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Home » Writer's Blogs » Healthy-Promotion Healthy Promotion - Magnetic Promotional Products Robert Barber (67) Robert Barber http://www.cookbookpublishers.com/ How Your Organization Can Hold A Good Fundraiser - Make A Personalized Recipe Book Posted Monday, November 23, 2009 (13 hours 46 minutes ago.) Viewed 2 times. Do you have an organization or group that needs a good fundraising idea? Boy/Girl Scouts, church groups, school bands or sports teams, motorcycle clubs, or anyone who wants a good fundraising idea can benefit from making and selling a family style cookbook. Just What Is A Family Style Cookbook? Personalized recipe books are professional looking cookbooks that are filled with the best recipes from the finest cooks in your club or community. You gather the recipes from everyone you know and insert them into a well-organized cookbook. The cookbooks can then be sold at fairs, school or church functions, in businesses, on-line, and even door-to-door if you choose. Why Are They So Successful? Imagine owning a cookbook with all those wonderful recipes. You knowthe ones from all the little old ladies in town. The recipes that have gained local fame over the years. Of course they won't all be from little old ladies. I'm a 58 year old guy who retired from law enforcement, and I contributed 2 recipes for a personalized cookbook done by our local Grange. It was a resounding successeven with my recipes included. So, when the cookbooks are finally printed and available, everyone that contributed recipes will buy one. You have a built in customer base before you even start the process! The rest of the citizens in your area will be interested in buying one, too. Humans are a very generous species, and they will gladly help out a charity or good cause. But if you offer to them a professional looking cookbook that is unique and special, they are generally more anxious than ever to part with their hard earned cash. What Is The Process? It isn't difficult. It isn't rocket science. It doesn't take lots of labor, either. A committee that you form will discuss the logistics like who/what/when/where, etc. The next step is to gather the recipes. You will be amazed at how willing people are to give up their "secret" recipe when they know it is for a good cause. When enough recipes are collected, you must design the cookbook. By this time you should have already chosen an on-line cookbook publisher that has the on-line tools and options that let you design it. Of course they will help you avoid pitfalls and mistakes, but they should let you make most of the decisions if you wish. Selling The Cookbooks. This fundraising idea almost sells itself, as mentioned above. Additional avenues for selling them might be local businesses. Many times they will let you put up posters with details on advanced sales, and will let you sell them in the store when they are finally printed. My wife kept a half dozen of our Grange cookbooks in her car and sold them to friends/co-workers when she was visiting/working. Bottom Line. Find that perfect cookbook publisher. It should be one that has been in business for a while. One that I know of has been publishing cookbooks for fundraisers since 1947. That's a pretty good track record. Then get started on raising those funds. Permalink         Comments (0) Besides Making Money - Fundraising Personalized Cookbooks Make Fond Memories Posted Monday, November 23, 2009 (13 hours 52 minutes ago.) Viewed 2 times. How many different fundraising ideas have you seen or been involved in? Dozens, most likely. One fundraising idea that seems to consistently out perform most of the others is the personalized family cookbook. Unlike car washes in the parking lot, or door-to-door popcorn sales, the family style recipe book has been around for generations. Literally. One company of which I am aware has been publishing cookbooks for fundraisers since 1947, and is currently run by the founder's son. Fundraising Is Great. What a noble gesture it is to raise money for a charity or to keep your organization's books in the black. Human beings are naturally generous. No other species on the planet is as giving as we are. That is why charities and fundraisers are so successful. To expound on that human trait, one can offer a valuable product or service in return for their charitable donation. A personalized cookbook is something that is not only valuable, but it is long lasting. In fact, they can often time end up being a way to document some local history. How? The recipes in the cookbook are gathered from all the people in your organization or community and organized into a very professional looking cookbook. All the locally famous cooks will have contributed, of course. Decades from now, as someone is looking through it to find a great recipe for dinner, they will run across the name of the "little old lady" who lived down the street from them when they were a child. "I remember Mrs. Atkins! She used to bake cookies for us when we played near her yard. Those were wonderful days." My sister inherited all of our grandmother's cookbooksand she had many of them. As she pages through them she runs across notes that Grandma wrote in them. We had no idea that she had written in them, but it was like going back in time and hearing her tell stories to us again. These personalized cookbooks will end up recording bits of history and become a mechanism for triggering fond old memories, too. Back To Reality. Sorry for that trip down memory lane. Anyway, the process of creating a fundraising cookbook is relatively simple if you are dealing with a good cookbook publisher. That is the key to your success. A reputable publisher will have all the steps outlined and detailed for you. Depending upon your desires, you can be intimately involved in the design, or you can have the publisher make recommendations for you. They will also help you with ideas for selling and marketing your cookbook. You can even opt to sell advertising in it to bolster your fundraising efforts. Regardless of your decisions, make sure you choose a good publisher. Pick one that has been in business a long time and you won't be disappointed. Permalink         Comments (0) Personalized Custom Cookbooks - A Popular And Successful Fundraiser For Decades Posted Monday, November 23, 2009 (14 hours 16 minutes ago.) Viewed 2 times. When you think of fundraising ideas, many of you imagine going door-to-door selling magazine subscriptions, over priced candy or popcorn, or perhaps holding chili or pancake feeds. Though the organizers' intents are honorable, their efforts could be more productive if they were to utilize a fundraising product that yields a good ROImore commonly known as Return On Investment. Explain? ROI is the return you realize for the time/money that you sink into a project. Some fundraising activities require hours and hours of work from lots of people. Others, such as door to door sales, require not only thatbut often times the children are sent out to do the work. I am retired from police work, and I wouldn't send my children to go door to door. It is simply too dangerous in this day and age. Well, my oldest son is 29 years old, so I think he'd be OK, but if I had younger children I wouldn't allow them to engage in that risky behavior. But that's just me. Anyway One fundraising idea that doesn't require tremendous amounts of labor or danger is the family style cookbook. Personalized custom cookbooks have been a popular and successful fundraiser for decades. Some cookbook publishers have been in business since 1947. Do a Google search to find out for yourself. Any business that has been doing the same thing for over 60 years must be doing something right. Why Are They So Popular? Imagine owning a cookbook that is filled with the finest recipes from the best cooks in your organization or community. Everyone knows of some "little old lady" who has a famous recipe. A cookbook jam packed with dozens and dozens of them would be a truly valuable item. Selling Them. First, most everyone in your group will buy one. You have a built in customer base already, and you haven't even begun the process! Second, people are generous. They willingly give money for a good cause or charity, but imagine how easy it will be to get them to do that if you offer a fantastic cookbook to them in return. People are generous, but they aren't stupid. They can recognize a good deal when they see one. Many groups have pre-sold their cookbooks. Willing local businesses allow them to put up posters with details about the cookbook, to include how to order one ahead of time. Those same businesses may also sell the final product for you after they are printed. You can sell them at church and school functions, at street fairs, the county fair, craft sales and flea markets. The possibilities are endless. How Do I Make One? Find an on-line cookbook publisher that has been around for a while. Pick one that has on-line tools and options, and one that will allow you to design the cookbook. You should have control over the format, type of graphics and pictures, the paper stock, the organization, and whether you want to have dedication and/or advertising pages. They should provide a step-by-step process and be willing to help you make the right decisions. If you can find one like that, take the ball and run. You won't be disappointed. Permalink         Comments (0) The Personalized Family Cookbook Has Been A Fundraising Staple For Decades Posted Monday, November 23, 2009 (14 hours 23 minutes ago.) Viewed 2 times. Have you eaten lately? Most likely, you have. If you dined at home, what did you eat? Was it a dish that you prepared, or was it a frozen dinner from the Schwan man? Assuming it was something made in your own kitchen, you probably had a recipewhether done from memory or from a cookbook. What Am I Getting At? Just getting your attention, I guess. My point really isn't about food as much as it is about something almost as important as the care and feeding of one's self and family. It is about fundraising ideas. OK. Now I UnderstandSort Of. Sometimes people will conduct a fundraiser and sell candy or popcorn door-to-door. Others will hold a car wash in the parking lot of a local business. Still others will have an auction where they sell donated items by individuals and businesses. The problem is that generally, the items sold are either consumable and disappear soon (car wash, bag of popcorn,) or are of little value (auctioning big foam hats with a sports team logo, or a certificate for a free tan at a spa.) What Is A Better Fundraising Idea? I mentioned food at the beginning of this article, so let me continue with that idea. Cookbooks! Yesthe personalized family cookbook has been a fundraising staple for decades. Generations, actually. One particular cookbook publisher has been in business since 1947 and is being run by the founder's son. Any industry that has been around that long is obviously a sound and stable one. What Is The Family Recipe Book? Once you select a reputable on-line cookbook publisher, you form a committee that deals with logistics. Then you begin collecting recipes from the people in your organization and community. When you have a proper number of recipes collected, you design the cookbook using the tools and options that the publisher offers. They print the cookbook and you sell them. Ta dah! It Is More Complex Than That but you get the basic idea. The reason that family cookbooks are so popular is because they are totally unique. There isn't another cookbook like it anywhere. Human beings are a generous species, and they are willing to give to a good cause. But it you offer a valuable product, like a personalized cookbook, they are going to be more anxious to part with their money. The Benefits? Obviously you will raise more money for your cause or charity. Additionally, your organization will gain welcome recognition, which will help with other things like membership drives. It is a win/win situation. Make sure that the publisher you select has the on-line tools you need, and allows you to design the cookbook the way you want. No doubt they will guide you away from potential problems and mistakes, but if they require that you use a template, then I'd look for someone else. Contact a good cookbook publisher and get started. Permalink         Comments (0)

Archives: November 2009 M T W T F S S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30           « Oct     Previous Posts: How Your Organization Can Hold A Good Fundraiser - Make A Personalized Recipe Book Besides Making Money - Fundraising Personalized Cookbooks Make Fond Memories Personalized Custom Cookbooks - A Popular And Successful Fundraiser For Decades The Personalized Family Cookbook Has Been A Fundraising Staple For Decades A Family Style Cookbook Can Help Your Organization Raise Funds Fundraising Cookbooks Are A Great Idea! Your Organization Can Raise Money With A Personalized Family Cookbook What Is A Family Style Cookbook? A Successful Fundraiser! All Posts by Robert Barber Related Posts: Long Island Realtor and the Ronald McDonald House Two Little Words a Non-Profit Loves to Say: "Thank you!" Fundraising is Going Green Scenario Planning - A Tool For Managing the Future In Uncertain Times Bill HR 571 Dos and Don'ts in Writing a Grant Proposal Get your Raffle Car or Bike Picture Above the Fold Using Youtube.com to Promote Your Charity Organization Raffle

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