mailing, then a regular postage stamp fits right over the indicia.  Plan Ahead - at budget time, check with membership, book sale, fund raising committees, etc and estimate how many envelopes you all will need.  Printing bigger batches of envelopes cost less.  Our printer will keep the extra boxes of envelopes at their shop as a convenience for us.

How much money should be in our postage account?
Next you need to deposit money to your postage account.  You send a check with your postal permit number and instructions to deposit the money into your account.

I strongly recommend that your Board establish a balance to keep in your postage account.  We established that it should be $500.  This was based on two membership mailings and a newsletter mailing that could happen all in about two weeks time.  Once money is expended from the account for a mailing, the Treasurer should send a check to your postal account to bring it back up to the prescribed amount as soon as possible. 
Warning! If you don't have enough money for a mailing, and need it to go today, then you will need to get currency (not a check or charge card) and deposit into your account before they will handle your mailing.  Plan Ahead -  check with your Treasurer and let him/her know when you'll be doing the mailings during the year. 

Are there any limitations?
Yes, there are limitations and regulations regarding types of mail pieces.  Size, thickness, sealing, staples, etc - it all matters.  While this article is about mailing letter size envelopes, you should be able to ask great questions about your mail piece.   The envelopes need to be sealed, yes that means licked sealed shut!  No tape, no stickers - as those items will get caught in the mail machines.

Each mail piece must be identical.  There can not be any indication of personalization on the pieces.  It's okay if it is personalized via a mail merge, such a member ID number, or membership level.  It's not okay if you write a personal note on the one going to your neighbor or to those big donors.  I used a scan of my signature so each letter looks like it is signed.

Plan Ahead - if you wish to write a personal note to those big donors, put them in a separate mailing.  While it does cost more postage, it's the "not bulk" impression and the personal note that lets those donors know how much you really appreciate their committment to your organization.

How do you sort them?
I would suggest that you pay a visit to the Bulk Mailing office of your post office.  That way you can learn directly from the staff how to sort them.  First of all, you generally sort the mail in the first three digits of the zip code.  Example, our zip is "06111", yes we are a one zip town.  Therefore a mail piece beginning with ""061" would be sorted together.  Actually we sort "060" and "061" and "062" together.  That's because the Hartford office handles those zipcodes.  Any other zipcodes are sorted together and are referred to as Mixed.

The mailing trays come from the post office.  The 2 foot tray can hold from about 150 to 300 envelopes depending on the thickness.  The 1 foot tray is about half that amount.  You'll need tickets to put in front on the the trays.  Watch the direction of the tray as it is important that the envelopes face the front of the tray.

What form do we use?
You use PS Form 3602-NZ revision March 2010.  Fill out page one, make sure you have your USPS Nonprofit Auth No.  Page two is to compute the actual postage according to the type/location of the mail.  If you are similar to us, we just have two types - D2 for Mixed and D5 for the "060+061+062".  Whatever you do - check first!!!  The bulk cost, for both mailings, was $217.35 vs. regular 1st class at $816.64!  The savings alone paid for the annual fee for the postal permit.

Getting to the Post Office - what else to bring?
Now all your trays are sorted and the paper work is ready, its time to get to the post office.  Be aware, there are hours that you can bring in bulk mail.  Hartford doesn't accept bulk before 10am and the best time to deliver you mail is around 11:30am.  Besides your trays and Form 3602-NZ,  bring a sample of what you are mailing including the envelope.  Sometimes they ask for a sample, sometimes they don't.  Note, the staff will open a "live" piece of mail and reseal it with a stamp saying it was opened for postal inspection.
Plan Ahead - Remember to get empty trays and covers to replenish your supply.  I recommend that you have trays for at least two mailings plus on hand.

Bulk mailing is a great way to stretch your fund raising dollars.  I hope that the above information will help you get started or improve your process of getting the mail out!

Connecticut Book Festival is Coming

Mark you calendars if you are in Connecticut for the weekend of May 21-22, 2011 for the Connecticut Book Festival.   Sponsored by everyone that is library connected at the West Hartford campus of the University of Connecticut  

They will be hosting a great line up of authors like Wally Lamb, who is the honorary festival chair, is an amazing author that has traveled both the fiction and nonfiction sides of the cover with awards to boot;  Michael C. White who has six award winning novels and the founder of the MFA Creative Writing Program; and remember our  favorite TV anchor, Diane Smith who's "Connecticut" stories have comforted us all.  See the link above to see all those authors that have committed to this great two-day event.

Of course there will be readings and signings by the authors,   some storytelling!, and food.  I love that, we need to let folks know that yes there will be food (said with a little tongue and cheek). 

If you know of other festivals or events, please let me know! 

Happy Thanksgiving

For all the Friends of Libraries - it's a season of Thanksgiving,

Thank You for your dedication to your group,

Thank You for your support of your public library,

Thank You for the countless hours you spend sorting books for the sales,

Thank You for raising awareness to the community around you that your library is an amazing resource for all,

Thank You for all the fund raising events that keep your calendar full of great things to do, and

Thank You  for reaching out and involving so many people in the mission of the Friends.

May you enjoy the holiday season, pass along the thanks to everyone you see.   May you enjoy Health, Joy and Peace.

Photo Courtsey of  mckenzieo @flicker

Mail Bag

Hi all, I've been settling back into the way of life since the FOCL Conference.  I am so impressed by the great job that was done and by the number of people that attended representing so many Friends groups.

In the last week or so, I've received some email questions and will be sharing them with you as I receive them.


From Penny:
We currently only send thank you's to new life members, and those making donations over and above the membership amount. Based on all I heard Saturday, I would like to send thank you's to all the rest of the members - new and renewal - wonder if you think a hand written postcard would be ok (short, save postage) or it really needs to be a proper note card ?  thank you!

To Penny:
Actually postcard idea sounds great. It's isn't the actual "form" in as much as it is the actual "thank you" you send to your members. As we heard from the conference, Thank You is so important.  You need to look at your budget for membership and plan accordingly for either postcards, note cards and the postage.

Couple of ideas for your postcard: Have some information preprinted, such as; your logo, address and phone number of how to get in touch with you, and your website address. You won't need the postal service "Address Service Requested" as you are writting to current members.

Depending on your budget, you might make the postcards available to all your committee chairs so they can send quick notes to those members that volunteer.

Great Job Penny

Getting those Volunteers! Stop it

I read this great article that said we need to Stop trying to get volunteers and instead begin to interview our members.  We should find out what they are interested in, their passions, and then our organization may gain new insights and then new volunteers. 

Click here Three Questions That Mobilize Members to Volunteer to read more about it.

There is also a great tip card link that summarizes the essence of the article. 

Snafu's

Just last night, I found out that there was difficulty using the downloads from my links to Google Docs.  Much thanks to Mary and Carl at FOCL for pointing this out!

My apologies to everyone.  One of the difficult taks in writting a blog, is determining what is 'best'.  We all know that 'best' is different for everyone.  My first choice didn't work!  Opps and a great lesson learned!

Late last night and early this morning, I've changed all the links on my Great Download page to make it easier for you, my readers, to view and save the presentation.

Again, Thank you, Keep up your work with your Friends Groups, You all do a Great Job.

Books for FOCL Membership seminar

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Books for FOCL Membership seminar

View more documents from pjfcpa.

Advocacy at www.ilovelibraries.org

Election Day is over once again.  Here in Connecticut we had some real battles, not enough ballots to vote on, and it was ruled we could wear WWW clothing to the polls.

While all of that is over, I urge you not to sit back.  Our battle to keep our libraries funded is not only on the local level.  Some of the sorely needed money is funded at the Federal level.  The site http://www.ilovelibraries.org/, part of American Library Association has some great information about advocacy for libraries and what we need to remind our legislators about in Washington.

At the Federal level, there is a grant called LSTA - or Library Services and Technology Act which was signed into law in 1996 by President Clinton.  It wasn't really "new" as it's predesessors were the Library Services Act and the Library Services and Construction Act.  This Act, LSTA, needs your support.  This grant helps funds all that is technology, and we all know that is important.  By clicking on the link above, you will be taken to the site and you can then hunt around. 

On of the links for this page allows you to send a prepared email to your Federal congress person.  It's great - except in my humble opinion - email stinks.  If you really want the elected offical to pay attention, take the note and send it to the local office.  That means they have to handle it in person and it is delivered in the "pouch" to your representative.  Even better, and this gets lots of attention - pick up the phone and call the local office or call Washington.  Don't be surprised that you'll speak with a staff member.  Staff members are the best. 

Several years ago, I was in Washington and 'stomping' on the Hill.  It was a lot of fun and we got a great chance to walk around.  What we found amazing, is how much staff wanted to talk with us, "the voters from home".  When we had the chance to speak with our representatives directly, they said that unfortunately they can not answer all emails, but getting a phone call means the most and they can get additional information right away.  On that last stomping visit - we were asking for our congress persons to sign on to a 'friend of letter'.  Staff was unaware of the "letter" and before the day was out, (we got an email two hours later) the congress person had signed on.  It works!!

If you have the chance - pick up the phone - call Washington and let them know that your library depends on the LSTA grants. 

Here's the "message" from the ALA site, consider sending or calling your Legislators today.

I am writing to urge you to support $300 million for the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) in the FY 2011 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations bill. Across the country, countless libraries are facing state and local budget cuts while experiencing sharp increase in patron traffic. America's libraries need your support now more than ever.

Your constituents depend on their local libraries every day,perhaps in ways you may not realize. Sixty-seven percent of our nation's libraries report that they provide the only free access to computers and the Internet in their communities, but libraries provide more than access. Within the last two years, libraries have experienced significant increases to the areas of support to the public they offer the greatest increases of services have been in helping patrons complete online job applications, create resumes, and access job databases and searches. Unfortunately, during this time of increased demand for public libraries, library budgets all across the country are being drastically cut. This culture of rising demand and lowering budgets has created a 'perfect storm' for America's libraries.

Thank you, and I hope that you will support libraries in FY 2011.

Social Media - It's here to stay

And what are you doing about it? At the FOCL conference this past Saturday we discuss the future with social media. It's big and getting bigger as we 'speak'. Found this video... watch it... we need to go forward and use it.

FOCL CONFERENCE

What a Success!  Thanks to our Friends at FOCL and Elihu Burritt Library at CCSU, the conference was a success.

More than 40 Friends groups were represented.  I enjoy presenting to FOCL and subjects about the Friends.  Friends of Libraries are near and dear to my heart.  They are the individuals that add additional deminsions to our libraries. 

We learned tremendous information and were able to share stories of what worked and what didn't work.  The statistics at the end of the event gave us some great information about what is happening now among our groups.

I did notice that the "fear" that if a group gives the library too much then the Town will cut the budget.  It's not real a real fear.  Most town/cities want their libraries to flourish.  I would hope that if the town cuts the budget because the Friends made a contribution, then I would hope that the Friends show up loud and clear and let them know that  "fear" doesn't work.  Advocacy - topic for another day.

Thanks to Chip Marsh, Sharon Clapp and our Carl Nawrocki for being my co-presenters on this most important topic.  To read more about it, visit FOCL's website .  You can pick up the handouts on my Great Download & Links.

Thanks to everyone that has stopped by to visit.  I will be publishing more of the topics in a bit more depth.  Do you have a comment?  Email me at  friends at pattyjfoley dot com.

FOCL CONFERENCE

The FOCL Fall Conference will be held Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, CT - tomorrow.

I'm just about ready - the last of the handouts are printing.  I'm re-rehersing the slides so all goes well.  Tomorrow will be a great day for Friends of Libraries.

This year's topic is Membership - a subject so near and dear to my heart.  We, as Friends Groups, need to create sustainable funding for their groups and their library. 

In the next couple of days I'll be preparing a review of the other speakers and will have my slide presentation available for you.

Hope to see you at CCSU!

Email Etiquette

Email can be a quick and efficent tool for communication today.  We can jot off a quick note, forward jokes, and send replies. 

Yet, when we use email for communicating with our Friends group, we should take care and use etiquette.   This email represents not only who you are, it represents your organization!  So put your best 'send' forward.

Every email sent, should have a saluation to the addressee, the message and a closing.  Seems easy enough and of course it really depends on who you are writting/responding to.

Addressee - be sure that their name is spelled correctly.  Not a great way to get started if you spell their name incorrectly.

If this email is going to a multiple of individuals, like the board where everyone knows each other, then putting their names/emails in the "TO" or "CC" box may be fine.  Ask everyone on your Board their preference.  This will be especially true when the group is collaborating on a project or an event.

If this email is going to a multiple of people, then use your "BCC" box or a 'list' that will not disclose the individual's email address.

One tip I read about is not to fill in the Addressee until the end.  That way if you  inadvertently hit the 'send' button too quickly, you'll save yourself a possible embarrassing moment.

Salutation - While you may be best buddies, and Hey you, may be appropriate, remember that your email may get forwarded to someone else that may be interested in your group.  If it is the first time you will be writting to a person, it may be approprate to address them as Mr., Ms. etc.

Subject Line - this is an interesting area and a bit of contention with me.  I'm a believer of not putting more than one subject in an email.  That way, on forwards and replies the email thread stays relevant.

Message - keep the message brief.  Keep the tone polite and friendly.  If spelling or grammer  isn't one of your strongest skills, be sure to spell and grammer check.  If your email editor doesn't contain those two tools, you may consider typing your email in a word processing software and when you are sure that it is ready to go, then copy and paste it to your email for sending.

Since we are communicating about our Friends group, we need to keep the communication at a business level.

Post Script or P.S. - another great tip I just read about was to put your PS before your closing.  Depending on the length of your closing, your reader may never see the PS!

Closing/Signature - here is where we may need to be careful.  The 'sincerely' may be too formal, and 'see ya' may be too informal.  You could try 'best regards/wishes', 'kind regards/wishes', 'many thanks' are just a few to choose from.  Next, and in my opinion, do not leave this out.  You need to put your name, full name, title, name of your Friends Group, contact phone, email, website, and possibly a tag line.  The tag line is a great way for you to get some important information out to the reader.  Depending of the software used, you can have several different 'signatures' for email.  I keep a different one for each type of engagment I may be working on.  Just lately, I've been receiving email with the senders picture in it.  It's a nice touch.  Something to consider.

How is your email doing? Keeping the etiquette up will continue to reflect you and your group's professionalism.

PS.  Here is an example of my signature for my Friends group.

Best to you,

Patty
Patricia J. Foley, CPA

Membership Chair
Friends of the Lucy Robbins Welles Library
http://www.friendslrwlibrary.org/
Email info@friendslrwlibrary.org
Phone 860-667-0000

~~ Supporting our Library since 1961 ~~

My Blog - http://friendslibrarys.blogspot.com/

Membership Database Tips 2

Your list/database is beginning to grow.  Planning today about the type of information you wish to keep will allow much more flexibility to grow your Friends Group.

In my last post, I spoke about names and addresses and how it can get a bit complicated.  Additional communication data to collect:

Phone number - many of us have more than one phone number.  There is the home number, work number, fax number, cell number.  Think about how you will contact your member and plan which phone numbers to obtain. 

Email address - it seems hard to find someone without an email address yet there are a few folks that haven't made the technology jump.  The same comment above about phone numbers goes for email addresses.  If you are not using email to communicate at this time, still collect the address.  You may wish to email a new member to verify that their email address is valid.

I will take a moment about collecting information from your members and privacy.  While privacy laws generally are associated with identifying numbers, such as a social security number, your Friends Board should consider their own privacy policy.  Will you sell or lend your membership list or will you keep it private?   If you decide that you may wish to open the list to anyone outside of your organization, you will need to give the member to opt out.   Whatever your policy, make sure your members can get a copy of your policy.

Moving on to membership related fields.  A list of names and addresses is a great start yet we need to maintain information that will assist us in knowing our members.  When we do membership, keeping records and some statistics will be important.  Many of those statistics may be related to the following types of information.

ID Number - once your list begins to grow, having some type of ID number is great.  I prefer using a number vs. an alpha combination.  I suggest that you begin your numbering system at 1000.  Start numbering your list from the top.  Remember, it is more of an identifier and a sorting tool.

Membership Level -  All of our Friends Groups have varying levels of membership.  We have some type of basic level and then increasing levels after that.  Knowing what level the member is giving at allows the membership committee to understand the member a little more.  This field should be limited to your levels, again it is to keep the information consistent. 

Date Joined - This is great piece of information.  As time goes on, you can reward the member for their loyalty. If you don't have that information, then start with a date, example the first day of the membership year for anyone that is a member.  This could make a separation in your list, those what were members currently and those that had not renewed in the last year.  While some members have been with your organization longer, you can later explain that it is from when the new record system took place.

As you can see, you can begin to get an understanding of how valuable the information can be in knowing your members.  I'm planning on a third Tips post in a few days.  Keep an eye out.  What are you doing with your list?

Membership Database Tips

Your membership list/database is a valuable asset of your organization.  Care should be taken to keep it up to date and contain revelent information. 

When we talk about our list, it can be on paper like a card file, in a spreadsheet program, database program or a membership program.  What ever your choice, it is important to collect and store the correct data.

How the information is recorded / stored is important so that you can use the information in the future.  If the information isn't broken down, you can severely limit the ability on how to use the information.  Example:  if the entire name is in one field, and you wish to write a informal letter (mail merged) then it would take a herculean effort to extract the first name.  Take a look at your junk mail you receive and see how many different combinations of your name is out there. 

Here's some tips to keep in mind:

Member's Name - what's in a name - everything!  A member is an individual that believes in your cause and donates money to the organization.  We wouldn't want their name to be misspelled or to be incorrectly saved. 

How do you set it up?  Below is a simple list of field names (database) or column names (spreadsheet) just for a member's name.  If your membership represents a couple, you may consider separating the "name" into the two individuals resprensented by the #1 and #2 in the list.  This is a simple list.  Take a look at it and see the possibilities.  Title is for an entry such as Mr. or Dr. etc, the Suffix is for entry such as II, Sr., MD, PhD etc.  I would suggest in either format that these two fields have a pull down choice menu that way there isn't too much in the way of creativity. 

Title 1
First Name 1
Middle Initial 1
Last Name 1
Suffix 1
Nickname 1

Title 2
First Name 2
Middle Initial 2
Last Name 2
Suffix 2
Nickname 2

Member's Address - depending on the system you choose to use, having at least one physical mailing address is required.  If you have two addresses, example: member is away during the winter;  you will need to have a "code" placed into the database to indicate which is the current address to use.

This is a little less complicated.  Having room for two line address can come in very handy. In the case of State, you may restrict the entry to a choice list once again, again, it's the abbreviations that can cause havoc.  Example:  Connecticut, CT, Conn., Ct, cT, I think you get the idea.  Zip Code is also a tricky one - remember it is a text field if you are using a spreadsheet.  The zero upfront on the zip code 06611 will not be in the field if it is numeric.  As to the four digit extension - two schools of thought.  First - have the main zip code in a separate field from the four digit extension.  This method allows for simpler sorting on the main zip code.  Second - have both codes in the same field separated by a 'dash', example 06611-4444.  Sorting on the main zip code will take some extra work as you need to extract the first five digits from the field.  Here's the basic layout:

Address Line 1
Apt/Unit #
Address Line 2
City/Town
State
Zip

As you can see, there is some thought necessary in developing the name and address field.  Check back again, I'll have additional thoughts and database tips on the information that you may collect to manage your member database.

Member (Donor Centered) Recognition

Where does an organization start with member recognition?  It's easy - it is from the top of the organization down.  Everyone must be part of the recognition process.  "Giving thanks and recognition for a generous gift keeps us humble, civil and gracious" said Cecile W. Garrett of the assistant director at PBS's national office.  I couldn't have said it better.

A first step would have your Board examine themselves from the outside looking back in.  What do they look like in the eyes of current members and potential members?  How are are the activities of the Board allowing relationships with donors to grow?  This exercise will begin the process of understanding how the group is perceived by others.

Next, look at everyone on the Board/staff.  See if their actions are projecting concerns for members.  As decisions are made, what consideration is given to the members?  Look at your current communication process - from membership letters, thank you letters, website pages, does it reflect a professional and positive image of your organization?

With these two steps completed, your Group can then begin to make a member recognition program.   The program doesn't need to be enormous or lavish.  It does need to be consistent and managable for your organizaiton.

Here's a few suggestions:
Have a "freind of the year" recognition program - nominate a member that gave above and beyond in volunteerism and present them with a plaque and also have a plaque with their name on it along with prior year's awardees on it in a public place.

A lapel pin for those individual that give in excess of a certain dollar amount over so many years.  We all have annual membership levels. Why not create a level that recognizes those members that have given over a longer period of time.  Remember that these members have joined on - treat them well.

Vounteer breakfast, nothing elaborate, more like a continental breakfast. Hold it on a weekend so as many volunteers can attend.  Hand out fun prizes that recongize their contributions. 

New member package that is sent out upon someone becoming a new member.  Have several board members call the new member over the next couple of months to check in and make sure they are aware of what is going on in the organization.  This is a great time to thank them again for becoming a member.

Committee member name tags.  Sounds simple, yet it is very effective.  Have pre-printed name tags for the regular attendees.  It makes it easier to remember their names especially if the group meets infrequently. The members feel like they belong, and it's nice to refer to you by your name.

Once you have completed your process, discovered those aspects that the organization wishes to begin, eveyone needs to be involved in the program.   Your efforts will be rewarded 100 times over as you will be on the way to a thoughtful member recognition program. 

Member (Donor) Centered Organization

I attended a online seminar with hosted by Simone Joyaux on the Basic Principles of Fund Development a couple of weeks ago. 

It was pretty good and chocked full of advice.  One of the topics was talking about a donor-centered organization. It is how the organization with the right attitude is focused on the donor or prospective donor; When you have that focus - you are not trying to sell someone on your passion and mission.  How we communitcate with our members is to tell them what their contribution/membership accomplished.

Sit back and think about the last time when you felt appreciated.  How did you feel?  Now look at your communications with your members.  How many times was the word "you" used vs. "I or we"?  Did the group thank them and how many times?  Simone pointed out that turning the statement around to "... because of you.... we yada yada..."  and "... your gift did this and that...". These statements have been said by most fund raisers. I welcomed again. It is good to be reminded about what it takes to keep your members

Each of our Friends groups need to look at our members and the way we communicate how their donation has made a difference.  We need to remember that giving is an emotional act. 

Over the next week or so, I'll be putting up additional thoughts from the seminar.  If you would like more information, visit Simone's site under the resources tab. It is full of great information, articles, a download library, links, and quotes. 

FOCL CONFERENCE

The FOCL Conference is set.  Saturday, November 6th at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, CT!

Join us now - to read more about it click here .  You'll find the registration form on that page! 

Don't Miss Out  - Deadline to register is October 22, 2010! 

FOCL Membership

Many of you have received your membership renewal packet already.  Please get them back into FOCL as soon as possible. 

Included in your packet is a survey.  You can fill it out on-line or do it on paper.  Most important - get it back in the mail as soon as possible!  The survey is about Membership.  This is the topic for the FOCL Conference to be held Saturday, November 6th at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, CT.  On that day you'll get the results on the survey.  You will have the opportunity to hear three great speakers on this very topic. 

Mail yours by October 15, 2010 for inclusion in the 2011 Directory, to: FOCL, Middletown Library Service Center, 786 South Main Street, Middletown, CT 06457

Communication Plan

Interesting concept? Essential concept. An organization needs to have a communiation plan.  You can tell whether the origanization has a plan by how each of the organizational leaders, the board, and committee chairs/members view themselves in their appointed responsibilities about getting the word out.  Friends groups are member organizations.  Information and communications should be focused toward the members.

It is becoming extremely important for organizations to not only embrace their mission, but understand who their members and public are.  "Build it and they will come" may be great for baseball yet it may be seen as a self centered approach.  We need to communicate in a member centered approach.

So what do you do?  Take an inventory of your recent communications to your members.  Ask yourself not only the number of communications, but what are the topics discussed.  Now ask yourself, what information was given to the member.  Was it about what WE did or was it to let them know how important they are or how their contribution made a difference?

Real Life Example:  A Friend's group produced a flyer for upcoming programs they were sponsoring.  I asked them how was it going to be distributed.  Their answer was to put it in the library and hand it out at the booth they take at a street fair. I thought to myself, "a street fair, that's an interesting venue". I had them explain what other methods they were using to get the word out about these events.  I heard their plan, though I heard a missing link.  When I asked them how their members would hear of it, I received an honest answer, opps we didn't think of them.  Good for them, I just love an honest answer.

We continued the disucssion with some zeal and began to rough out a communication plan.  Handing out these flyers at the street fair is similar to, what the for profit world labels, making cold calls.  Except there isn't any way to followup with people that took a flyer.  While some of the group's members may stop by their booth, most of their members will not be there for this event.  We talked about having a sign up to get email addresses from folks that stoped by.  That way they could follow up; there could be a new member just waiting to be asked to join. 

Since this flyer covered several events over an extended time frame, continued use of this flyer at future events wasn't so clear.   There wasn't enough flyers to send to members.  That was corrected quickly.  We ran through the balance of the events and came up with a few more suggestions.  With formulating this plan, we found some information still needs to be clarified and those questions will go back to their committee.

Let me say, it was a great process.  This group will now be able to reach out to their members and not just the public at large.

Conclusion: 
A communication plan is an essential element to an organization's success.  I will ask the organizational leaders, the board, and committee chairs/members how is your work being communicated to the members of your organization?  Are you covering the various ways to communicate? The avenues are so numerous today:  think about print, your own web page/site, other organizations' web pages/sites, newspapers, radio, email, social networking sites are only a few. 

Do you have a written plan and time line? This is a great tool.  The plan is about what avenues to use. Your time line will contain the constraints of using each of the avenues.  Example, our friendly printer will do the flyers for cost provided we get the finished flyer to them three weeks before we need to distribute it. Without a plan, the organization may miss an opportunity to communicate, burn out individuals as it is a 'last minute' job, or possibly have copy with errors in it.  A time line is simple, but is someone minding the process for the organization?

When do you do write the time line?  My suggestion is that the group look at it once every six months.  The time line should be at least a year out, though I recommend two to three years.  Search on-line - you'll find great examples to use.  Ring in with your ideas and comments! 

Communications - Email a good choice?

How do you communicate with the members/donors to your Friends group?  What type of communication do they receive. Sit down with your Board and look at the number of times the Board has communicated with each member during the last year. You may be quite surprised at the level of your communication.

What would be a type of communication? From a Friends newsletter, to a request for renewal of their membership, a year end thank you note, a phone call to say thank you, or an invite to a special event. Each of these counts as to a communication.

Today there is email. Wow,it is quick;and informal too. While it may be quick, once you hit the send button it's pretty much over. I've received interboard communications with lots of typos, run on sentances and all those items we learned not to do. You can't explain yourself out of it. Remember this communication is a representation of the your Friends group. Your member may feel slighted that the communication wasn't professional. Make sure someone that isn't close to the topic reads the email out loud before you send it.

We can blast out a news item. It's cheap, it's easy. Let's make sure that you have the member's permission. You say permission - why yes. The member receiving the email may enjoy this particular topic, another member may toss it out. Using an appropriate email service that allows the member to select the topics that you send is getting their permission. This allows you to send a last minute word about a program that could be interesting to a particular group of members. Example - member indicates he/she would likeinformation on children's and teen programs. Another member is interested in advocacy only. A great book on on this topic is, Seth Godin's Permission Marketing it is a great read. Check it out.

When your group is determining whether or not to use email to communicate with members, you need to get a privacy policy and adhere to it. There are plenty places on the web where you can find examples. This is an important policy that the Board should have. Once you have it, post it on your web pages or web site. In the same vein, your email should be addressed to only one person. Listing lots of email addresses in the "TO" box isn't keeping their email private.

Ending and email should be addressed from a person since we are speaking to our members. Leave information like, phone number to call, website address, link to the privacy policy and what I call a tag line. A tag line could be "Celebrating 50 years of service to our Library", another one could change with the time of year -"Book Sale is on Saturday, December 12, at 9am - see you there". At the bottom of the email, there should be a place to "opt out" of the email.

If you decide that your organization wishes to use email to communicate with members, remember it is only one method.  An email will not substitue for a hand written thank you card. Good use of email can assist the Board in creating and serving your membership, thereby creating a closer community.

Minutes of the Board Meeting

The minutes of your Board meeting are for the future.  Your minutes are to summarize the decisions of the Board and not to read like a newsletter.
You can read a great article from non-profit-governance and see a sample.  Here's another example at Management Help.

In my talk last fall "Things your Treasurer Should Know", one of my points under the Duties of the Treasurer, was to review the minutes.  I pointed out that the Treasurer should be reviewing the minutes that go back a year to be sure that current year items are not missing.

Here's a real life example:  Friends group had adopted a financial policy to determine how to allocate the amount of money on hand at the end of the year.  It's a great policy and tells the members how the amounts were calculated at the end of the year, what the amounts were and why.  As I was reading the minutes for a task I was completing for them, it became obvious that this information I needed was missing in the minutes.  In fact it had been missing for a couple of years.  I assisted them in the reconstruction of the information and the group is to read it into their minutes at their next meeting.

Financial information is often difficult for the secretary to summarize for the minutes.  I suggest that the Treasurer write out the informaton that should be included in minutes and have the Secretary copy it into the minutes.  This way, a consistent format can be reported throughout the year and it also assists the Secretary with the financial jargon.

Here's a list of Treasurer / Finance Committee  information that could be reported in the minutes.  I would suggest that the Treasurer / Finance Committee calendar such information to be sure it is reported at the appropriate board meeting.

• Update on the bank accounts open / closed in the name of the Friends
• Signatures authorized on those accounts - especially if members have changed
• Renewal of insurance policies, like directors & officers, liability
• Highlight the proceeds from a fundraising event  and/or coordinate with the committee chair on the reporting responsibility - make sure the numbers are given in the same format as they would be found in the report.
• Passing of a budget - since this is a driving force of how the organization will operate.  It may be well worth to use a template for this type of information, to include the final amount and possibly how it was determined
• Tax returns - the organization may have several tax forms that need filing
• Contracts - state their status, updates or changes due to renegotiation, finalized and/or finished contracts
• Update the groups website for financial reports,
• Report the year end financial report in more detail than you may have reported during the year
• Receipt of temporarily and permanently restricted donations
• Awards of grants

You may come up with other items, this list is not complete by any means.  Look back at your minutes and look forward to those folks who will be involved in the future as this is your guidance to them.

FOCL Point Delivered

Yes - I received it today.  FOCL Point - Friends of Connecticut Libraries newletter for Summer 2010.

It covers the Annual Meeting that was held at the Cheshire Public Library back in June.  There is a lovely article about our very own Linda Levin, an amazing woman, who has given so much of her time and talent to Friends Groups and to FOCL.  It is quite fitting to name a FOCL award after her. 

What is an annual meeting without awards?  Gil Alwang is the first recipient of the Lillian Levin Meritorious Serivce Award - congratulations Gil!   Let me tell you that Gill and Lillian are people that you admire the minute you meet them.  Both of them have been and continue to be an inspiration to me.

You can read about the group awards.  What an amazing job they do for Connecticut.  Congratulations to the Friends of the Farmington Library and  Friends of the Hagaman Library of East Haven.  Focused Project Awards were given to Shelley Hall and Alissa Heilbrunn of the Trumbull Friends and to the Friends of the Babcock Library in Ashford.  Individual Achievement Awards were given to Janice Demicco of Griswold, to Josephine Demarco Esposito of New London, and the late John Randolph of New Canaan.

To round out our event, we heard from Robert Kim Bingham, Sr., and his book Courageous Dissent How Harry Bingham Defied His Government To Save Lives. He story about his father was fascinating.  Harry was a diplomat in Europe during WWII and issued visas to ordinary refugees.  It was his committment that enable him to save many people that would have died at the hands of the enemy.  There is a great recap of the article.  I hope you'll get to read about a true American Hero.

Back to the newsletter - check out the "Friends Around the State" for great ideas for your friends group.  Mark the calendar for the Fall Conference - November 6th.

FOCL was also involved with an Academic Library Friends program at the Connecticut Library Association conference.  Great advice was given by two speakers on how Friends groups can assist in raising funds for colleges and universities.  Additional resources have been added to the FOCL website on the Resources page.

It's a great newsletter.  If you haven't seen it -----  click here and you can catch up on all the issues.

Thank You

Thank you to all that have read  Thank you those of you that have responded to the call.  I have been so relieved that so many folks are tuned in and will make a difference.  I encourage you to continue to pass along the information. 

From the mail bag..........

Kathy Ryan, President of the Friends of Tiverton Libraries [RI]  said:
Thanks so much! We have been filing but 7 in RI have not. Because of your email, I was able to pass this info along in time! Thanks so much!  And I loved your blog!  Kathy

Ingrid Knox, President, Friends of the Nevada County Libraries, Nevada City, CA said:
Thank you so much for posting this on the FOLUSA list. Although our Friends group is not on the list, two groups my husband is involved with were. Thanks for the exclamation points, otherwise I may not have bothered to look. Best Regards, Ingrid

Debbie, Director, Barrington Library RI said:
Dear Patty, after I fired that email off to you I calmed down and checked out your blog post. It did indeed answer all my questions and sent me to the right places. I found there are 6 Friends groups in RI that are in danger, though thankfully, not Barrington. I let those other libraries know of the danger as well as a small drama company I like called 2nd story theater. Your post was excellent. Thanks so much for taking the time to alert us all in library land!  Debbie

AmazonSellersCommunity - especially erltprl2, FOLUSA listserve, FOCL listserve for sending out the word!

Again, Thank you  - tune in for future posts on all topics for Friends.  If you are interested in a topic, send it to me and I'll give you my two cents.

Tax Exempt Status Follow-up

Thanks to all of you that responded to what is probably (IMHO) very important to all of us.

I received a comment that this was a hysterical post - I must have raised an eyebrow or two.  That's good.  To find as many organizations on this list is truly sad.  Each of these organizations, not just FOLs, represent individuals that give of their time and money to help others. 

So to follow-up - what would be the consequences of losing your tax-exempt status?  Besides looking bad to your supporters, here's some items to think about:

• All contributions to your FOL organization would not be charitable and the donors would not receive a charitable contribution tax deduction.
• Revenues you recieved may be taxable as you are not a tax-exempt organization but possibly considered a business.
• Book sale revenue may become taxable.
• The organization would have needed to file a tax return of some type and the tax returns may show a tax due.
• These "tax returns" would be late, therefore not only taxes owed, there could be penalities, and interest.
• What about State laws?  Income tax and sales tax?

As you can see, this is a short list of the various situations that your organization could face.  Check the organization list for your state.  See anyone you know?   Reach out and give them a heads up!

Lose your Tax Exempt Status!

Warning! Warning!  Sixty days left and you LOSE!   I feel like R2D2 robot from Star Wars.

Deadline is October 15, 2010 or lose your tax-exempt status.  This program is for those small non-profits that only need to file the e-postcard 990-N with the IRS on an annual basis.

Per the IRS website there  is extensive information of who qualifies and what to do.

So what do YOU do?  ASK your treasurer of your organization - ask if he/she filed the 990-N for the last three years?  If the answer is no or not sure or the other guy must have, then call the IRS at 1-877-829-5500 (toll-free) to determine the organization's status.  Don't rely on the list at the IRS site (see below) as they say it is the best they have and may not be complete.  Lastly - get professional help. Contact me here at this site and I'll point you in the right direction.

At the bottom of this page  there is the chart by states.  The Connecticut list of non-profit organizations that are about to lose their 501(c)3 tax-exempt standing is staggering. Click on Connecticut - there are over 120 pages of organizations listed.  I easily found more than a dozen FOLs that could be out of business in less than two months.

ALTAFF Survey

If you haven't responded yet, it's time to go over to Association of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends and Foundations (ALTAFF)  and take the survey.

The survey is important to all of us that are working for our libraries. 

Take Survey  I took the survey.  It doesn't take too long, and you have an opportunity to write in an answer.  There may be some questions that you can not answer, don't worry.  Getting as many folks to respond will help all of us.

I'm looking forward to the results!

SAVE the Date!!!

I just received offical news - FOCL's Fall Conference will be held on Saturday, November 6th at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, Connecticut.

This year, the focus will be on Membership.  This is one of my favorite topics and I have been asked to be a presenter that day. 

As we get closer, I'll post details on the day's events.  This is a must event for all FOL's in Connecticut. 

Libraries Stack Up!!

Thanks to Sally Gardner Reed for this link on the FOLUSA List Serve.

This two page  How Libraries Stack Up! makes great points about how your tax dollar supports our public libraries and the real difference it makes to our communities.

One of the facts that I liked is this "U.S. public libraries circulate as many materials every day as FedEx ships packages worldwide"  FedEx shipments - 8.0 million vs. U.S. public library circulation 7.9 million!  Make a splash at your library this summer!

As you support your public library - get to know "the stats" about your library, the circulation, the number of people visiting, items in the collection, meeting rooms, etc.  Let your elected officials know how important the library is not only to you and your family, but to our communities at large.

Thank you.

Followup to Fox

There was a followup to the alarming Fox News story on libraries, see my earlier post.  You can read Mary A. Dempsey's Response right here.

And for my 2cents


Dear Mary A. Dempsey, Commissioner, Chicago Public Library,
Thank you for a great response to  a badly reported Fox story about Chicago's Public Library.  With your circulation at over 10million, at a cost of $120million, that puts more than $200million of value back into the community!  Of course that doesn't even count the numerous other services, free internet, literacy, and programs for ALL ages.

I was delighted to read about the Chicago Public Library, I hope when I stop in Chicago again, I'll have the chance to visit.

Keep up the good work.

Best to you,!

Millions for Libraries - Advocacy

Just back from a trip out to St. Louis - had a great time. With some time off - email builds up and playing catchup can be a bit daunting.

One email had some links talking about libraries and closing them would help solve the budget crisis in Illinois - there are very, very scary folks out there.   The clip of Fox news out of Chicago makes one really very scared about the politics and the "scientific" method the media used to evaluate one great library!

As I pointed out to our council members back during our budget crisis, while we spend to keep the library open for books, electronic editions of items, etc, it is a place where the people can join together in a community to continue education. 

Our library, the Lucy Robbins Welles Library, costs approximately $1.6million dollars a year, and with over 425k in circulation of books and materials, that investment put over $8.5million of information and education back into our town.

Great ROI  - Return on Information :)

To Library patrons, to citizens, make sure your elected officials know the benefits that come back into your community! 

Speak Up on behalf of your Library

About a month ago, our town began it's annual budget process. The Town Manager gives his budget, then a public hearing, then the Town Council gives their budget, and a public hearing - then hocus pocus - we get a budget and a mill rate.


The first public hearing was on March 15, 2010. The word got out in advance that the Library had to cut their budget by $28,000 and with a bit of give and take ended up with a proposal to close the library during the summer months on weekends and eliminate all Sundays during the year. That is just wrong!

The Friends of the Lucy Robbins Welles Library went into action. They met with patrons and residents for the few days before the hearing. On that night - over 50 individuals showed up, 18 spoke onbehalf of the Library.

To see the public hearing - and your's truly at 14:45 on the time line, go to our public TV Station - http://www.nctv.org/ - look here - on the left column click on "OnLine Video" then scroll down to Archives and select the Newington Town Council Public Hearing March 15, 2010.

We may know in a day or two if the $$'s are restored!

FOCL Point Delivered

Hot off the press the Winter 2009/2010 issue has been published.  So go out and check your mail box or click here for a link to their website.

It contains three great summaries on the November Workshops.  Tim Cole, Carl Nawrocki and yours truly were given lots of space.  If you attended the workshop you were in luck.  The encore workshop is scheduled for March 6th.  Reservations are limited.  Sign up now!

Besides these great articles, my favorite part is the "Friends Around the State".  This section is news from FOL and what they have been accomplishing.

Watertown Friends are operating a successful book store; James Blackstone Friends in Branford celebrated their 21st year; Meriden Friends helped with stuffing more than 1000 book bags of school supplies for the children in town; and the Wesport Friends commissioned four different tote bags for sale at their library.

If you are not a member - I suggest that you should consider joining.  The wealth of information in the newsletter alone will more than pay you back in dividends.  You may become a member of FOCL by visiting their website www.cslib.org/focl , email at friendsctlibraries@gmail.com; phone 860-704-2200 or 1-800-437-2313.

Welcome Back

It was the holidays, visits from family and friends, the new year, we can all relate.  So I'm back again to continue the discussion and post topics of interest for all the Friends out there.

For those of you that have sent questions, I'll be posting some of the questions and answers.

Wishing all of you great success with your Friends Group and Happy New Year!