Organizing Your Friends, Donors, and Volunteers to Maximize Fundraising and Support
Wednesday, July 9, 2025
12:00 - 1:00 p.m.
Zoom
The North Riverside Library Foundation has a long history of devoted and invested community members. After merging with the Friends group, they were ready to take their connections, energy, and passion for the library to the next level.
They decided to engage the consulting company, Fundraising Librarian, LLC. Together the Fundraising Librarian, LLC and the North Riverside Library Foundation audited their past activities, conducted interviews with members of the Foundation, and developed a plan with actionable steps. Now the North Riverside Library Foundation is primed to become the premier philanthropic priority in their community.
During this webinar, you'll discover strategies to help your library foundation or friends group become a fundraising powerhouse.
Register for this webinar
All ILA Noon Network webinars are free. Registration for all live webinars is limited to Illinois libraries. Recordings of webinars will be available to ILA personal and institutional members in the Noon Network Archive 1-3 days after the live event.
About the Speakers
Lauren Chilvers is a seasoned fundraising professional with over 16 years of experience in development and library advancement. She is the founder of The Fundraising Librarian LLC, a consulting firm dedicated to bringing proven fundraising strategies to libraries of all sizes.
Lauren began her journey in libraries and fundraising as a graduate student at Dominican University, where she earned her Master of Library and Information Science. It was during this time that she observed the vital role fundraising plays in supporting library services. While in graduate school, she launched her career at the Newberry Library, first as an intern and later as the Annual Fund Coordinator.
She went on to join Dominican University during its ambitious $60 million scholarship campaign. Her next role took her to the Warren-Newport Public Library in Gurnee, Illinois, where she became the library’s first Development Officer. Currently, she is the Associate Director of Community and Business Development at OMNI, a nonprofit organization focused on community mental health.
A Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE), Lauren brings both passion and practical knowledge to her consulting work, striving to empower libraries by sharing the best practices she has honed throughout her career.
Natalie Starosta is a seasoned library director with over a decade of experience leading transformative initiatives in public libraries across Michigan and Illinois. She currently serves as the Director of the Lake Bluff Public Library, a role she began in March 2025. Ms. Starosta holds a Master of Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Master of Arts in Slavic Languages and Literatures from the University of Kansas. Her
Prior to her appointment in Lake Bluff, Ms. Starosta led the North Riverside Public Library District, where she managed over $1 million in renovations, introduced advanced makerspaces, launched a pop-up library in a local mall, and expanded virtual programming to better serve the community. Her earlier roles include directing both the Hopkins District Library and Dorr Township Library in Michigan, where she successfully transitioned Hopkins into a district library with dedicated millage funding and secured numerous grants to enhance library services.
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