Pick A Proven Fundraising Idea - Personalized Family Style Cookbooks

Do not "test the water" when it comes to your fundraising projects by dabbling with candy sales or car washes to see if they work. Instead, I suggest you opt for a proven fundraising idea that has been around for literally generations, and that is the personalized family style cookbook.

A Cookbook?

Yes, a cookbook. Imagine being able to sell a professional looking cookbook that contains the best recipes from the finest cooks in your organization or community. There is no cookbook like it out there. It will be totally unique. People are hard-wired to be generous and to help fellow human beings. They will gladly support a good charity or cause, but when you offer a quality product like this fundraising idea, they will be even more eager to shell out more money. It just makes sense.

Aren't There Too Many Cookbooks Out There Already?

In a word…no. Recently I was in a large bookstore and I wandered past the cookbook section. Not the cookbook "shelf," but the entire cookbook "section." It had dozens and dozens of cookbooks. Unfortunately they are the same cookbooks sold in all the stores in that chain. None of them were created using local or regional recipes from real people who live in the area.

A personalized family cookbook filled with recipes from local individuals is often regarded as more valuable than one published by some big corporation. I don't know about you, but I'd trust a recipe from the grandmother who lives down the street from me before I would one from some "chef" that works for a big business.

Anyway, the cookbook is more than a simple cookbook. The names of the contributors are usually printed by each recipe, so it helps to record a sliver of local history. Years from now someone will be paging through the cookbook and see "Old Mrs. Slaughtery's" famous burgundy beef brisket recipe. "I remember her! She used to give cookies to us when we played near her yard." You will discover that people who already own many cookbooks will still buy yours simply because of the history factor.

The Process

It's simple. You form a committee that decides who will be involved, when it should be done, and other logistical matters. They will contact a reputable cookbook publisher and start the actual process by gathering the recipes from all the folks. A good on-line cookbook publisher will have forms for gathering and entering the recipes.

After that is finished, the next step is to design the cookbook. Here you can become as intimately involved as you want, or leave much of it up to the publisher if you wish. Regardless which route you take, make sure that the publisher offers lots of choices and options, like covers, dividers, types of graphics and pictures, ink and font styles, and format and styles of cookbooks.

You'll be ready to order and start selling sooner than you think. They practically sell themselves. Street fairs, local businesses, and community gatherings are ideal places to sell. Some fundraisers will design posters before the cookbook is even published, and post them in stores with instructions on how to buy them ahead of time.

Depending on how you go about it, it is conceivable to raise thousands of dollars for your club or cause. But it won't happen unless you decide to do it. Contact a cookbook publisher that has been around for a long time and see what they can do for you.

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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.