A Personalized Family Cookbook - A Great Fundraiser For Organizations And Charities

Each year there are a number of good reasons to conduct a fundraising activity. It could be for a school group, the PTA, a church or civic organization, or event to raise money for a charity. Regardless, the idea behind a fundraiser is to raise funds. Let's be honest. You want to raise as much money as you can, right? And it would be even better if the fundraising activity didn't require a tremendous amount of work.

What Can You Do?

Some of the options are well known. You could opt to sell overpriced candy or popcorn. How about those large discount books? Some groups have even sold fancy scented candles. The problem with those is that "the kids" involved are the ones that must go door to door to sell the items. The kids? Well, I suppose they do a certain amount of the work, but those of you who have dealt with those kids of fundraisers realize that you end up making the rounds at your workplace, or hitting up your relatives. I have seen high school students holding a car wash in the parking lot of a business. I suppose that's not a bad idea, but it requires lots of time and effort for a minimal return.

Then you have your dunk-tanks at the local street fair, or concession stands where you sell hot dogs. Some organizations have pancake or chili feeds. Again, each one of those projects requires lots of time and labor. It would be great if there were a fundraising idea that was clean, easy, didn't take lots of time of a great number of people, and was profitable.

The Answer

You didn't think I would mention all the drawbacks to the above-mentioned ideas without having a good alternative, did you? Of course not! That is the whole point to this treatise. I suggest creating a family style cookbook. Personalized cookbooks have been helping organizations raise money for decades. One particular cookbook publisher has been doing it since 1947. Obviously, fundraising with cookbooks must be a successful endeavor or they wouldn't still be in business after all this time.

Why Do They Work So Well?

I don't have the statistics or scientific data to back up this theory, but I believe it is because they are truly unique. Candy bars and popcorn are the same across the country, but a cookbook that is filled with all the "secret" recipes from the best cooks in your community or club will be a real one-of-a-kind item. Imagine having access to Aunt Lillie's famous apple pie recipe, or the popular beef stew recipe that the local diner has been serving for years.

Lasting Value

Unlike a car wash or bag of popcorn, a cookbook will last for generations. My younger sister has all of our grandmother's cookbooks, many of which have notes and memos she had written on the pages. They have become family heirlooms. It is fun to go through the cookbooks and read what she has written in them so many years ago.

Are there too many cookbooks out there already? I don't believe that is the case. First, people are naturally generous. They will part with their hard earned money for a good cause, even if they get nothing of value in return. If you add a wonderful family cookbook to the mix, they will be even more anxious to hand over the money. People are generous, but they aren't stupid. They will look for good deals even in a fundraiser.

Get Started

Find a reputable on-line cookbook publisher. They should offer a myriad of options, to include covers and dividers, paper style, and format. Ideally you will want a publisher that offers a guarantee. Yes…I said a guarantee. Very few publishers are confident enough with their product to offer such a rare feature. If you find one that does, I recommend using them. It just makes sense. Also, a good publisher will have on-line tools to help you design and create your cookbook. Poke around the internet until you find just the right publisher and then get started with a successful fundraiser.

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Andy Barber writes for Cookbook Publishers, which is a company that has been printing fundraising cookbooks since 1947. When he isn't writing or enjoying his family on his 6 acre farm in eastern Kansas, he is riding his Harley Davidson motorcycle across the US to visit friends and see the country.