Want to add some zest to fundraising? Try a chili cook-off fundraiser.

Chili fundraisers bring out the best in two huge groups of people. First, there are the people that can not resist a great bowl of chili. You know them. They are the heroic ones who will eat darn near anything in their search for the best tasting chili. The second group is made up of the cooks, chefs and would-be chefs who all just know they have the best chili recipe on the planet.

Chili Cook-off Fundraiser Rules

You bring the two groups together and you can have yourself one great tasting, fun fundraiser. Here is some advice if you would like to try a chili cook-off fundraiser.

• Plan your fundraiser well in advance. You want to potential entrants to have plenty of time to sign up before you start publicizing your cook-off.

• Try to hold the chili fundraiser where there is plenty of room for both the cooks to have their chili sampled and for the people who want to walk around sampling the different recipes.

• Charge people to attend the chili cook-off fundraiser. People will pay up to $10 to support your organization. The entry price will most likely be based on the number of different entries you have. If people can sample hundreds of recipes they will pay more than if there are just 10 different chili chefs.

• To attract more recipes you might want to consider allocating a percentage of your gate or ticket sales as incentives to the winners of the best tasting chili.

• Have voting ballots placed strategically around your event if you are having to pay customers to vote for the best chili. Some chili fundraisers have designated judges but we find that allowing your financial supporters to vote gives them more ownership in your event and thus draws more attendees.

• Promoting chili fundraisers is critical. Put posters up all over town and ask local businesses to support your event.

Contact your local newspaper and tell them about the event. They may pick it up as a human interest story and give you some valuable publicity. So, if you want to have a fundraiser with a distinct taste, consider a chili fundraiser!