nov12_b.indd


C&RL News November 2012 608

I have been involved in academic library fun-draising for nearly 20 years. I backed into 
this experience mostly as a result of taking on 
administrative duties. I am not a development 
professional, and, except for a workshop or 
two, I have had no training as such. What I 
have learned has come on-the-job as a part-
time, accidental fundraiser.

Over the years I have often heard that 
academic libraries are at a disadvantage in de-
velopment work because they have no gradu-
ates. This is partly true. Libraries don’t have 
an alumni base to draw on when fund-raising. 

However, this does not mean that librar-
ies can’t raise money. And neither is the li-
brary unique in the fact that it has no former 
students to tap for private gifts. Student af-
fairs and alumni relations are two examples 
of nondegree granting entities that benefit 
from private support, sometimes greatly so. 
And the most successful fundraising machine 
on most campuses, the athletic department, 
does not graduate anyone either.

So academic libraries are not unique in 
this challenge, but they are different from a 
college or an academic department. If the 
library has no graduates, then who are its 
donors? Of course library supporters come in 
all stripes, but, in my experience, they most 
commonly fall into one of a few categories, 
and sometimes these categories overlap.

Faculty are a key group of supporters. 
Many give to the library in addition to their 
own programs and departments, while a 
few make the library their sole focus. For 

a very few, their own department is a little 
too close to home, and for them the library 
represents an appealing alternative. Life in-
side the academy is not easy, and years of 
competition for scarce resources, space, and 
attention can dampen one’s philanthropic 
enthusiasm. The library is often seen as the 
one campus intellectual resource that rises 
above or exists outside of the hurly-burly of 
the normal academic fray. For many faculty, 
the library is their ivory tower.

A closely related group of donors are 
long-term library employees. Like the fac-
ulty, they also often see the library as a 
neutral and unsullied campus good. They 
quite often also retain a strong interest in 
the particular collection, program, or service 
they were most closely affiliated with over 
the course of their career. In their giving, or 
gift planning, it is not uncommon for them to 
single out this interest as their primary focus. 

Student workers make up another im-
portant potential donor group. Though no 
one receives a grade or a diploma from the 
library, student workers get a scholarship 
in the form of a job as well as valuable life 
experience. A paycheck not only helps to 
pay tuition and buy books, but it often helps 
cover the rent and put food on the table, too. 
Further, a job teaches lessons that are not 
easily conveyed in the classroom, such as 

Steven Escar Smith

If no one graduates from the library, 
then who are its donors?
Some reflections from an accidental academic fundraiser

Steven Escar Smith is dean of libraries at the University 
of Tennessee-Knoxville, e-mail: ssmit216@utk.edu 
© 2012 Steven Escar Smith

the way I see it



November 2012 609 C&RL News

how to please a boss or serve a customer or 
how to balance competing demands. These 
are the kinds of lessons that pay lifelong 
dividends and contribute to that all impor-
tant “other” education that should be a part 
of every undergraduate’s experience. Some 
of the most dedicated donors that I have 
known look back fondly on their time shelv-
ing books, assisting at the circulation desk, 
tipping in torn or missing pages, and any 
number of other activities. They remember 
these times as among the most important of 
their college career.

Library support groups (often called 
“Friends”) are another important constitu-
ency. Whether formally or loosely organized, 
the individuals associated with these groups 
are typically united by a passion for the 
library’s mission to serve the research and 
learning needs of the entire campus. 

One of my favorite library friends once 
told me that he helped the library because he 
knew that in doing so he was helping all the 
students, faculty, and staff of the university. 
Support from these groups comes in many 
forms. Sometimes the group makes a col-
lective or group gift—that is, a gift from the 

group made up of a number of smaller gifts 
by each member. At other times individual 
members will make single gifts, sometimes 
called “lead gifts,” that inspire fellow mem-
bers to do likewise. 

A library donor is usually also someone 
else’s donor, too. Most of our donors also 
give, have given, or will give to other parts 
of the institution. It is not uncommon for 
colleges or academic departments to share 
donors too, but, perhaps precisely because 
we do not have an alumni base, the shared 
nature of the enterprise is more apparent in 
the library than elsewhere. On occasion they 
come to the library first, but more often they 
come to us after beginning a development 
relationship elsewhere on campus. Thus, 
coordination, communication, and courtesy 
on the part of the library with other units is 
of paramount importance. 

This brings me back to where I began—
that often quoted fundraising lament about 
no one ever graduating from the library. 
True, but no student ever graduated with-
out one either. And in that sense, I prefer 
to think that everyone graduates from the 
library.  

scriptions: Average, 12,434; Actual, 12,140. Sales through 

dealers and carriers, street vendors, counter sales, and 

other non-USPS paid distribution: not applicable. Other 

classes mailed through the USPS: not applicable. Total 

paid and/or requested circulation: Average, 12,434 Actual, 

12,140. Free distribution by mail: Average, 118; Actual, 

84. Free distribution outside the mail: Average, 0; Actual, 

0. Total free distribution: Average, 118; Actual, 84. Total 

distribution: Average, 12,522; Actual, 12,224. Copies not 

distributed: Office use, leftover, spoiled: Average, 476; 

Actual, 475. Total (sum of previous entries): Average, 

13,028 Actual, 12,699. Percent paid and/or requested 

circulation: Average, 99.05%; Actual, 93.1%.

Statement of ownership, management, and cir-

culation (PS Form 3526, August 2012) for 2012 filed with 

the United States Postal Service, Postmaster in Chicago, 

Illinois, September 13, 2012.

Statement of ownership and management

College & Research Libraries News is published 11 times a 

year (monthly, combining July/August) by the American 

Library Association, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611. 

American Library Association, owner; David Free, editor. 

Second-class postage paid at Chicago, Illinois. Printed 

in the U.S.A. As a nonprofit organization authorized to 

mail at special rates (DMM Section 423.12), the purposes, 

function, and nonprofit status of this organization and the 

exempt status for federal income tax purposes, have not 

changed during the preceding 12 months.

Extent and nature of circulation. (“Average” fig-

ures denote the number of copies printed each issue dur-

ing the preceding twelve months; “Actual” figures denote 

the number of copies of single issues published nearest 

to filing date.) Total number of copies (net press run): 

Average, 13,028 Actual, 12,699. Total paid/requested sub-