How to Increase online-payments to a library?

Book-Worm_2

We are trying to help finance our volunteer library, by putting an online-payments button on our existing Facebook account and Web site. However, many of our library users aren't used to paying for libraries, and some will be new to paying on-line.
Does anybody have any ideas which might increase the amount of money raised :idea:

Book-Worm_2

People were quick to understand that we needed books, and donated some 3,000 more than we needed to refresh stocks. However, (even before we sold those books), our users and supporters have been slow to donate cash. However, cash is even more necessary, since without that we will have to switch the heating, lighting and computers off and close the doors. Perhaps you are right 00ec25, and this means that it is impossible, and the library will die.

However, I don't think that's true. One of our High Street competitors has considered it worthwhile putting up ....

barnsleyanimalrescue.org.uk/donate/.

... which hints that it might be worthwhile for us to also ask for funds on-line. Added to this, we proved that we had the ability to raise over £100 after costs by selling 1,000 of those books on-line.

We have had to face up to the fact that the costs of the old Local Authority library model has increased, while the value of traditional book-lending has decreased. The crunch came when Local authorities budgets were cut. Northampton for example, tried to keep its libraries etc., but has now been forced into a Section 114 "Fire sale".

However, there seems to be a solution evolving, which is for what is still a library, to also become a warm, friendly, volunteer staffed, drop-in centre, largely, (but not exclusively), for mothers/children, job seekers, and older people.

I am therefore hoping for ideas that might work for our potential users and supporters on-line, and allow us to keep the library open.

Pennywise

Surely the answer is to get your physical library users to spend cash on their visits rather than relying on online donations? When I was involved with writing a business plan to takeover our village library, we had a long list of revenue generating options, such as drinks/sweets vending machine, charging for printing/copying, book sales, commission based selling of travel, excursion, attraction tickets, selling locally produced goods, selling artworks, renting space for Amazon lockers, renting parking spaces for residents, renting out land behind the library for allotments, renting out side rooms for local groups/societies and local business meetings, etc. You are far more likely to create a long term sustainable business if you're providing services/goods that people will pay for rather than relying on random donations which may well dry up after the initial launch.