Fundraising with Books

A Free or Donate bookstall is the simplest way for any charity to start fundraising with books.

Instead of opening a charity bookshop with expensive overheads, a paid manager and a large team of volunteers needed to run it, you find a local venue to host a bookstall on your behalf.

Cafes and coffee shops are perfect, as they have a natural synergy with books.

How it works for charities

A bookstall can raise thousands of pounds/dollars in voluntary donations.

You will have no rent, rates, utility costs, wages or significant overheads of any kind. It's an extremely efficient way to raise money and is very easy to operate.

There is no need to have a permanent member of staff present or serve customers. People will make cash donations into a charity collection box or use a contactless terminal.

You would only need a single volunteer to call in for a few minutes each day, just to keep things tidy.

How it works for venues

The venue will also benefit from hosting a bookstall.

As people can take a book for free, it's a great way for them to increase community engagement, attract new customers and generate lots of free advertising in the local press.

Find a venue

To start fundraising you just need to find a venue.

If you have any local cafes or coffee shops that are already hosting one of your charity collection boxes, they are very likely to be interested in supporting you further by hosting a bookstall.

You can also approach any local cafes or coffee shops that already have a "book swap" for their customers, to see if they would like to convert it into a Free or Donate bookstall.

The manager of the venue can find out how to start a bookstall on the following page.

Start a bookstall