Charity Reading group

[chrysothei]

Hi, I am thinking of starting a reading group / book club and would also like to use it to raise money for the charity I work for. Has anyone ever done a charity book club and if so, how did it work?

I am also interested in people's opinions. Would it put you off joining a book club if it was also a fundraising activity? Ho? much would you be willing to pay each month> Is £5 too much?

Those of you who belone to a book club - please feel free to say if you think it's a stupid idea. I'm just casting around for simple small-scale fundraisng ideas and this just popped into my mind.

I would be interested to hear how this goes.

I think you have two options: Charge per meeting, or an annual membership fee. I suspect that the latter will be better.

You will probably have to provide something for the fee, like some wine and cheese.

The alternative is to start the book group, and once they are nicely bonded and fond of you and each other, convert them into a fund-raising committee for you.

I'd join something like that. I'd probably be willing to pay £5 a month, alternatively you could provide refreshments as Jaybird suggested and people could pay for them.

(I belong to a keep fit group which is free to attend, but we take it in turns to provide milk/coffee/tea/biscuits, and everyone else pays £1 for a drink and it raises money for our charity). We also bring in and donate books, and have a little sales table all books £1, which does quite well, and would work for a book club.

Thank you for your ideas. I'm glad people weren't completely negative. I think it's a good idea to provide the food and drink and I also love the idea of a sales table!

I will let you know how it goes...although it will take me a while to get going since I am new to my area and so a bit of a billy no mates :-)