Question:
Imagine that your local library has invited community members to submit proposals for a fundraiser. You are the student representative on the committee to choose the best proposal. Read the two proposals, paying close attention to their similarities and differences.Consider whether or not each proposal is logistically feasible, which fundraiser will most appeal to members of your community, and which fundraiser will likely raise more money.
Which proposal do you think the committee should choose? Write an essay in which you make a case for your choice. Support your argument with references to specific details in each proposal.
Proposal 1: The best way to get people invested in the library is to show them the joy of reading. For that reason, the library should hold a book sale. People could donate books that they no longer want, and the librarians could find books that the library no longer needs. Volunteers would need to sort the books into categories and arrange them in an inviting way, like at a bookstore. Books should be inexpensive so people will buy more of them – may be fifty cents for paperbacks and two dollars for hardcover books. A book sale would appeal to people of all ages, from little kids to older people. There should also be a table where people can sign up for library cards. That way, if visitors do not find any books they want at the sale, they can come back to the library.
Proposal 2: A great way to make money for the library would be holding a car wash. The softball team at my school raised over $400 at their car wash last year! The car wash could be held in the library parking lot on a Saturday morning. You could ask local high school students to volunteer to wash the cars. That would be a great way to get students involved with the library. It takes two or three volunteers to wash a car quickly, so you would need at least ten volunteers. You could charge around ten dollars per car. Even people who are not very interested in reading like to have a clean car, so you would get a lot of people to stop by who might not otherwise come to a library fundraiser.
I think the committee should go with Proposal 1
Explanation:
The first proposal incorporates elements that will help further the objective(s) for which the library was set up.
Proposal 1 seeks to:
A. to show people the joy of reading;
B. hold a book sale with books being sold at very low prices;
C. ask the public and library to donate books they no longer need to the fund raiser
D. attract both young and old
E. set up a system a the fund raiser where people can sign up for library cards
All the above points A-D will no doubt, help to raise funds for the library in the short term.
Point E if successful will increase the membership strength of those who use the library thus generating even more income in the long run.
Finally the plan look very easy and inexpensive to setup.
In contrast, lets us examine proposal 2. Proposal 2 suggests the following:
A. to hold a car wash at the library's parking lot
B. to involve student volunteers to wash the cars
C. to attract people whose primary aim is to get cleaner cars.
Unlike proposal 1, Proposal 2 does not have any strong incentive for people to come to the fundraiser. Proposal 1 suggests for books to be sold at a very cheap price. That is a great incentive.
Proposal 2 seeks to target two major sets of people:
I. Car owners whose cars are dirty
II. Students.
It is my opinion that this target population is limited in comparison to the target audience in Proposal 1 which seeks to being together Old, yound readers, and volunteers which could also include students.
I'm more likely to get people who would rather pay two dollars than people who would pay $10 dollars.
In conclusion,
Proposal 1 and proposal 2 bear similarities in the sense that
1. they intend to make use of volunteers;
2. they both want to make use of the library premises.
Proposal 1 seems more feasible. It's easier to give away a book one is no longer reading or to pay $2 for a book that would otherwise cost more than to pay $10 to get my car washed.
In the first place there is really no great incentive for one to go all the way down the the library to get my car washed.
By the way setting up a car was at library assumes that the library is preinstalled with all the water supply apparatus. If this is not true, then proposal 2 will have to overcome a more challenging logistical problem in order to be successful.
In my judgement, given the above, I think proposal one will most likely appeal more to the members of the community especially as it reaches out to both car owners and non-car owners.
Cheers!
