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Bake Sale
Bake sales have always been a reliable fundraiser for schools. A typical school bake sale is fairly easy to implement and, done on a single day, may generate an average profit anywhere from $400 to $900.
PLANNING A BAKE SALE
Your sale table should be set-up prior to the start of school so that parents dropping off baked goods will have a place to deliver them and can purchase breakfast items as they arrive to drop their children off for school. The sale table should be located in a place easily accessible to the parents as well as the children during snack and lunch breaks. We also recommend pairing a bake sale with another school event (i.e. voting day, school play, sports event) to guarantee an audience is present.
Bake sales primarily rely on the contribution of school parents. Cookies, cupcakes, and candies can be homemade or store-bought. Be sure to request that all bake sale items be individually wrapped for easy distribution. Local breakfast shops are usually very supportive of school fundraising efforts and willing to donate coffee, donuts, muffins, or bagels.
ALTERNATIVE FRUIT & VEGETABLE SALE
If your school hosts several bake sales throughout the school year, try turning one of them into a Fruit & Vegetable Sale. Instead of donating baked goods filled with sugar, parents donate fruits & veggies as a healthy alternative. Apples, oranges, pears, bananas, grapes, carrots, peppers, etc! Ask parents to wash all produce prior to bringing it in for sale.
ADVERTISE
A bake sale announcement and request for bake sale contributions should be distributed to all school children approximately two weeks prior to the sale. A reminder notice should always be sent home the day before the sale so parents are reminded to send the baked goods and to send money in with their children.
For more information on advertising, Sign up and receive immediate access to Fundraising: Success is in the Details, a Free online guide from PTO Ideas featuring 8 essential steps to creating successful fundraisers. Click here.
OFFER A VARIETY OF ITEMS - OFFER PEANUT-FREE ITEMS
With peanut allergies being so prevalent, every bake sale should have a peanut-free table or at least peanut-free items so that every child can participate. In addition to peanut-free baked goods and candies, this table can also have small non-food items for sale. These may include Matchbox cars, playing cards, notepads, colorful pencils, or any small trinket you can find and sell for under $1.00. OrientalTrading offers several inexpensive options.
See also Bake Sale Recipes
SETTING A SCHEDULE
Most schools already offer a bake sale once or twice a year and primarily during a larger school event (i.e. voting day, athletic event, etc.). But at the beginning of the school year, consider setting a monthly bake sale schedule. The biggest bake sale dates (this may be on voting day) are run by the school PTO and then each of the other months are run by a different grade. The grade that runs the bake sale that month keeps the profits for their own classroom supplies or you may opt to split the profits 50/50 between the grade that ran the bake sale and the PTO.
In doing this, parents of the grade running the sale would be primarily responsible for baking the goods and manning the table throughout the day. And don't forget to ask a few of the grades to have the fruit & vegetable sale!
SELL BOXES OF DONUTS
You may also want to try selling boxes of donuts in advance and have them available for pick-up on an election day. Those stopping by to vote can also pick up a cup of coffee and a dozen donuts to bring to the office.
- If a typical box (1 dozen) of donuts from a donut shop (ie. Dunkin' Donuts, Krispy Kreme) costs $5.00, these can be sold for $7.00 or $8.00 per dozen.
- An order form can be distributed to all school children two to three weeks prior, requesting orders be placed ahead of time and instructing buyers that these can be picked up between the hours of 7:00-10:00am at the school.
- All orders should be placed at least 1 week prior to the sale date so that ample notice can be given to the vendor.
- Have extra boxes available for sale on that day.
- Negotiate a lower price from the donut shop based on your volume or the vendor may be willing to donate several boxes to your event.
- A few parents would need to volunteer to pick up the goods and bring them to the school by 7:00am for the sale.
- Label each box ahead of time with the name of the person who placed the order.
PRICE TAG OR DONATION JAR?
Typically bake sale items are packaged and priced to sell at $0.25, $0.50, $075. Small sticker price tags are affixed to the items so the potential buyers can see what each item costs. This is usually the better way to go if the bake sale is primarily offered at a school, during school hours, and is primarily for the students. Package baked goods as single or double items and set an affordable price. By marking the items with the price, children (ages 5-18) are able to learn the value of money by comparing the price tag with the amount of money they have available to spend. Thus, teaching them a valuable lesson.
However, if your bake sale is offered at a school-sponsored event (yard sale, athletic event, school performance, etc.) where a large number of adults will be purchasing items, then a donation jar may turn out to be more profitable. Instead of purchasing 4 cookies for $0.25 each, an adult may be willing to drop a $5, $10, or even a $20 bill in the donation jar to support the fundraiser.
In the case where you anticipate adults being the primary buyers, consider packaging baked goods in larger quantities. Instead of selling single cookies and cakes, sell cookies in packages of 6, full pies, and a dozen donuts.
OFFER A RAFFLE
Selling raffle tickets is another way to make extra money toward your fundraising goal. There are several different types of raffles and the laws governing raffles vary state to state. See our Raffles page for more information. Prizes can be sponsored purchases and donated items (gift certificates, products, and services). Raffle sale winners should be pulled at the close of the bake sale.
THANK YOUR SPONSORS
Please remember to always send a thank you note to any company that contributes a donated item. It shows your appreciation and will help maintain a good working relationship with the vendor.
THINGS TO REMEMBER
Items you will need for your bake sale include:
- Tables and 2 or 3 chairs
- Small plastic sandwich bags or plastic wrap in case you need to individually wrap items
- Stickers to label items with prices and a pen
- "Bake Sale" signs for the table and to place outside of the school
- Cash box, cash and coins to make change
- Work schedule to distribute to volunteer salespeople
- Cream, sugar, and stirrers to accompany the coffee.
- Napkins
See also Bake Sale Recipes
SAMPLE ANNOUNCEMENT - Distribute 2-3 weeks prior to event
The School Name will be having an
Election Day Bake Sale
Tuesday, November 7th
at the ABC School
Street Address, City
7:00 am - 7:00 pm
Please support our fundraising efforts by attending our bake sale.
All proceeds to benefit the School Name.
Volunteers needed to sell, bake goods, and donate small trinkets for sale at our peanut-free table.
Please contact _________________ at ____-___________ with any questions.
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Please return this portion to the School Name.
_____ YES, I can bake and deliver it to the Bake Sale table on the morning of November 7th.
_____ YES, I can purchase some small toys/trinkets to sell at the peanut-free table.
_____ YES, I can help sell. Please indicate time:
7-9am, 9-11am, 11am-1pm,1pm-3pm,3pm-5pm, 5pm-7pm
Name:_______________________ Phone:_______ - ___________
Address:________________________________________________
All donations can be delivered to the bake sale table on the morning of November 7th.
SAMPLE ADVANCE DONUT ORDER FORM - Distribute 2-3 weeks prior to event
The School Name will be having an
Election Day Bake Sale
Tuesday, November 7th
7:00 am - 7:00 am
We will also be accepting advanced orders to purchase donuts by the dozen. Donut orders can be picked up at the bake sale table from 7:00am ? 10:00am.
Price is $6.00 per mixed dozen.
All proceeds to benefit the school.
Take a dozen or two to the office.
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Quantity: ____________dozen @ $6.00 each = _____________ Total
Please send cash or check (payable to the School Name PTO).
Name:____________________________ Phone:_______ - _______________
Address:_________________________ E-mail:________________________
Thank you for your support.
SAMPLE SALE SIGN
Election Day Bake Sale
Fundraiser
All proceeds to benefit the School Name
7:00 am - 7:00 pm
Thank you for your support.
SAMPLE REMINDER NOTICE - Distribute to parents the day before event.
The School Name will be having an
Election Day Bake Sale
Tuesday, November 7th
7:00 am - 7:00 pm
All proceeds to benefit the school
We hope you will stop by. Please remember to send in money with your children since they will have the opportunity to go to the bake sale during school hours. Items are priced between $0.25 - $1.00. Thank you for your support.
Parent Volunteers still needed
Please contact _________________ at ____-___________ to volunteer.
PTO Ideas has provided you with ideas for planning an event. This information should not be used as a legal reference and may not be all-inclusive. We suggest consulting with the head of your school or any other essential professional.
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