Afternoon tea - how much to "charge"?

[thebluehen]

I'm running London marathon and as part of my fundraising I'm thinking of holding an "afternoon tea".

How much do you think would be a reasonable amount to ask as a donation to my charity?

Also, if anyone has any tips or ideas, I'd appreciate it.

What are you offering? It kind of depends on that.

I think £10 is legit - it’s really a donation then ppl get tea as well.

Where I work ppl do cake sales for charity and it’s usually £5 fir a cake plus maybe a guess at their marathon time. I mean £5 us mad for a cake, but it’s about the donation, then cake is nice as well.

I would leave it up to the guests to decide the amount they wish to contribute.
Suggest 5-10£ if anyone specifically asks how much is expected. If I attended, I would probably donate 10-15£. 20£ if you offered prosecco. I might go up to 30£ if you made a massive effort with the spread and decorations.
If you were running the marathon because this years' charity has a special meaning and connection to you, I would donate 40-50£ regardless of what you offered for the "afternoon tea".

How much money do you need to raise? I'd happily pay £10-15, but would hope to get a good afternoon tea 😂 mini sandwiches probably won't be too costly, but the cake / petit fours but might be?

I would ask for contributions instead.

It would depend a bit on what you’re making/serving and whether the donations need to cover that cost as well as the charitable element, or are you absorbing the cost of the food as your donation? Depends a bit on how many people etc as to whether it’s feasible to do that of course.

I’ve done charity cake events where I’ve taken over £500 in donations but the ingredients cost me over £100, so I do take that out before donating the rest. The charity still gets £400 from my hard work and organisation and it’s not like I’m making profit, just covering costs.

To keep the work to a minimum I’d look at buying frozen mini cakes (Costco used to sell a big
Box with mini eclairs, macarons and other little sweet things which would be perfect. Otherwise somewhere like Lidl for frozen macarons and party bits). That way you only have to make the sandwiches and scones (bought scones are gross so don’t buy them!) and maybe a tray bake cake that can be cut into small squares. Or you could buy brownies and chop them up.

Keep sandwiches simple, cheese & pickle , ham & cucumber or something. Smoked salmon is nice but expensive so I’d stick to cheaper fillings as nobody really cares about the sandwiches!!

In the past we've held tea parties for charity and usually "charge" adults £5, under 8s £2.50 and that's for unlimited soft drinks/teas & coffees, unlimited cakes, sweet treats and savouries. We also often hold a raffle, guess how many sweets in the jar or guess the name of the teddy bear (£1 a guess, £1 a raffle ticket)

I forgot to say, a lot of the offerings are made and brought by people attending as a donation too

@SteveHarringtonsChestHair - ‘nobody cares about the sandwiches’ - I do!!

Best part of an afternoon tea for me - not so keen on cakes, especially not creamy ones.

I love the sandwiches too! Best bit for me.

Are you absolutely wedded to doing an afternoon tea? I wonder about whether your profits are going to be wiped out with what you’ll have to spend.

DP loves a get together and we would have had a bbq or something at the end of the summer anyway. I just thought an afternoon tea would be a bit different.

I'd offer beer, wine, Prosecco too and we would pay for that part, although I think some people will also bring their own.

Sandwiches, scones, cakes - some homemade, some shop bought, and obviously tea.

Wow I always just thought you ran the marathon and people sponsored you for that! Had no idea you had to do extras like this. (I am not a runner, can you tell) Sounds lovely though, I’d happily pay a tenner+ but contributions might be the best way.

If it's replacing an existing invite in your calendar, I'd not state the amount but ask for a donation instead.

If you’d be having them round anyway and providing all that booze, don’t charge them for entry. Just give them the details of how to donate while they’re there. Otherwise you’ll be thinking about how to make the best profit off your friends.

Suggested donation of a Tenner seems fair some will give more. Tea, homemade scone a couple of finger sandwich and a tiny cake or two pp. you could probably cater it for 2-3 quid a head. Extra tenner if you’re also doing Prosecco.

Seems DP and I have a difference of opinion on this. He's keen for me to do it but doesn't want me to ask for donations or even mention my fundraising. He feels that asking friends and family for money is "not right", so I think I need a rethink on my fundraising.

He's also told me not to bother with doing a boot sale as I won't make anything from it. I'm still doing it anyway. 🤷‍♀️

@MsSquiz can't see how you'd make any money there - unlimited cakes and for kids at only £2.50? All food and drinks would have to be donated for there to be anything in it!
OP just label it as a fundraising tea. People are always more willing to give if they get something in return - are you expecting people to bring stuff to share?
A local just had a MacMillan coffee morning. She provided tea and some cakes and about 9 of us came and most brought something to share. She set it as a donation - with the invites she provided the link. She raised almost £400! Those who couldn't come donated too - cancer is a big draw though, so hopefully your charity will be enough to get people opening wallets.