Holding a cake sale for Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity is a great way of raising money and with our 'how to' guide it really is as easy as 1, 2, 3.
1. Location, location, location
2. Putting the fun into fundraising
3. Many hands make light work
4. Plan your way to success
5. Maximise your fundraising
6. Money, money, money
7. Keep it safe and legal
Now you’ve decided what you’re going to do, you need to decide where you’re going to sell your cakes.
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Why not:
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If you have friends, family or colleagues who enjoy baking perhaps you could persuade them to help out by making some of their favourite cakes for you to sell.
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As you plan for your cake sale think about everything you will need to plan, for example:
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It sounds obvious but while you know why you’re holding a cake sale your customers won’t.
If you tell them, they're likely to be more generous, after all it's no longer a snack they're buying but the chance to make a difference to the hospital.
Why not:
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Always aim to raise at least three times as much as you need to spend (for example if you spend £10 on ingredients you should aim to raise a minimum of £30 from sales).
If you hope to hold cake sales regularly at your school, church or in your workplace then you might want to think creatively about covering the costs in another way:
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a local supermarket might give you vouchers to cover the costs of ingredients
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your employer might make a contribution to support your fundraising
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friends and family might 'sponsor' each of the ingredients you need
On the day, don’t forget a float – think about how much you’re charging for each of the cakes and ensure you have the right coins for your customers’ change.
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Handling money
Make sure you have a secure system for handling donations, use a lockable box and ensure that you have two people together to count the money at the end of the day.
Licenses
If you're planning to sell cakes anywhere other than your school, work or at home, then you should always get the permission of the owner and the go-ahead from your local authority.
Food
As you are selling food you will need to comply with regulations applying to specific types of food. The Food Standards Agency (www.eatwell.gov.uk) provide lots of easy to understand guidance on what you need to do and when you need to do it.
Even if there is no legal requirement to label the food, it can be done voluntarily. We suggest that every cake you sell is clearly labelled with the ingredients, the date the cake was baked on and a suggestion to how long it can be stored for (if the recipe provides it).
Listing ingredients is particularly important for anyone with food allergies (especially for children or adults with nut allergies). Make sure this information is accurate; in some cases it really could be a matter of life or death.
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