Fundraising Book Drive for National Reading Month

March is National Reading Month

Every month of the year has a different theme. Many months have multiple themes. For instance, March is National Frozen Food Month. That, of course, isn't the most important theme to this month. In addition to celebrating Lean Cuisine dinners, March is also a time to celebrate the written word. It is National Reading Month. This can present your organization with a chance to make a difference in peoples' lives, and raise funds along the way.

A book drive can be a weekend event, or it can last all month long. Logistically a month-long event might be tough, but it will certainly spread your message the furthest, as well as provide you with the biggest opportunity to raise money for your organization. Here's the way to set it up.

Collect Books From Your Organization

While a book drop-off will be a part of this fundraiser, you'll need a starting inventory -- kind of like a musician putting a dollar and some change in his case before he starts playing on the subway. This way people can come in and find books without having to bring their own. As the people in your organization to scour their homes for books they no longer need.

Set Up A Location

The location should serve two purposes. First, it should be a place where people can drop off their books. Don't be picky: different people enjoy different types of books, and there might be people interested just about anything. The drop-off can involve a person taking the books, or it can be a simple bin. Either way, there needs to be a clearly marked place where people can drop off books for donation.

The second is a place where people can browse books. If you can get a few bookshelves for this, all the better. Otherwise, tables and boxes will have to do. Try to organize them as well as possible. This doesn't have to be alphabetical by author, but separate the kids books from the novels from the reference books, etc. This will make it easier for people to browse books and find ones they want.

Determine A Purchase and Barter System

If someone brings in a stack of books and wants to bring home some books as well, you should let them have an even exchange. Ask for a donation, of course, for the service. But if someone donates books, charging them for new books probably isn't a good idea.

For people just buying books, you can set it up as a low per-book cost -- a dollar a book usually works well, perhaps a bit cheaper for children's books. You can also leave open the option for a flat donation, rather than charging per book. Either way will work just fine. Leaving the option for a flat-rate donation will often yield the most money, since many people will make a $5 donation for fewer than five books.

Figure Out Who Takes The Extras

It might come as a disappointment, but you're not going to sell all the books you have on display. Before you even get started you should probably determine what you're going to do with the leftovers. These can be split up among the organization, or they can go for donation. Charities such as Salvation Army usually take book donations, as do local libraries. Either way, this is something to be prepared for ahead of time. Leaving it for the last minute can make for some heavy book slogging.

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