School Fundraising Made Easy

School Fundraising Made Easy

(ARA) - Fall is the season when leaves start to change and kids go back to school. We also see fundraisers surface for educational, athletic and arts programs that need financial support. Bake sales used to be the typical fundraiser. The popularity of them is easy to understand; helping out and sharing food build a sense of pride and unity. However, bake sales take a lot of effort and generate relatively small profits.

An easy and profitable bake sale alternative is the community cookbook. Continuing the tradition of sharing food, cookbooks let you share and trade your favorite recipes. "Taste can produce such wonderful memories," says Mary Ulmer of Spring Lake Presbytery Women in Sebring, Fla. Good food creates fond memories and carries nostalgic personal connections. Sharing recipes among family and friends feels good.

Groups of all kinds create fundraising cookbooks, including marching bands, math clubs and sports teams who make it to the finals. Theater troupes, choirs and history classes going on trips abroad also need to raise money. A cookbook fundraiser is a sure sell.

Along with the knowledge that the funds support local school programs, cherished recipes in a professionally printed cookbook make having a copy irresistible. "Everyone likes to see their name in print," remarks James Reid of Drummonds Elementary PTO in Munford, Tenn., "and they make great gifts." Seeing the family name published thrills people of all ages.

How it Works

Go to Fundcraft.com to sign up for their free kit on how to create a fundraiser cookbook. The kit includes samples of covers, dividers, bindings and a step-by-step catalog. Once you register online, you receive your own recipe Web site. Then, students and parents can go to the Web site to enter recipes.

Give the cookbook a theme. For example, a foreign language class can create a bilingual cookbook including English and translated recipes. This gives the cookbook a cultural theme. Susanne Guthrie, cookbook chairperson of Southside School in Hollister, Calif., comments, "I get tons of compliments on the look we created. Many bought the book because of the cover."

Personalize your cookbook by adding artwork, notes and photos. Include team titles, statistics, accolades, performance dates and histories. A custom look with a nostalgic mention is sure to attract the local alumni.

Pointers for Better Profits

Here are a few ways to make even more money with your cookbooks:

* Set a goal. Know how much money you want to raise and set the price of your books accordingly. It will establish how many books you need to order.

* Publicly display your progress. Put the group's purpose and progress chart on public display in a high traffic area to help drive sales and support.

* Sell advertising. Get the local grocery stores and restaurants to run ads in the cookbook. Ask your advertisers to submit a recipe to run on the page facing their ad to show personal involvement and support. The fees will cover your start-up costs.

* Start selling before you get the books. Advance sale coupons and gift certificates (included in the marketing kit) allow selling cookbooks before your shipment arrives and when your supply runs out. Since the second cookbook order is discounted, you'll make even more money on the reorder.

* If you want or need extra recipes to enhance your cookbook, select one from Fundcraft's sister Web site, Cookbooks.com. Choose from over one million free recipes.

The Bottom Line

A 150-recipe cookbook at $2.55 per book, in an order of 300 books, will cost $765. If you sell the books for $15 a piece, you'll make over $3,500. With overrun books to cover shipping costs and advertising sales to cover the start-up costs, your cookbook sale is 100 percent profit. You'll make $4,500.

Fundcraft Publishing is the largest and most respected cookbook publisher that provides a guaranteed cookbook program designed to guide any group, step-by-step, in creating their very own cookbook.

Get started on your fundraiser and sign up for your free marketing kit at www.fundcraft.com or call (800) 853-1364, ext.206.

Courtesy of ARAcontent