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How to Hold a Bake Sale

How to Hold a Bake Sale

Bake Sale Success

Some of the great success tips shared by bake-sale veterans are: 

• Organize and promote.
• Take advance customer orders.
• Post a sign with the name of the organization or how the proceeds will be used.
• Include a thank-you note with purchases.
• Most importantly, make bake sale items irresistible!

Make Bake Sale Items Irresistible

• Offer small samples for tasting, as well as small cups of water and coffee.  Customers will stick around longer!
• Bake and sell an item such as Applesauce Doughnuts, Caramel Rolls or Blueberry Muffins while the sale is in progress.
• Rather than offering a plate of plain cupcakes, dress them up.  Who could resist Star-Studded Celebration Cupcakes, Goin' Fishin' Cupcakes or Tie-Dyed Cupcakes?
• Dress up cookies.  Dip half of each plain cookie into melted white, milk or dark chocolate, or drizzle with melted chocolate.   Frost and decorate these cookies for the season, the occasion or just for fun
• Funny Feet, Hands and Faces Cookies
• Holiday Cutouts
• Jolly Santa Cookies
• Jolly Snowman Cookies
• Shortbread Hearts
• Stand these decorated cookies-on-a-stick in decorated cans or cups, or wrap in cellophane and tie with ribbons.
• Bear Cookie Pops
• Lollipop Cookies
• Christmas Cookie Pops
• Reindeer Ginger Pops
• Bake Betty Crocker® quick bread mixes in regular-size or mini loaf pans.  Frost, then decorate with Fruit by the Foot® fruit snack to look like ribbon on a gift package.
• Make Betty Crocker® brownie mix in a pan with a different shape, like a springform pan!  
• Package your favorite snack and popcorn mix in various sizes of containers.
• Peppy Chex® Party Mix
• Chex® Caramel Corn
• Fiber One Graham® Snack Mix
• Sweet and Crunchy Snack Mix
• Critter Crunch

Raffle Special Items

• Sell chances before and during the event.  Or auction off an item; the highest bidder wins! 
• Chocolate Ganache Cake
• Hat Cake
• Inchworm Cake
• Fresh Blueberry Pie
• How about a Haunted Gingerbread Village for Halloween or a Gingerbread Village during the holidays?  Decorate a wreath with charming Gingerbread Birdhouse Cookies for a bake sale with a garden or nature theme.
• Create a Candy Cane Planter.  Ask a local florist to donate a plant.

Spice Up Bake Sales with Variety

• Be sure to include everything from decadent chocolate treats to items for special diets.
• Offer a variety of sizes, single servings to large cakes and pies.   Sell cookies and bars by the “eaches” and cookie pizza by the slice!
• Chocolate Cookie Pizza
• Double-Batch Peanut Butter Bars
• Have a variety of prices.
• Sell Appealing Items That Don’t Require Baking
• Reindeer Chocolate-Coated Pretzel Rods
• Lickety-Split Spoons
• Holiday Candy Trains
• Licorice Wands
• Fill a food-safe bag with Betty Crocker® quick bread mix or cookie mix, and include finishing directions.  No one will know it’s not a homemade mix if you don’t tell!  These mixes will keep longer than baked goods and can be given as gifts.
• Make a café mocha mix by layering 1 cup of dry hot cocoa mix, 1 cup of vanilla or hazelnut instant coffee or instant espresso and 1 cup of dry nondairy creamer in clear jars you’ve collected throughout the year or bought at yard sales.  Tie with ribbons for a festive look, and add a note to mix with hot water.  Or layer mixes with instant tea instead of coffee.

Plan, Organize and Promote

• Turn your bake sale into a social event with live music, craft and food demonstrations and games.  Make it a tradition people will know to expect every year. 
• Hold a bake sale around a holiday, theme or special event, such as Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Halloween or a neighborhood block party.  It puts people in the mood, and they tend to buy more.  Find seasonal items for props to reinforce the theme.  Have someone who’s good at “propping” arrange the food items.
• Decorate the bake sale area with your organization’s colors or the appropriate holiday colors.  Workers can wear the organization’s T-shirts, caps and colors.
• Schedule a bake day to prepare for the event.  School and church kitchens are helpful.
• Arrange a telephone committee to contact each organization member to solicit baked goods.
• Bring bags, cash box with plenty of change, price stickers and marking pens.
• Keep prices simple for adding and making change by pricing in increments of 25 cents.
• Make it easy for customers to carry the bake sale items home.  Furnish bags big enough to encourage the purchase of more than one product and a few for the freezer!  Provide delivery to people who aren’t able to get out easily.
• Have recipes printed and available for people to take.  This is especially important for people who need to know the ingredients because of special diets or allergies.
• Sell a recipe booklet that includes bake sale recipes.
• Promote your bake sale through radio, TV and newspaper.  Send a sample box of goodies along with a flyer announcing the event to the local radio or TV station.  Go high-tech by promoting with email.  It’s free!
• Find a business that will match or double your profits!