Over the past few weeks we’ve been posting on the YALSA Blog about the upcoming Booze for Books event on April 12. It’s a fundraising event focused on raising monies for YALSA’s Books for Teens initiative which gets books into the hands of underserved teens.
We’ve posted about planning for the event, moving beyond the booze box, and getting the word out about your event. This time around I want to throw out some ideas about getting some buzz going just before, during, and just after your event whether it be Mocktails for a Mission, Chocolate for a Cause, Booze for Books or something else.
- Use the #b4byalsa hashtag for Twitter posts before, during, and after the event. Make sure to let your attendees know about that hashtag.
- Have people take pictures at your event and then post them on Flickr (or the photo-sharing service of your choice). Make sure to use the #b4byalsa and the #yalsa hashtag. By doing that we’ll be able to put together an album of photos from the variety of events that take place across the country.
- Since so many people have video cameras on phones and iPads and other devices you might shoot short interviews with those at your event. They could talk about their favorite book or what they love about working with teens. Upload the videos to YouTube and tag them with yalsa and yalsab4b. We can then put together a gallery of video too.
- For those using mobile Facebook you can also encourage those attending to post on YALSA’s Books for Teens Facebook wall during the event. That way there will be a live stream on Facebook of the fun (and fundraising) taking place across the country
Those are just a few ideas of what people might do to create buzz just before, during, and just after the April 12 event. What do others think would work?
As you continue to plan your event no matter what the theme, feel free to get in touch with me (Linda W. Braun) with any questions about planning and implementation. Don’t forget that the YALSA Financial Advancement Committee developed a fundraising guide that has a lot of ideas and information that is sure to help in planning your event. There is also a Booze for Books page on the YALSA website.
What’s all the buzz? There has not been this much tweeting since John Corey Whaley won this year’s Printz and Morris Awards!
The initial announcement about Booze for Books, scheduled for April 12, 2012, sure stirred a heated debate. While the title says Booze, the event does not have to include booze, and is your opportunity to help raise funds to get books into the hands of needy teens. It’s all a part of YALSA’s Books for Teens initiative.
Options Galore After reading the initial post about Booze for Books, many YALSA blog readers posted other options for events that don’t incorporate alcohol. Janene suggested “Burgers for Books!” Beth mentioned quite a few “Pizza for Pages,” “Tea for Teens,” and “Chocolate for a Cause.” Another Beth wrote “Mocktails for a Mission.” YALSA’s first Booze for Books fundraiser can be adapted to meet your community’s needs. The core idea of this fundraiser is to raise money for Books for Teens, which connects at-risk teenagers with books. A novel idea!
How do you get started? Check out the brand new fundraising guide that provides a ton of ideas on how to host a fundraising event for YALSA. The guide includes templates, tips, forms, weblinks, and more. Are you too afraid to do it alone? Team up with a librarian from another library!
Let’s share some new ideas! YALSA started a Pinterest Board to have members share photos and recipes. You can snap a photo of your creation (alcoholic or pizza or chocolate, or whatever). Another idea is to add a book cover image that inspires your event (I am thinking Cormier’s The Chocolate War).
Thinking Outside the Booze Box Speaking of chocolate, I may steal Beth’s idea, Chocolate for a Cause. I am considering hosting an event at a local artisan chocolate café. I am thinking handcrafted truffles, cocoas and drinking chocolates, chocolate shakes, and chocolate fondue. I can have a dark vs. milk chocolate competition. Besides Cormier’s The Chocolate War, I can have copies of Klause’s Blood and Chocolate, Esquivel’s Like Water for Chocolate, or Candyfreak: a journey through the chocolate underbelly of America. I can have a donation bucket where attendees can throw in a few bucks toward Books for Teens.
Another Box (Pizza Box) Option Instead of chocolate, try Pizza for Pages. You can host a pizza-making dinner at your home. Have your guests bring their favorite toppings; you can supply the dough and sauce. Another possibility is to have a no-host Pizza for Pages event at your favorite local pizzeria. Maybe the pizza business will give you a discount. Henry Holt has a new book coming out in August, Pizza, Love, and Other Stuff That Made Me Famous by Kathryn Williams. Remember you can request YALSA swag and a couple of books as part of your event.
Different Events; Same Goal Whatever you decide, remember the goal is still the same to empower the nation’s at-risk teens to achieve more by providing them with free high-quality, new, age-appropriate books. So put April 12th on your calendar!
If you would like to donate to Books for Teens outside of a special event, you can do so via the Facebook Books for Teens page or send a donation by check to YALSA, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611, attention: Books for Teens.
If you have any questions
