The hardest part was having to re-type everything but I suppose people could email them in and the recipes could be cut and pasted into a word processing program. These were family recipes. For instance - my mom submitted a recipe that was from my great grandmother from Italy for homemade manicotti (how to make the shells and all). We were amazed at how many people were willing to share their family's recipe secrets! The fundraising cookbook was not hard cover - it was really just a "soft cover", the "cover" being just a thicker paper than what was inside. We went to a photocopy place to make the copies and stapled the pages together. Source: Liz M.

Children's Cookbook Fundraising

Involve the whole school in writing a book of the children's favorite recipes.  This is a hilarious and profitable fundraising idea.  Ask each child in the school to tell you: 1) What they are going to cook; 2)   What ingredients they will need; 3) How do they make their recipe; 4) How do they cook their recipe; 5) Draw a picture of what they want to cook. Write the children's responses down exactly as they tell them to you.  Compile the recipes into a book and sell them to parents, friends, etc.  Sources: The Perpetual Preschool (Upland, California), ShelterFundraising

Alternate 1:  We are a small nursery school in New Jersey and we did a children's fundraising cookbook with the children's drawings and stories about their families as well as the families recipes. We sold out in 72 hours. This had never happened to us before. What made the cookbooks so successful was the fact that they were full of wonderful drawings and quotes from the children. No parent could resist them. We found a company on the internet that specializes in fundraising cookbooks. We submitted the recipes and scanned in the drawings ourselves. The book was done very quickly and printed in about three weeks. This was a very easy fundraiser and very successful. Submitted by Catherine K.

Click here to find some great commercial cookbook companies to help with your project!
 

We have included a number of do-it-yourself fundraising ideas in this section such as a Children's Cookbook that offer a break from traditional product sales.  They were developed by groups just like yours in an attempt have a little fun with their fundraiser. Some of them are tried and true while others show a lot of creativity ... and even wackiness in some cases.  All of them are obviously not appropriate for every group, but sometimes, with only a little modification, your might find some fund raising ideas that are perfect for your group. If you have an idea for a do-it-yourself fund raiser you are willing to share with others, please send it to us via email at . Include anything and everything you would want to know if you were hearing the idea for the first time.