Cookbook fundraising, also called a fundraising cookout is a widely-used method of fundraising especially in religious and charitable circles. A cookbook fundraiser is great not only because it is effective in raising funds, but more importantly because it gets everyone involved.

Members of the organization and volunteers can all contribute family recipes for compilation. The theme, book size, fonts, and other details are all decided on by the team and a designated editor. Some organizations put together a committee that is responsible for schedules, recipe organization and testing, and even cover design and layout. The groups must meet regularly to report the progress of the cookbook and guide each subcommittee through the stages.

For the cookbook to be completely professional, a prototype manuscript must first be printed. Everything is proofread and edited at least three times, and a final draft must be printed and circulated for peer and editorial evaluation. When the cookbook is ready, it must be forwarded to a printer that hopefully charges reasonable rates, and the copies are distributed to interested buyers. The proceeds from the sales of the cookbooks go into the fundraising pot.

All the members of the organization and all volunteers can sell the finished cookbooks, even those who were not involved in writing and compiling them. The cookbooks can be displayed within the organizations premises, or advertised in newspapers or through flyers.

You can also talk to local merchants (bookstore owners or even convenience store owners) they just might agree to prominently display the fundraising cookbooks in their stores for free.

You should also try advertising on the Internet, and you can even send out emails for forwarding to interested parties to complement your marketing plan. Many people find that the Internet is a useful marketing tool to sell the cookbooks and widen the buyer base.