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

[princessconsuelobananahammock]

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?

If you just ask for donations, people tend to be more generous/round it up and you avoid hygiene issues with servers handing money and food.

Sounds ok to me provided the coffee and cake is half decent. You'd pay more at Starbucks/Nero and it's not going to some fat cat!

Good point fififolle about hygiene and donations.

I bet the OP is sorry she asked now. If she was unsure what to change before she must be really confused now.

OP. Don't over think this. This thread proves that you won't be able to please everyone.

Hope you raise lots of money.

I think tickle monster had it about right. I wouldn't pay that much, because although the prices compare well with proper cafés, when I go to a cafe it is an occasional treat and I am paying for the luxury of sitting in a comfy chair reading a book while drinking a well-made drink.

If you grab coffee and cake at Starbucks a couple of times a week, it's not a big deal. If it's a monthly treat that you budget for, then those people won't come through the door. Which is fine, is that is what you are aiming for - those people will give in different ways, but you won't sell as many cakes.

If it's instant cheapo coffee and a little cupcake it is a lot. Of it's naice coffee and decent slab of cake then yes too, but there should be cheaper options for those who cannot afford it. Like 50p/£1 for cake

I made healthy cakes fresh juice as I disagree with normal cakes sold in aid of cancer and charged 3 a slice of cake and 2 a juice. But the ingredients were very expensive (nuts & dates)

We had a Macmillan coffee morning at work and I was £2.50 for two cupcakes and a bag of homemade tablet. YABU.

"Suggested donation £5" would work of me (London). I'd happily put in much more as it's for Macmillan. I'd never compare this to Pret/Starbucks/local cafe event.

If I'm going to make a relatively large donation I'll do it somewhere I can giftaid (often online, it's easier than filling in paper forms). It might be that some of the people giving a small amount of money up front are doing that too. Our charity cake sales at work encourage people to do that rather than put money in the box.

Isn't a well-known coffee shop doing an offer of a cup of coffee & a slice of cake for £3.95?
Whilst you might not be serving lattes or cappuccinos, I'm sure that your cake will be better than their dry sawdusty offerings!
Thank you Princess & anyone who attends such fund raising events. People like me wouldn't be here without people like you.

My mum and I paid £1 a slice of cake and £1 a drink yesterday. They were the suggested prices and we put a fiver in the tin. Instant coffee and a bit of homemade cake but it was for charity. We're SW and I didn't think that was expensive

People were putting in £20s at my work... felt like a right meany with my grubby fiver.

In my DD school coffee and cupcake was £5 .I know it's charity but IMO very expensive and they charged for kids £2.

You're selling good homemade cakes, don't sell yourself short.

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.

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.

Happy, why would you expect the cake so cheap?

At DD's school (north west) it was £1 for coffee and cake-people put more in and I assume some greedies put in less......one bloke sat on my table literally ate about 10 pieces of cake.....hoping he donated appropriately

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

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.

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.

"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 if someone came to a bake sale at my house and did that.

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

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.

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