How to Create a Fundraising Recipe Book

A cookbook is a great way to raise funds for a cause, a charity, or a community organization. It doesn’t just serve as a way to raise money – it can collect meaningful recipes together, creating a valuable compendium of knowledge that might otherwise go unrecognized.

However, if you want to make a cookbook that’s financially lucrative as well as nostalgic, you need to make sure it looks as good as the recipes within. Not just any old cookbook will sell. Any cookbook you’re using to raise money for a cause should be as appealing as if it was being sold in a bookstore.

4 Tips for Making a Cookbook that Sells

Here are some of the essential building blocks of any successful fundraiser cookbook, as well as some of the best ones we’ve seen come out of the Heritage Cookbook website.

1. Let us help you

One of the many ways that Heritage Cookbook supports fundraising efforts is by offering community organizations, non-profits, and individuals free premium memberships when they’re making a cookbook as a fundraiser. This helps to save money by letting you access premium fonts and designs for free Just fill out the fundraiser form and we’re happy to support you by fully waiving your membership fee.

2. Have a Clear Message

If you want people to buy your cookbook, it should have a clear message. You can choose whether the message focuses on the contents of the cookbook (ie, the origin of the recipes, or type of cuisine), or the fundraising goal.

One of our most successful fundraiser cookbooks is the Recipes That Rock Cookbook. It had many visually appealing photos of food on the cover, alongside a clear image of the fundraising organization’s logo. The way they designed the cover made it clear what type of recipes were featured, as well as the organization that would benefit from the buyer’s donation.

3. Personalized Design

Creating a visually appealing cookbook is key to attracting customers. However, the design of your fundraiser cookbook also needs to set it apart from the crowd. A great way to do that is by making the design personal. People in your community will be more likely to make a purchase if it’s clear from the design what they’re supporting.

If you’re doing a cookbook for a school or youth program, consider asking some of the young program participants if they can lend a hand with the artwork for the cover, like the designers of Palisades Cooks did for their preschool fundraising cookbook.

4. Take Advantage of Bulk Pricing

To funnel as much money as possible towards your fundraising goal, anyone making a cookbook should focus on lowering their overhead. When you design a cookbook with Heritage Cookbook, the easiest way to do that is through bulk ordering. The more books you order at any one time, the less you’ll have to pay per book.

You can get a sense of numbers by surveying your community before you start designing your cookbook, to see how many people would be interested in making a purchase. Every community has a different price point they are comfortable with, so play around with bindings, or ask us about our special fundraising binding that really maximizes profits!

Create a Meaningful Fundraiser Cookbook with Heritage Cookbook

The Heritage Cookbook platform makes it easy to design and print beautiful cookbooks that can be used to achieve any fundraising goal. Our simple tools and easy-to-use templates make collaboration a breeze. After you’ve finished your design, just choose one of our seven beautiful binding options, including the Silver Standard, a specific binding we developed for fundraising books that deliver quality at a reasonable price point.

Eager to get started? Learn more about how it works, then log on to start your fundraising cookbook today.