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To charge £3 for coffee & cupcake at Macmillan cake sale ?

118 replies

princessconsuelobananahammock · 26/09/2014 22:56

Having a Macmillan coffee morning on Sunday. It's in a community centre & been advertised so there will be people I don't know. Not sure what the done thing is with donations vs charging for coffee & cake. Personally, I hate the vagueness of 'donation' I agonise about the right amount so I was thinking of setting a price. £3 coffee & cupcake. £4 coffee & big wedge of cake. Does that sound ok?

OP posts:
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WombatChocolate · 24/07/2024 12:26

Oops!

Bjorkdidit · 24/07/2024 12:25

MissScarletInTheBallroom · 24/07/2024 12:18

That sounds fine to me. I'm sure most of the people saying it's too much have paid a lot more than £3-4 for a coffee and a cake from somewhere like Starbucks without batting an eyelid, and this is for charity.

You could put "suggested donation".

They probably didn't in 2014 tbf.

Coffee shop prices have increased quite a bit since then......

Pogggle · 24/07/2024 12:19

I doubt OP needs to worry about what to put now seeing as this thread is from 2014!

MissScarletInTheBallroom · 24/07/2024 12:18

That sounds fine to me. I'm sure most of the people saying it's too much have paid a lot more than £3-4 for a coffee and a cake from somewhere like Starbucks without batting an eyelid, and this is for charity.

You could put "suggested donation".

WombatChocolate · 24/07/2024 12:10

Surely people don’t go to these events looking for a bargain cake and coffee? Looking for a deal cheaper than a cafe? Surely they go to support a charity.

If people end up paying less than it cost those donating the cakes to make them, the cake makers might as well just give the cash instead of making cakes and more would be raised.

I’d expect to pay at least what I would in a cafe. I’d also expect to make an additional donation - as I’m there to support the charity, not to fill my stomach with cheap cake,

MaureenMLove · 28/09/2014 21:52

Did you have a good turn out of people OP?

I had one at home yesterday and I've just counted the number of people that came. I had 20 I think and we raised just over £200! I'm thrilled! The only thing I specified an amount for, was the poster games that came in the organisers pack. That was £2, but the winner got half the pot of money as a prize. The winners didn't want a return though. Put the money straight back in the donations.

Coffee, cake and chat on a Saturday afternoon, with your mates. You can't put a price on that! (DH could have done however, he was upstairs in his office, wondering exactly how much shit a bunch of woman could talk about and for how long! Grin)

Aeroflotgirl · 28/09/2014 21:32

Well done op, in that case I would pay £3 for one of those decent slices of cake and a tea.

madmomma · 28/09/2014 20:51

Thanks bun He's had his surgeries and radiotherapy, just has to have one last biopsy so fingers crossed x

Bunbaker · 28/09/2014 20:44

Glad it's not just me who thinks that Grin

Words fail me.

Good luck to your DH with the treatment madmomma Flowers

madmomma · 28/09/2014 20:15

Never heard anything like it - bringing your own tea to a fundraiser!!!

Just wanted to say a huge thank you to all who supported these sales. My DH is fighting cancer and we have had some really wonderful support from Macmillan. When he gets the all clear at 5 yrs we will be doing plenty of fundraising for them ourselves and we can't wait. xx

alemci · 28/09/2014 20:05

I think bringing a flask of tea to an event looks cheapskate and stingy, just don't come at all.

Oriunda · 28/09/2014 19:59

Back, it depends on the cake. I made a cake for the coffee morning and the 150g of (good quality) chocolate alone cost more than £1. Add in a whole slab of butter plus the fruit and I reckon it cost £4-5 in ingredients. The organisers sold each slice for £2 (I bought 2 of them back myself) and there were 14 slices so I'm pleased with what it made.

BackforGood · 28/09/2014 15:11

All those saying charge £1 for a slice if cake it probably costs more to make them than that. Get with the real world economics of it

I don't know where you shop for ingredients PenelopePitstops but cakes don't cost anything like that to make, and I'd struggle to see how you could make them cost so much even if for some reason you wanted to. Confused

FrancesNiadova · 28/09/2014 13:03

ThanksBrewCakeFlowersThank You ThanksBrewCakeFlowers

ChippingInLatteLover · 28/09/2014 12:42

Well done :) I'm glad you had a successful morning!

ChocolateWombat · 28/09/2014 12:33

You can charge what you like. If you aim to maximise the amount of money you raise, you have to gauge what people will pay. If you charge less, more people might come and you end up with more money overall....which is the purpose after all. I think that charity things often raise more by charging a bit less. The key thing isn't the amount you raise per cake, but the total.

ExpiredUserName · 28/09/2014 12:29

That's a great result. I'm glad it worked out well.

Brew Cake

princessconsuelobananahammock · 28/09/2014 12:17

Oh...I didn't put a price or suggested donation, I reckon it's worked out about £5 each.

OP posts:
princessconsuelobananahammock · 28/09/2014 12:16

Right, an update. Just finished the coffee morning & we raised £324.56 yay :) I am a bit surprised by some of the comments on here, clearly the whole idea is to raise money, I wasn't trying to rip anybody off & it's sad that some people see it that way. It's a choice to come, I didn't force anyone! Also, our cakes were really good, big homemade slices, very well made, would not look out of place in a cafe. Anyway, thanks for the feedback xx

OP posts:
theQuibbler · 28/09/2014 11:59

YANBU but but it is down to Regional variations as always ...
... I live in Central London so that seems fine to me - even on the cheap side. If you live in Redcar or Bradford or somewhere similar, it will seem pricey.

jaynebxl · 28/09/2014 11:45

Especially if it was a charity fundraising cake sale eh Bunbaker?!

Bunbaker · 28/09/2014 09:47

"If I knew that there would be a 'charge' for the cake and coffee a cup of tea, I would not go. I'd donate but only if I could choose what I gave. I might buy a piece of cake for £1 but I'd take my own flask of tea if those are the charges being made."

Wow. That's a bit cheapskate. I would be a bit Shock if someone came to a bake sale at my house and did that.

alemci · 28/09/2014 08:54

well said Joy. it is entering into the spirit of the event to raise money for a worthy cause not to get value for money plus a social occasion rather than an impersonal coffee chain.

jaynebxl · 28/09/2014 08:36

Don't put a price. We held ours on friday and made over a thousand pounds. We just asked for donations and provided free cake and coffee. That's how it is meant to be I think cos then people can gift aid it. You can't gift aid if you are buying something, only if you are giving a donation. So you're not asking people to buy their cake and coffee but to donate some money to charity. Then there's no quibbling about whether a certain amount is cheap or dear for coffee and cake. People really need to have it in their minds that they're helping raise money, not getting their money's worth.

helensburgh · 28/09/2014 08:29

£2.50 is good, £10 for a family of four, £5 per couple etc

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