Ideas For Fundraisers - One Possibility Is The Personalized Cookbook

As you and your organization try to keep your financial heads above water, you must choose from a number of options. If the club or group to which you belong wants to raise money for a good cause or charity, there are quite a few good fundraising ideas available. The hard part is choosing which one.

Pros And Cons

Some of the common fundraisers are car washes in the parking lot of a local store, selling candy or popcorn door to door, peddling magazine subscriptions, or a chili feed/pancake feed. I'm not crazy about the door-to-door alternatives. First of all, children are the ones who do most of the work. I retired from law enforcement, and I wouldn't let my children wander a neighborhood alone. It is simply too dangerous. Therefore you…the parent…will need to shadow them the entire time they are selling. It is a waste of manpower.

Car washes? Well, I'm almost 60 years old and I think that seeing me in a bathing suit would scare away more customers than anything else. Unless you have a bevy of young people interested in spending a day washing muck off of cars, it might not be a good choice. Plus it is a seasonal activity and your success is dependent upon the weather. The odds are against you.

Chili feeds are fine, but the amount of labor and cost of materials can be astounding. It takes a long time to prepare that much food, get the venue ready, and then clean up afterwards.

What Is A Better Fundraising Idea?

I have personally helped raise money by selling personalized family style cookbooks. A fraternal organization to which I belong created a professional looking cookbook about 5 years ago, and we made a substantial amount of money from the sales. Interestingly enough, we have had reprints made each year because the demand for it still exists.

Why Do People Like Them So Much?

Imagine owning a cookbook that has the best recipes from the finest cooks in your organization or community. The contributors will surely provide the best ones they have because their name will be associated with it in the book. How would you like to have "Aunt Minnie's" famous apple pie recipe, or the chicken casserole that the neighbor has made so popular over the years? The book would be absolutely unique.

Not only does it provide great recipes, but also it becomes a bit of history. Years from now you will be paging through the cookbook and see the names of all the "little old ladies" that you remember from your childhood.

There Is More.

Selling the cookbooks isn't much of a chore. It takes just one or two people to sit at a booth during a craft fair or at a school activity. Street fairs and church events are other popular spots for selling.

It is also possible to sell advertising in them. Local businesses will be willing to pay to have their information printed on the advertising pages within. They know that unlike radio, TV and newspaper ads, these will be seen for years to come. It isn't a mandatory option, but it is something to think about.

The Process.

It isn't complex at all. Find a quality, reputable on-line cookbook publisher and get started. But first, make sure that they provide many options for the style and design. The cover of the book is important, because it is what people see first. They should also offer help and marketing tips to you. If not, you had better try another publishing company.

It is fun…it doesn't take a lot of work…and it generates the needed money for your fundraiser. Give it a try.

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Andy Barber is a retired police/fire/EMS dispatcher. After a quarter of a century of "stomping the pedal," as he likes to call it, he took an early retirement and became a freelance writer. Currently he is working for Cookbook Publishers, a company that has been helping people and organizations raise money since 1947. When Andy isn't writing, he spends time on his eastern Kansas farm with his wife and the 2 younger of their 3 sons. Andy also has a love for Harley Davidson motorcycles. He regularly criss-crosses the USA on his bike to meet with friends and see this beautiful country. Cookbook Publishers has been helping people with fundraisers for years, so check them out and see what they can do for you.