DD2 has four little loaves of pumpkin bread, two on each plate, and two large portions of the Chex Puppy Chow.. The pumpkin bread was very low cost to make since I used up ingredients. Puppy chow can get a bit spendy, but she used store brand rice chex, chocolate chips, peanut butter, and powdered sugar. I guess the batch probably was $6 to make. These will sell fast; puppy chow always does. I bet the bread will go fast as well.
I love baked sales as fund raisers. There is usually a variety of selection. The items are made with the end goal in mind, fund raising for a cause, so people tend to turn out their best stuff. OK, sometimes a dud like the over baked lemon bars I brought home last year, but usually all items are good. The people making things have leeway over their expense by making something with low cost items if they choose. For the teens and older kids, it puts them in control of making, packaging, displaying, and selling the items. There will be another bake sale at spring conferences. Proceeds are used for some of the upfront expenses for the Gillette Walk-A-Thon, the big fundraiser NHS in our town does for the children's hospital. Some proceeds go to other charitable and volunteer projects as prioritized by the students at the beginning of the year.
If there are lemon bars this year, I may have t give them another try. What's your thoughts on bake sales? Do you like the folksiness of them? In the scheme of fund raisers, yay or nay?
I am lukewarm about bake sales. I have been to/ a part of some that were run really well and some that were a bit lesser than exceptional. The best ones I have been to have single serving items at a jacked up price. I don't want to buy an entire cake, but give me the option of a five buck slice of really good cake and I am in. The worst ones are where someone goes to the grocery store and buys cookies, puts then in a sandwich bag and tries to pawn them off as their own.
ReplyDeleteI like the plates of things-like this one, but would like the sinlge serve as well. I guess I like when the kids have to actually do some work. Repackaged-no, not a fan.
DeleteI guess it depends upon your 'clientele.' Out church has a big Octoberfest with a popular cakewalk- remember those? Last year I baked 3 cakes from scratch for it. I love to bake though so it was my pleasure. We also have a bake table with mainly cookies, brownies and cupcakes. Rice Krispie treats are always popular too. No rules here about selling home baked goods- isn't that buyer beware LOL?
DeleteNan-I remember the cake walk type things. Our hospital auxillary still does a little carnival and it includes the cake walk and it is very popular.
DeleteI think they used to be great--when I was younger I loved them...great homemade goods at a fraction of the bakery cost. Now, I think they are ridiculous. Like you, our district doesn't allow the sale of food without a permit, so they are run with "suggested donation."
ReplyDeleteI think the prices are outrageous. I know just how much it costs to make a batch of cookies, and isn't the cost of baking a donation as well on behalf of the group member? Don't suggest that cookie is worth $3.00. Moreover, like Anne, a lot of people here buy things at the supermarket, and package them to resell. If they were selling awesome treats at a great price, say, a homemade brownie for $0.50, I would probably buy one, and so would most people. But I won't spend $3.00.
I think I am really fatigued over all the fundraising anyway, and I typically ignore it. I pay property taxes, and I support my own kids and their activities, without asking for help from anybody else. I have no desire to support anyone else's kids, and resent being hit up every time I step foot in the school.
The beauty of fundraisers is no one has to buy a thing if not so inclined. These were plates of cookies or in my case 1/2 recipe of puppy chow per bag or two mini loaves of bread, not single items.I get the fatigue part which I why I don't have her sell other things, except let people know when the flower sale happens because people wait to order their holiday floral intentionally for these sales. I don't market though nor allow her to. This is an NHS sale though for their charitable/service work costs, so not for individual kids.
DeleteI like the idea of bake sales. Rebecca's AHG troop had one a few weeks ago. We were very strict on that it had to be homemade items and not repackaged store bought items. We also gave clear instructions that they were to be individually wrapped up. In my case, I told Rebecca that if she wanted to participate she had to make the cookies and she did. We always do "by donation only" with no minimum. No one has ever taken advantage of the girls. This year they made over $500 in one afternoon.
ReplyDeleteAs a parent, I would much rather be a part of a one time fundraiser activity, than have to go out and sell overpriced wrapping paper or candles, etc. That is just my opinion.
I guess people contribute how they can, but as Nana said above, buyer beware-you may like, or not. I love that she made all the cookies herself.
DeleteI did not enjoy fund raisers when my kids had them. I usually just made a donation straight to the school. But I do buy from the neighbor kids.I can't believe people would buy from the store and repackage. But then I have been to cookie exchanges where the cookies were store bought. I mean really?
ReplyDeleteThey selling and buying of overpriced tat, no thank you. I'm also tired of the coupon cards and such. Bake sales just seem so hometown and community-maybe that is part of the appeal to me.
DeleteI like bake sales. I'm typically a purchaser, not a provider, though. It may be because there are strictish regulations around selling food here, but I rarely see them. I can only think of one time/year that we've had them.
ReplyDeleteThis is the kids responsibility, so I a both I guess this year. We had to stop selling homemade bars at our show choir competition becasue of regulations, and they made so much money. They were huge bars, families amde a pan and cut into 12, and sold at $1 a piece. We made nearly $2,000 from the bars alone.
DeleteWhen my son was younger his rugby club hosted the local rugby tournament and old Pappy at the bar ran out of stuff to sell, so the following year I made individual items pretty much every week for months in advance (had to store them in my neighbour's freezer) and took them all up to Pappy the next time they hosted the tournament. I love to bake and was happy to donate my time and the cost for the club. They went like wildfire because I made different things to what the French would make. Actually it was our own team that bought most of them but .... oh well. I'm more than happy to provide but like the others have said, it sells better if individually portioned. I actually had one lady run up to me at the market afterwards and asked when I would be back to "sell my wares". Now there's a thought for when I retire (or not)!
ReplyDeleteYour items hit that soft spot in people's hearts! I remember growing up and a lady at our church made the best pies ever-people would practically lined up to buy slices of her pie at the bake sales. She has since passed away. You could have a pop up shop!
DeleteI appreciate the need for fundraisers as many programs simply do not have enogh mone. My personal favorites are things that are actually needs (like here a school has a mattress sale and if people need one they wait until then to buy) or social events like dinners and silent auctions but those generally are more school wide things. I love baked goods so obviously I love a baked sale, but I agree that the in order get me to buy something I would personally prefer a single really good brownie and am never going to buy a whole cake or pie because either it would go bad before it was eaten or we would be eating stuff were not supposed to have, lol.
ReplyDeleteThere is that risk of eating too much yummy stuff! I'd rather buy at a bake sale than many other fund raisers, and it is true, not all orgs have enough to stay afloat but are very worthy and important in communities. Its always an individual choice to buy or not.
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