How to Publish a Local Cookbook
Help Your Organization Make Money with this Fundraising Idea
Cookbooks are a great resource to use for fundraisers. Many organizations have used them to support their funding. Here's how you do it.
Cookbooks are a longtime favorite for raising money for groups, clubs, schools, or individuals. And while they are not an effortless project, they do not have to be an overwhelming undertaking either. Here are instructions on how to publish a cookbook for your next fundraiser!
You can include interesting, informative, or even just plain fun pages into your fundraising cookbook as well, to give it a unique aspect that others may not offer. Some suggestions are:
- Historical information about your group
- Funny poems
- Facts and trivia
- Artwork
Before we had the Internet, creating a cookbook from scratch would have been a time consuming and daunting task. However, in this modern age most of the information is right at your fingertips. You just have to find it and put it all together. There are even places that will do the publishing for you at reasonable costs.
Places such as Cookbook Fundraiser will guide you step-by-step on exactly how to go about creating your own fundraising cookbook. If you prefer to go it alone, the following is an easy guideline to keep in mind as you get started.
Finding Recipes
Most people who are part of an organization will be thrilled to give you their best recipes to be included in a cookbook. It is actually quite an honor to be published in this way. Simply send out a newsletter, flier, or letter to members of your organization asking that they send in recipes by a given date. If you can provide them with a basic outline of how the recipes should look, that would be a big help to you, as you go about organizing the recipes into categories.
Easy to Use Format for Recipes
There are free to download cookbook templates available from Microsoft Word or Publisher (if you have the program installed) that will make the process of putting your cookbook together much easier. Or, if you do not have Microsoft, you can also find reasonably priced software at The Cookbook People, and other places on the Internet.
Publishing a Cookbook
The next step in your Fundraising Cookbook endeavor is to find someone who will publish your cookbook for you. Of course, you want to make a profit, so you will definitely have to do some research about the places to take your cookbook for publishing. Some suggestions include:
There are many other organizations who have dedicated quite a bit of time and effort into helping people such as you to get their fundraising cookbook published and distributed.
Fundcraft even offers a section where you can download everything needed for creating your cookbook, for example:
- Cookbook Sales Organizer
- Section Divider Layout Sheet
- Short/Cut Recipe Typing Program
- Advertising Sales Instruction Booklet
If you choose either to print the cookbook yourself or to create an eBook instead of a paper cookbook, there are still many options available to you. Places like the following can provide you with ideas, links, and excellent information about how, where, when, and even why a fundraising cookbook is a great way to earn money for your group or event.:
- Faith Clipart
- Heritage Cookbook
- Fundraising Know How
- Do-It-Yourself Fundraisers
Happy fun-draising!
