Tell members of your organization that you are planning to create a cookbook as a fundraising activity and that you need their help. Find between four and ten volunteers for the core cookbook committee.
Meet with committee members and plan your fundraising goals. Decide how much money this cookbook needs to bring in and how much money you can afford to spend on its creation.
Have each member research publishing possibilities, gaining price estimates for printing them yourselves at a place like Kinko's and price estimates for using different fundraising publishing companies such as Cookbook Publishers. Meet again and choose the publishing option that fits best with your goals and budget.
Decide when you need the cookbooks to be ready. Winter holidays provide a good selling opportunity, as do important functions in your organization.
Divide jobs among the cookbook committee members. One person should serve as chairperson, overseeing the entire project. The four major jobs are gathering and organizing recipes, designing the cookbook, selling advertising (if you choose to) and selling the cookbooks.
Give the cookbook committee clear deadlines and have meetings with the whole committee once a month to check in.
Decide the form in which recipes should be submitted. For the greatest number of recipe submissions, allow people to submit recipes in person, via postal mail or via email. Also allow them to submit recipes in legible handwriting instead of typewritten.
Create a template for recipe submissions so all recipes are structured the same. If you are using a publishing company, first find out whether they have a template you must use.
Contact members and friends to request recipes for your cookbook. If your organization sends out a regular newsletter, include the recipe request and template in the newsletter.
Announce a deadline so committee members know the last possible day they can accept recipes. Leave enough time to type, proofread and organize the recipes before your cookbook publishing date.
Type and proofread recipes. Have a few volunteers work on this task as recipes come in to make the job go quickly.
Proofread the recipes.
Organize the recipes into categories. Discuss the cookbook's categories with the cookbook design committee member.
Submit the organized recipes to the publisher or to the individual handling your printing, along with all other cookbook materials.
Choose a cover for your fundraising cookbook. A publishing company may have print-ready images for a cover. However, an original piece of artwork that conveys something personal about your organization will probably sell more books.
Determine how many dividers you want and what they should look like. You can use text-only dividers, or you can have artwork on the dividers, either provided by the company or provided by artists from your organization.
Decide how to lay out the recipes on the page. Look for ideas in cookbooks you find especially easy to use.
Select paper, ink color and binding style. Focus on utility first since this book will hopefully be used often.
Create introductory pages for your fundraising cookbook. A title page and introduction orients readers to your book, and you can add extras like a history of the organization, a poem or information about organization officers. Find someone within your organization to write these.
Submit the design specifications and other material to the publisher or to the individual handling your printing.
Decide on the type of advertising you would like to appear in your fundraising cookbook, if any. Think about both content and appearance. Also determine whether you want to create ads or whether businesses should provide you with camera-ready advertisements.
Set the advertising prices using the discussion about fundraising goals you had with the cookbook committee.
Announce to your members that you're selling advertising in the cookbook. They may have services and businesses they would like to advertise. Give them any guidelines you've established for ads.
Contact local businesses in person to see if they'd like to purchase advertising. Tell them about your organization and how many people the cookbook will reach.
Gather or create the ads and submit them to the publisher or printer with the rest of the cookbook material.
Compile all of the material and complete a final read-through. Make any necessary changes.
Send everything to the publishers or take it to the printers. If possible, have them print up a sample copy first to make sure everything looks good.
Put up flyers in the businesses that advertised with you and in any other businesses that attract the right clientele for your cookbook. Include the release date and the number of copies available for purchase.
Send a press release to the local papers about your fundraising cookbook, including information about both your organization and the cookbook. If the cookbook sales should help you meet a specific goal, include that goal in the press release.
Tell organization members when cookbooks are available and sell them at organization events and meetings.