How to Motivate Your Fundraising Cookbook Recipe Contributors
As with any group project, getting everyone to contribute can be a challenge, especially if they have not seen the end product beforehand.
Here are some tips to keep your CookbookFundraiser.com contributors motivated:
The more the merrier – Be sure to include everyone, not just the great cooks. Everyone likes to be asked to participate and the more you invite, the more recipes you’ll likely get. The best way to reach everyone is to upload a group membership list to the system which will reach out to everyone, on a frequency you choose, by text and email, to get them involved.
Set a reasonable deadline – Set the submission deadline on the “Project Information Editor” page, but don’t set it too far in the future. We all tend to put off whatever we can and contributing recipes is often one of those things. A month is usually enough time to give everyone to find the recipes they want to contribute and get them entered. Two things to remember: most of the recipes will come in just in time for the deadline and second, you can always extend the deadline if you want more recipes.
Send regular updates – Use the Reminder Tool to email some or all of your contributors on a regular basis. Remind them of the deadline and ask them to meet a specific goal, like “please add one or two recipes to each category”.
Target the biggest recipe boxes – Every group has a handful of people who are known for their cooking. Send a personal message to them using the remainder tool or reaching out by telephone, Facebook or with a personal visit. People are flattered when their skills are recognized. Let them know the cookbook would not be complete without their contributions.
Ask for specific recipes – Send a reminder to everyone asking for a specific recipe from your group’s past that will get everyone thinking of past gatherings. Include your memories of that dish or the person who created it. It might help remind everyone why putting together a group cookbook is important.
Use social media – As you add your own recipes to your group cookbook, it is easy to post them to Facebook or pin them to Pinterest. Sharing your recipes this way shows other group members that you are contributing and shows them they should as well.
Bill Rice is the Co-Publisher of Family Cookbook Project and CookbookFundraiser.com which helps individuals, churches, schools, teams and other fundraising groups create cherished personalized group cookbooks using peer-to-peer tools and the power of the Internet to meet group funding needs. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest!
