The highs and lows of planning a fundraising party

Wednesday night was the night, people dressed up as their favourite children’s book character (see below for some pictures), prizes were won and fun and merriment was had by all. It was also one of the most rewarding nights of my life. I had helped plan this; I had helped raise over £300 for charity, not bad for one night!

The party planners

 

Even though the night itself was a success there were hard times along the way, it was not as easy as we made it look on the night! Trying to get people to donate food and prizes, even for a charity event, is difficult. Quite a few larger companies have a designated cause and won’t donate to other charities. About 50% of people approached didn’t respond, while I knew from the start that not everyone would be willing to donate something it was so disheartening to get rejection after rejection. None of the cake companies that I approached were willing to donate anything, however, when I started looking at family and friends I managed to get a few good prizes, success at last! (see below for a selected list of sponsors) When the whole planning group put all of the prizes together on the prize table it was actually really full.

'Cruella' winner of the fancy dress competition receiving her prize

 

Here is a selection of generous sponsors:

Lily Oak

Kirsty Ferry

The Front Room

Aubergine Hairdressing

 

Things learnt for future fundraising parties-

• Be aware that while the cause is important to you it’s not necessarily important to potential sponsors
• There are highs and lows, prepare for some stress outs
• Get a good team of people to plan the event
• Have a good theme, children’s book characters is a good one as you can create a good costume with minimal effort, or for the more creative types you can go all out
• Start planning well in advance and have regular meetings to discuss progress
• Get a good venue, the function room we used was long and thin(ish) with it’s own bar so drinks were handy and the shape of the room meant people could cluster in groups without the room looking empty, and most importantly it was free!
• Have a flexible timetable with events planned, for example, we had a guess the number of sweets in the jar which was a good icebreaker as someone went round all the tables asking people, a quiz and a raffle

The 'Wallies'

 

The importance of regional roundups

Yesterday I attended Mini-Umbrella, an annual conference where local libraries showcase best practice and innovative projects, which was a thought-provoking experience as well as a useful way to discover what is happening in the wider library community. This year the theme was Bleak House or Great Expectations, with the keynote speaker being Isabel Hood (leader of CILIP Council 2011).

The Winds of Change, Isabel Hood
Ali Pickard of Northumbria University, who co-host the event with NE CILIP opened the event with Isabel Hood giving the first presentation. She gave a passionate presentation on the change and refocussing of CILIP. Isabel described the issues faced by CILIP in a challenging economic climate and how CILIP were responding to this and increasing member demands to keep CILIP relevant to members, support the sector, be sustainable and be outward looking whilst continuing to be a support mechanism in changing times.

NHS Clinical Librarian Project, Rachel Steele
This presentation was a new project where librarians are involved in the patient consultation process as they go around with a doctor and note where the doctor requires further information, the librarian then does a literature search to better inform the decision making by providing information on best available research and the evidence-base. So far the results were positive however, it is a pilot and at this stage the implications on resources by rolling out this practice have not been considered.

Tyne2Seine: Reading and Creativity Without Borders, Mark Freeman and Kathryn Armstrong
This was an interesting talk as it involves a partnership with Epinay, France. A project was implemented to link schools and libraries across borders, this has involved UK authors going to Epinay and French authors visiting the UK. A drawback was that the children weren't allowed to travel but libraries were transformed and a treasure hunt took place, there are now bilingual books so that the children can enjoy them in both languages. The positivity has not been just for the children, the speakers noted a marked uptake on French conversation classes. Strong links have been forged. At this point the project is at a stage where UK children are writing one half of a story and French children will then write the other half of the story, the only issue is the lack of technology in the French school which they will find a way to overcome.

Rising Expectations: Using Customer Feedback to Deliver Strategic Objectives, Christine Willoghby and Dilys Young
This talk was on how Northumbria University used feedback mechanisms to develop services, and how important it is to deliver a responsive service to users which is varied as different subject areas have different expectations, for example a book-based course vs a lab-based course. It is necessary to not promise unrealistic expectations, while it is important to say what can be done it is also necessary to say what cannot be done. Recently a digitisation project was implemented after using scores to target resources, providing e-copies to improve access thereby improving satisfaction. It is vital to continuously look for ways to improve as if you reach a high level of satisfaction and then do nothing the library will quickly become irrelevant, it is by doing this that you remain a useful resource for users.

Services for Visually Impaired Users, Sharon Reeve
Newcastle Libraries has recently developed its services for visually impaired users by providing new equipment and training staff, one activity involved one member of staff ebing blindfolded while being led by a non-blinded member of staff so blindness could be experienced. Thunder, free software is being used alongside Supernova, a paid for software. A questionnaire, Your Reading Choices, has been developed to provide visually impaired users with a personal profile.

The New Curiosity Shop: What's on Offer Today?, Middlesbrough College
The best was definitely saved for last! Middlesbrough College library is using technology to attract and engage users, a treasure hunt is conducted using QR codes (students can loan a phone if they don't have smartphone) where the first clue directs them to find the 8th Harry Potter book, a mock book has been created! They stated the importance of not spending extra money by making best use of things you do pay for as well as exploiting freebies, for example, you pay the same amount for Blackboard whether you do a lot with it or nothing with it, to best exploit it they have added a weekly top ten e-books section to promote ebooks as well as having links to the catalogue and podcasts. Freebies are used to promote services by using Prezi and Twitter. The most valuable point was that library space is a most important resource, people may want remote access but they also want to have a physical space to use as well. A useful feedback mechanism was the use of quickcards to gather information, the example used was when asking what a library app should have, a card was handed out with a number of options with tick boxes, this proved more popular than the online questionnaire.

I think that what Mini-Umbrella is best for is promoting local developments, CILIP is notoriously Londoncentric and this event gives the North East a venue to tell people what has been happening locally while providing a valuable networking opportunity. Mini-Umbrella highlights the region, and afterall, if we don't tell people what we're doing, who will?

Do I really need another mentor?

My 'official' mentor is my Chartership mentor, I followed CILIP's advice and chose someone in a different field. This is useful as I have to explain more of what I say so I have to think more, which is sometimes known to be a good thing...  On the other hand it is difficult to get field specific advice, she's really informative and has helped me by suggesting events to attend which is great but then there's the question of what will happen once I finish my Chartership? We've both agreed a timeframe but it's hardly likely to be the end of all contact as we both attend similar events, so when does it end?

As for unofficial mentors, I have several, there are so many people at work that I can approach for advice/guidance (for different reasons) so it basically depends on what it is I want as to who I go to. I personally like the idea of having the choice of people to go to, this way i'm not tied to any one person so do not have to wait until they return from holiday or try to hunt them out at work or have the hassle of finding someone new once they move on. Some may call it fickle, some may call it wise but it works for me.

The joy of networking

I really like the networking opportunities presented by professional bodies. I got involved with my local CDG group as I wanted to be more involved in the library community and have been pleasantly surprised by how easy it is to network within the group, especially for someone like me who doesn't find meeting new people very easy. When I represented the division at National Council I also got to put faces to names which was useful. I have also become the workplace rep for my local division of UCR group, even though I haven't yet been able to get to a meeting (just joined last month!) I have already talked, or 'networked', with the other UCR members at work.

As far as training and development goes I have benefitted greatly from my membership of CDG, I became Website Officer for the group which has already improved my web skills and liaison skills, as division rep at Council I gained a better understanding of how information moves throughout the organisation which I could translate to work. Being a member of the group and attending meetings means that I get to discuss possible training events so if there is something that I feel would be useful to me and other new professionals it is possible to raise this at meetings. This is fantastic as most CILIP training takes place in London which would mean either a very early train and thus a very long day or a stay overnight which increases the price, neither is an optimal outcome, but as CDG organises events within their own region this makes attendance much more likely.

I am also demonstrating my dedication to continuing professional development and applying for Chartership, another good reason to be a member of CILIP.