Vegan Bake Sale Coming Up??
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Vegan cupcakes: photo by Judith Lautner
Spurred on by Post Punk Kitchen’s call for vegan bake sales for Haiti, groups around the country are having bake sales. Some are more successful than others. There are a few things you can do to help make yours one of the more successful ones:
* Get help in organizing it. It helps if more than one person is involved in the details. You can’t just grab a table, hope members will bring baked goods, and set up somewhere. You need some sort of PLAN.
* Get permission. Choose appropriate locations – where there is a lot of foot traffic – and get permission to use space in one of those areas.
* Secure table(s) and chairs.
* Make it pretty. Use table cloths or attractive fabric, attractive plates and bowls. Corral printed materials in plastic holders or baskets. Make nice printed signs and be sure you have a good way to display them. Try vertical displays – plates on top of upside-down bowls, for example, or cupcake towers.
* Request that contributors package their goodies in plastic bags or plastic wrap in portions people are likely to buy (1, 3, 6, a dozen)
* Announce the sale wherever you can. Craigslist, your website, Facebook, Twitter. If there is time you might print up flyers and pin them on bulletin boards around the community.
* Make it easy for people to contribute baked goods. Offer to pick them up (or spread the wealth among the organizing group) or let people drop off goodies a day ahead of time. It’s good to have a nice-sized stash when you first start out the day.
* Materials: provide printed information on your group (including business cards), on vegan foods, on the charity you are supporting.
* Provide a nice big clear donation jar so that people can drop money in even if they don’t buy anything.
* Have available (probably under the table) marking pens, cards, tape. You never know when you will have to write a sign or mark a cake.
* Tell people “suggested” donations for the goodies but emphasize they can pay what they want. Chances are they will pay more, especially when the charity is one they can feel good about.
* Be friendly and outgoing at the table. Draw people in with smiles and friendly solicitations.
These ideas were culled from various sources, including PPK’s post on putting together a sale fast and suggestions from members of different groups who have held these sales.
I like these ideas. Thanks for sharing them
But remember that you don’t have to do everything perfectly to do it well. You could have a successful bake sale and not do half the things on the list above. It’s more important to just get out there and do something!
I agree. I also think that no matter how much you do you are going to learn things, like maybe you should have gone at a different hour or made bar cookies instead of cupcakes…but just doing it is enough.