What Is A Family Style Cookbook?

Our economy is in turmoil, but that doesn't mean that your favorite cause or organization needs to suffer from a lack of charitable giving. If you  tabita skin care offer a valuable product to potential contributors, you will find that they are still willing to give generously. One of the best fundraising ideas is the family style cookbook.

What Is A Family Style Cookbook?

It is a recipe book that consists of the finest recipes from the best cooks in your club or community, and is organized into a professional looking cookbook that rivals the quality and content of those found in a bookstore. Wouldn't you love to have all the recipes from the many "little old ladies" who have gained local fame due to their great cooking? It isn't just little old ladies who contribute, either. An organization to which I belong used cookbooks as a fundraising idea, and I (a 58 year old guy) contributed 2 recipes myself. OK'so they weren't the most popular recipes in the book'but that's beside the point! The point IS that the personalized cookbook - which will be sold to "local people" - will be created from recipes by "local people."

Why Is That Important?

Generally, the names of the contributors are printed with each recipe. The cookbook becomes a little bit of history that way. As the years pass and people page through the cookbook they will see the name of the lady who lived down the street so long ago. "Oh, remember the aroma of her great apple pies? That sure does bring back memories." As I mentioned in the first paragraph, people will still give to a good cause. It is human nature. We are simply wired that way. Compound that trait with the fact that they will be receiving a valuable cookbook, and you have a winning combination. A great personalized cookbook will allow you to coax those potential donors who are sitting on the fence to part with the funds for your charity or club.

How Is It Done?

Simple. Find a reputable on-line cookbook publisher who has been in business for a long time. Longevity is one of the best indicators of a good company. One cookbook publisher that I know of has been in business since 1947'doing the same thing today as they did over 50 years ago.

Next you form a committee that solves the various logistical problems such as who/when/where/how many, etc. After that you need to begin the process of gathering recipes from the people in your group and/or in the community. Have local businesses announce to their employees that they can provide recipes. Church groups can be asked to help out with more recipes. You can even go door-to-door and tell your neighbors that you need recipes. It is generally easier than you imagine. People are often willing to fork over their "secret" recipes for a good cause, especially when they find out that you can print their name next to it in the cookbook. Everyone wants his or her "15 minutes of fame," you know.

You're Not Done Yet.

Designing the cookbook can be all your choices, or you can go to the other extreme and pick from a template. Somewhere in between those options is where you will feel comfortable. Regardless, make sure that the cookbook publisher you are dealing with will have lots of options and choices. Important details are the cover design, types of graphics and pictures, whether there will be any dedication pages, ink, font and paper styles, and the overall format of the cookbook.

Once you have the cookbooks in hand you can sell them at fairs, sidewalk sales, church and school events, in local stores and to friends and relatives. Believe it or not, many of the cookbooks will be sold to the people who contributed recipes. You have a built in customer base before you even print them up! It's a wonderful thing.

Find that competent and reputable cookbook publisher and get started right away. Do it before someone else in your town does it first. Time is wasting.

------------------------------------------------------------------  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.