We recently held a charity bake sale at my office so I thought a few quick tips would be helpful for you to use when planning your own. The holidays are fast approaching (is it really November already?!), making this a perfect time to fire up your ovens and help those less fortunate.
1) A little planning goes a loooong way! We ended up with 17 volunteers who brought about 2-4 dozen baked goods each. A sign up sheet definitely helped people commit to this effort. Brownies, cookies, crispy rice treats, cupcakes and "miscellaneous" rounded out the main categories for our volunteers to choose from.
2) Remind people the day before! Whether it be a phone tree or email chain, make sure you keep the sale on the forefront of people's minds! For the non-bakers, encourage them to stop by and support your cause with their wallets!
3) A sign or description of your charitable cause should be posted at the event. This helps people connect with your efforts in a positive way!
4) Keep your prices reasonable! We offered everything on our table for $1, which was easy for customers to part with, and even easier for the table volunteers to keep track of.
5) Skip the paper plates for set up - opt for baskets of various shapes and sizes to tuck your treats into. We opted for individually wrapped snacks, which made it much easier for customers to carry. Since it was Halloween, we also decorated the table with a bright orange tablecloth sprinkled with candy corn. (For Thanksgiving or Christmas, a white, cream or blue tablecloth dotted with cranberries would look stunning!)
6) Keep plenty of plates and napkins on hand in case folks want to stock up!
7) Have fun! If you're not having fun it'll come through and come on, who wants to buy delicious treats from a Grumposaurus Rex, right?
Have you hosted a bake sale recently? Send in your pictures and they'll be posted here!
