As we move forward for this year’s sale, we are also looking towards next year’s sale and to that end, we have revamped the application process somewhat.
Instead of “just a letter”, we now have a 3-page application form (not that complicated, just ample space for your answers) and we’d like a letter too and a few supplemental materials– all towards helping us making the best choice we can. (And it is a hard choice, my friends, a very hard choice.)
We admit a slight favoritism towards smaller organizations. We enjoy knowing that the money that we work so hard to give away really makes a difference. Tim, from Caesar’s Ford Theatre Company (one of last year’s beneficiaries) stopped in yesterday (with some books) and good news that the feasibility study that we helped fund is paving the way to not just their success, but ultimately their survival. When we gave the check to Learning Tree Farm (in 2016) it came just in the nick of time– they had to drill a new well for livestock at the farm, in the dead of winter.
But if you’re a larger organization, that doesn’t mean you’re out of the running. We understand that budgets are a funny thing and that you may have an important project that you can’t finance unless you have some money from some other source– like the Book Fair Foundation.
Some people probably find it corny, but really we are serious about community networking and building relationships with the beneficiaries that we choose. Some years this works better than others. If we’re going to just be one of a big list of donors to you this year, we may not be a good match for each other. There are many pieces in the pie that is our mission (Mmm, pie. We love pie, did I mention that?) : keeping books circulating (and out of landfills!) funding a few local non-profits, helping people part with their books in a meaningful way, providing packing and pick up service for those who need it, community development, furthering projects in literacy, and keeping idle bibliophiles off the streets.
We’d like to hear from you. The application packet is below. To be considered it must reach our offices by Tuesday, December 18th (it can be hand-delivered) or be post-marked by Saturday, December 15th.
Dayton Book Fair 