Fresh out of 1968: Designing an Effective Crowdfunding Campaign for the Academic Library

Abstract

Amid a sudden 20% budget reduction and pandemic recovery, librarians and staff at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Murphy Library embarked on a crowdfunding campaign to improve student study spaces. With a detailed communications plan, strategic messaging, and targeted donor pool, the library’s first campaign was a success and raised more than $10,000. Using this experience as a case study, this article explores how to design and implement a compelling crowdfunding campaign as a part of a library’s solicitation repertoire while also discussing areas that could be improved, such as the need for stronger campus partnerships and how the campaign pacing made collaboration and content creation somewhat challenging.

Keywords

• academic libraries
• events and programming
• library marketing
• promotion
• graphic design