We’ve carried out thousands of book fairs with schools, libraries and others. No matter the size and type of organization, all successful fundraisers do the following:
Send Regular Email Messages
The importance of email cannot be understated. Regular email communication to your community will be the best way to raise funds.
The best schedule for your email campaign is the following:
- One week prior to the first day of the book fair. This introduces the book fair to your community. It’s a good idea to include the purpose for the funds and the fundraising goal in this message.
- Day one of your book fair. This is the kick-off email that starts your book fair and should include links to recommended book lists and information regarding the length of the book fair and its purpose.
- Half-way point of your book fair. This keeps the book fair top-of-mind for your community and reminds everyone of the importance of your book fair.
- Three days to go. Make sure everyone knows the end date of the book fair. Providing information regarding how close you are to a fundraising goal is important.
- Last day. This is a “last minute” message that tells everyone that they have 24 hours to complete their purchase and participate in the book fair.
All the above email messages are in draft form in the dashboard under the “Promote” tab. We will also email you draft messages as you need them for every book fair.
Establish a Fundraising Purpose and Goal
People love to raise funds for a purpose that has a specific dollar goal. An example is “We need $4,500 to buy new computers for our STEM lab”. Or “Our Library needs to replace 350 worn out books that will cost $3,750”
When your community can see how they’re helping out, they feel good about you as an organization an the purpose of the book fair.
We encourage you to specify the dollar goal and purpose of your book fairs.
Use Social Media
Chances are that almost everyone in your community has a social media account–or two or three.
Post the book fair information on your personal and organization’s social media accounts and encourage your followers, likes, etc. to post, tweet and insta the book fair information.
Your unique book fair URL is easy to share and when clicked, takes a prospective shopper directly to your page.
We have draft social media messages in the Promote area of the dashboard that you can use.
Disregard Geography
The great thing about an online book fair is that shoppers can be anywhere in the U.S.
Grandparents, friends and family all over the U.S. can buy books at your book fair and you get the credit! Encourage your community to forward the book fair information far and wide.
Update the Fundraising Page
It’s simple to quickly change your book fair welcome message, logo, and recommended book lists.
As a new book fair approaches, spend 15 minutes updating your page with current information and new book lists.
Everyone in the Boat
Be sure that all the stakeholders in your organization are aware of and excited about how the book fair works, its purpose and goals.
This includes principals, librarians, teachers, parent organizations, friend groups, families and students.
Designate at least two people to help with the book fair. This way, if the principal organizer has a water heater flood their house, your book fair doesn’t stall.