Grassroots Fundraising:
Cook Books

By having members of your group donate their recipes you stand a better chance of having a sales base on which to build. This also offers the opportunity to reflect the ethnicity or uniqueness of the local area and therefore increases the appeal to the local community so sales will be helped.

The book itself does not need to be a hard cover, glossy, picture filled epic. Design the book to those who you want to sell it to and what resources are available

Start modestly (10 pages, no pictures and stapled together) with a book that can be produced by somebody that owns a computer with a suitable program and printer and be prepared to do the computer side of the production. If the situation allows you can always progress to higher production levels. Better to go up than start high and come down.

Alternatively find a local printer or college or high school ( some colleges and schools have their own print clubs who need the experience) who can offer to print it for you at an acceptable cost. This way you might be able to include a picture or two and have a better cover.

The effort to collect recipes, collate, print, binding/stapling can time consuming and tiring, so a group of 3-4 to share the load may be desirable. On the up side this project can be a very sociable and enjoyable one especially if the people entrusted with this project enjoy cooking.

Always include the names of the donors in recognition of their participation and as a promotional tool.

Pay careful attention to the price. The higher the price the harder it is to sell. Also the asking price should be in relation to the finished product.

Holding a bake sale could really help promote sales.



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Doug Nash lives in Logan City in Queensland, Australia. He has graciously consented to share a fundraising idea with us every month. Although many of the ideas aren't new, each of them has a unique flair that comes from being developed and refined half a world away from ours.