It's time for CoMoGives!

When we first conceived of the Unbound Book Festival, we did so with our beloved city of readers in mind. We hoped that the idea of a book festival would be embraced by our friends and neighbors here in Columbia, and so it proved. We are thrilled and humbled by the enthusiasm with which Unbound has been received. We more than doubled attendance of our inaugural event in our second year. As we move into Year 3, we continue to expand and grow.

For this, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. 

And having thanked you, now we'd like to ask for your help.

Every December the Community Foundation of Central Missouri organizes a month of charitable online giving for nonprofits in the Columbia area. This project keeps growing - this year there are a whopping 114 organizations participating. It is a wonderfully simple way for people to give online to their favorite local charities. All you need is a credit card, an internet connection, and a couple of minutes.

As you probably know by now, all Unbound events are free to the public. We are proud to have been able to do this - we believe that books should be for everyone - but it does mean that, without the revenue from ticket sales, we are dependent on the support of donors and sponsors to be able to put the festival on each year.

Put another way: without your support there would be no festival.

So may we ask a favor? If you've attended an event at Unbound in the past, or if you're planning to come and hear Zadie Smith or any of our amazing authors next April, could you please help us out by visiting our page at CoMoGives and making a donation? Every little bit helps, and we would be tremendously grateful. And please pass this message along to your friends. CoMoGives runs "challenge grants", which means there are cash bonuses for the organizations with the most individual donors, irrespective of the size of the gift. So every $10 donation helps us toward a much greater prize.

With your help, Unbound will continue to flourish and grow and, we hope, give us one more reason to be proud of this amazing town we live in. 

Thank you.