Think about time and location
Pick a high-traffic location and a busy time of day – a Saturday afternoon bake sale on bustling high street will obviously have more visitors than one hosted on a quiet Tuesday morning.
Recruit early
Ask your friends and family to help out, not just by providing items to sell but also by spreading the word and enlisting their more culinarily competent friends and family.
Make posters and flyers
As well as advertising your event on Facebook and Twitter, go the old fashioned route and stick up some posters too.
Package to sell
In the age of Instagram and Pinterest, presentation is everything. We’re not saying your bake sale needs to look like a photoshoot for a Sunday magazine but a little bit of decoration goes a really long way. Ask your volunteers to bring their cakes pre-packaged in pretty bags and boxes. It saves time, keeps things hygienic and makes your whole operation look more professional and appealing.
Establish your pricing system (or just forget it altogether...)
Make sure that all your cakes are clearly labelled. Settle on three or four price points (such as £1, £3, £5 and £10) and ask all your bakers to package their offerings based on those prices.
Alternatively, you could forget pricing altogether and instead ask your customers to donate what they think each cake is worth.
Think big!
No bake sale would be complete without a selection of the classics – the brownies, cupcakes and (everyone’s secret favourite) the cornflake cake - but why not encourage people to bring some bigger-ticket items too? A big cake or pie will add some variety to your table, is easier to package up and will sell for a lot more too. (Don't forget the Vegan options too")
Ask local businesses to participate
Ask around at bakeries and coffee shops in your local area to see if anyone would like to donate some stock. It’s always best to have too much rather than too little.
Ask for matching funds
If there are people or companies in your community who can afford it, ask them if they’ll match the funds you raise. Publicise your total once the bake sale is over!
Donate your leftovers
We’re sure you’ll have an empty table with very little to pack up at the end the day - but just in case you have a few bits left over, make sure you’ve researched beforehand to find a local donation centre where you can drop off any remaining treats.
Finally, add your offline donations to your JustGiving page
With a traditional bake sale, the chances are you’ll have received most of your money offline rather than via your Fundraising page. Once the sale is over you’ll need to add those offline donations to your page so that everyone can see how much you managed to raise. Remember to share your page once you’ve done this to thank everyone for their support and possibly gain some final, last-minute donations!