Dani Brzozowski

Q: What do you feel is the most important issue facing nonprofit fundraisers as we approach the end of 2008? “It seems to me the changing face of philanthropy is the most important issue. We have older, first-generation philanthropists dying and the second generations spending more and not giving as much. We have a new, younger, first-generation wealthy set who were not raised in philanthropic families and really need to ‘learn’ more about giving. And then there is the fact that, with the Internet, we are competing not just against the organizations in our towns, but every nonprofit out there!” — Anne Steuer executive

FundRaising Success: How do you fund your mission? Dani Brzozowski: Open Books’ vision is a renewable, organic and unending cycle of funding and programming. When the bookstore opens next spring, sales of donated used books will fund the literacy programming that will take place, literally, in-house. The first floor of our new space will be devoted to retail: more than 50,000 used books in a fun, funky, colorful and comfortable Chicago environment complete with a fake fireplace, ancestral oil paintings, a suit of armor, a multitude of bird cages, a constellation of twinkling lights, a children’s area furnished with giant foam books, and lots