New Fundraising Tool: How to raise money through selling a book

Type ‘fundraising books’ into Google and it throws up the Amazon hit list for charity fundraisers looking to up their game.  The list currently includes classic titles such as ‘Writing Funding Applications’, ‘Non Profit Perspectives’ and ‘Enabling your Fundraising Strategy’.  Not exactly light bedtime reading, even for your most hardy Development Manager. For those of us who have spent years fundraising for causes we adamantly believe in, we want to innovate, to keep it fresh, to appeal to the lottery officers, the trusts managers and CSR deputies.  But we don’t want to be trawling through books and techniques and strategies and perspectives.  Doubtless there is a place for such knowledge sharing, but surely better development for fundraising is to get together, to brainstorm and to come up with some imaginative ways of engaging people with the cause. 

Can small charities benefit?

Some highly effective and deeply engaging fundraising work has been carried out by charities recently.  And it’s not just the big players who can call the shots.  With the advance of our digital age and increasing accessibility of electronic media and information across the world, smaller charities can now harness this power for furthering their aims.  ‘Teachers in Action’, consists of three women who visited Zambia and fell in love with it.  They taught in community schools where children are considered lucky to share just a single book between the whole class, pens are a luxury.  Against this backdrop, ‘Teachers in Action’ was founded with a mission statement to help African street children by promoting literacy and aiding Zambian community schools.  A noble aim, but how to spread the message and dredge up those elusive funds?

Fundraising Tool: Publish a book

The answer: create an early learning resource for the children of Zambia and pay for it to be published and distributed by selling it to development agencies and the public who have an interest in Zambia.  Harness the skills and local knowledge of NGOs based in Zambia to work together towards providing learning for all.  The books contain basic British rhymes translated into the three most prevalent local languages Bemba, Tonga and Nyanja, and contain bright and bold pictures celebrating local culture, flora and fauna.  Crucially, all the money raised goes to ‘Teachers in Action’, to provide funds for more books to be printed and distributed to community schools and to support the Ranchhod Hospice Daycare and Preschool and the Sables Street Kids Program, both in Kabwe, Zambia.  

Two editions of the book were produced by specialty publisher, Vivalogue, The English-language only editions of Hello Pretty Birds of Zambia and We Children of Zambia are being sold direct to supporters via a website developed by Vivalogue for ‘Teachers in Action’ (www.teachers-in-action.com). Supporters can also order and pay for multilingual books to be distributed to Zambian community schools. These pre-sales are generating the funds to cover the printing costs of the early reading books in Zambia.

Subscription Model

This publishing model is one of three ways of raising funds through selling books that have been developed by Vivalogue’s Directors Lynn Duncan and Kilmeny Jane Denny.  The models ensure that whilst the publishing costs are met, all proceeds from the sale go directly towards the fundraising initiative.  The project only proceeds if a sufficient number of copies are pre-sold to cover the editorial, production and printing costs. After publication, additional copies are then sold to a wider group of supporters, members and the public, with all proceeds going as profit to the group.  This model allows even the smallest charity to cover the costs of producing a fundraising book in advance, minimising their financial risk.

Another successful example of this subscription model was the award-winning pictorial history of The Royal Westminster Regiment, produced to mark their 150th anniversary in 2013. The Regiment did not have the funds to produce the lavish, full-colour hardback book they envisaged but with Vivalogue’s support, the Regiment raised all the funds necessary to cover the production costs of For King and Country: 150 Years of The Royal Westminster Regiment.

Community Anthology Model

In this publishing model, contributors pay to submit content to be included in the fundraising book. Their contribution fee covers the production costs of the book and includes a donation to the charity or NGO. Contributors receive a copy of the book to keep or give as a gift, the charity has raised funds AND created a profile and awareness-raising tool as a bonus. With this model, there is no financial risk or investment required of the organisation, because all the production costs are covered by the supporters who contribute content to the book. 

Plan Canada's Because I Am A Girl initiative has thousands of supporters around the country. In 2012, they partnered with Vivalogue to produce Because You're My Mother, an anthology celebrating Canadian mothers that was produced in time for Mother's Day. Contributors bought a page (or pages) to honour their mother, using their own words and photographs. More personal than a card, more lasting than flowers, and the net proceeds went to support Plan Canada's Maternal Health Initiative in the poorest regions of Tanzania. The book also included the personal stories of women in Africa who have been helped by Plan Canada towards a better life for themselves and their families. Every contribution to the book raised at least $20 for the Maternal Health Initiative. 

Sponsorship Model

The costs of producing the book (editorial, design and printing) are covered by grants from local community and government bodies or from corporate sponsors. This model is suitable for organizations or societies with specific, community-based work where the benefits to the sponsors are quantifiable and in keeping with their community commitment.

Vivalogue assisted WINGS (Women In Need Gaining Strength) to produce a book profiling prominent New Westminster women, living and dead, who have contributed to this historic community in British Columbia. Local businesses and societies sponsored the project in advance, providing all the funds necessary to produce Grace, Grit and Gusto: Profiles of Remarkable Royal City Women. This meant that 100% of the proceeds of the sale of the book went to support  WING’s work supporting women fleeing from domestic violence. Books are still being sold and so far more than $12,000 has been raised for this small charity. 

The additional benefit is that the profile of the organisation has been raised in the community, and the book itself has been acquired by universities and other institutions as a valuable historical record of previously undocumented lives. 

A similar, successful project was produced by The Under One Umbrella Society in Vancouver, Canada, a community group founded in 2003 to support the Grandview Woodland neighbourhood in the city. The society focuses on providing support for people with addictions, the homeless and people at risk of becoming homeless. In 2011, to celebrate the city of Vancouver's 125th Anniversary, the Under One Umbrella Society published Voices from Grandview Woodland.  Production costs were covered by funds provided by the city. Local residents of the Grandview Woodlands neighbourhood contributed inspiring stories, personal histories and photographs to this fundraising anthology which so far has raised in the region of $7000 to support the work of the Under One Umbrella Society.

Making it work for you

This fundraising idea is wonderfully varied; depending on your organization, you could produce an anthology with contributions from members, supporters or beneficiaries; a history of the society or the personal histories of its members; a coffee table photography book; a yearbook; a celebration of a specific anniversary or event; or even a collection of recipes or poems. 

Now, more than ever, fundraisers need to think outside the box.  With the general public and small to medium sized companies still feeling the economic pinch, it is a tough time to ask for money, let alone support those in need.  Why not raise the profile of your organization by producing a beautiful keepsake book that will outlast leaflets, outlive adverts and raise valuable funds for your cause. 

SUZANNE LAMBERT graduated from the University of Edinburgh with an English Literature (Hons) Masters degree.  Before joining Vivalogue to coordinate the UK social media campaigns, she worked as an environmental journalist then moved to the not-for-profit sector as the manager of a rehabilitation programme. Suzanne manages Vivalogue’s ongoing Social Media in the UK.