Ways to help

When you help your Public Library you help your whole community. There are many ways to get involved and make a difference.

Support the Library

Become a Corporate Sponsor

Tributes or Memorials

Create a Lasting Legacy at the Library

Attend a Benefit Event

Support the Library

The Rockford Public Library Foundation provides opportunities for Rockford and surrounding northern Illinois communities to help support the library’s long range goals and objectives.  When Andrew Carnegie granted money for public libraries to 1,689 communities in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, he envisioned a system by which these communities would continue to support their libraries well into the future.

The Foundation ensures that with the help of private donations that the Rockford Public Library will continue to be a vital, responsive and proactive library with programs and collections that appeal to our audience and inspire a love of reading and life-long learning.

There are many ways to support the Library’s 501 (c)(3) Foundation.  You may decide to give a gift outright by donating today, or you can take advantage of a number of planned giving strategies.  Your cash gift to the Rockford Public Library Foundation is 100% tax deductible to the extent as allowed by law.  Your gift will be publicized in our Connections newsletter (distributed twice a year to 16,000 households and businesses) and on our donor recognition sign scheduled to be installed at the Main Library in 2008.

Cash - Gifts of cash are the most common method of giving.  Each year the Foundation conducts an Annual Fund Drive to build an endowment for the Library or sponsor programming, but donations can be made at any time.  The Library will accept either outright gifts or pledges for a three year period.  Your gift will be invested to ensure that the Library will provide services to all citizens well into the future.  Credit cards are accepted, simply complete the requested information on our donation form and mail it to the address listed below.

Matching Gift -You can double the value of your gift to the Foundation through your employer’s Matching Gift Program.  Check with your Human Resource office and ask if your employer participates in the Matching Gift Program.  Simply ask them for their form, fill it out and mail it to the Foundation with your contribution.

Follow this link to our donation form.  Please mail your check and the completed donation form to: The Rockford Public Library Foundation, 215 N. Wyman Street, Rockford, IL. 61101.  

Online Giving – You can now make your donation on-line with your Credit Card by going to the Network for Good link. This is a not-for-profit agency sponsored by AOL Time Warner.  Network for Good will keep 10% of your donation for processing fees and 90% will be given to the Rockford Public Library Foundation. 

The information on this site is not intended as legal, tax or investment advice. For such advice, please consult an attorney, tax professional or investment professional.

Become a Corporate Sponsor

Each year the Foundation and the Library partners with major corporations, foundations and individuals to provide quality educational and cultural art programming that involves thousands of people through-out the community.  A partnership with the Library can provide your company increased visibility and you will be working with an organization known for its quality educational programs.  Our programs are designed for all age groups, presented in Spanish and English and the majority of programs are presented at no cost to participants.  By sponsoring a program or workshop your company will help promote literacy, critical thinking, art and the humanities in Rockford.

Sponsorship Opportunities -  

• Literary Evening Downtown – annually in the spring.  Enjoy a fun evening that combines food, wine and well-known citizens discussing their favorite books

• An Evening with Greg Mortenson – September 20, 2008. Adventurer, humanitarian and co-author of Three Cups of Tea, our 2008 One Book, One Rockford selection.

• Summer Reading Club – annually June through August. One of the Library’s largest annual literacy programs (10,450 participants in 2007)

• Performances by musicians, story tellers, performers or authors

• Children’s programs

• Young Adult Programs

• One of our other community services, such as computer classes or the Financial Opportunities Center

To learn more about corporate sponsorship opportunities, contact the Development Office at (815) 987-6611.

Tributes or Memorials

Honor or memorize a loved one, friend or special reader with a Memorial gift to the Library.  Your gift can provide operating support, help purchase books or other materials, or be assigned to a program or service provided by the Library such as providing books to senior citizen centers or our History and Genealogy Room.

Creating a Lasting Legacy at the Library

If you care about the Rockford Public Library and its efforts to create a more literate and informed community, consider remembering the Library in your will or making a Planned Gift to the Rockford Public Library Foundation.  Your gift will help provide resources for future generations of library users.  The Planned Gift offers a way for you to make a meaningful gift and, at the same time, receive financial tax benefits.  It is a way to secure your financial future as well as to help secure the future of the Library. Options for fulfilling your charitable goals include:

• Bequests
• Gifting accounts
• Endowments
• Family Foundations
• Life insurance
• Retirement Plan Gifts
• Revocable and irrevocable deposits 

Planned giving is a way to enrich the Rockford Public Library now and forever while receiving personal benefits that might include avoiding capital gains taxes, garnering immediate tax credits, reducing probate costs, or even receiving regular annuity payments.

To learn more about including a Planned Gift to the Rockford Public Library Foundation in your estate plan, contact the Development Officer at (815) 987-6611, or email rjensen@rockfordpubliclibrary.org.

The information on this site is not intended as legal, tax or investment advice. For such advice, please consult your attorney, tax professional advisor or investment professional.

Attend a Benefit Event

The Foundation’s premier yearly benefit event is the “Literary Evening Downtown.” This intimate evening encourages local community leaders and celebrities to lead a small discussion about their favorite books.   To learn more about this event, contact the Development Officer at (815) 987-6611, or email rjensen@rockfordpubliclibrary.org.