Is it appropriate to set up a go fund me for a playgroup? Other fundraising ideas welcomed

[willsandnoodle]

I run a play group at the local church. Money made from attendants is used for rent, snacks and toy replenishment (all second hand). There is never much in the pot, so I'm constantly using my own money and paying myself back as and when.

I'm thinking of making a go fund me page and sharing on the local town groups on Facebook, is this really cheeky or would you donate? I wouldn't be asking for much, maybe a £100 total or something..

If this is ok, how would you word it?

How many families come? At the moment, you need 9 families to cover the cost of the rent and leave you £2 each week to cover the cost of biscuits, milk & tea/coffee.
Is everyone who comes pretty regular or is there a core of regulars? I'd approach the regulars and give them some options. Would they rather the price went up by 50p, that the charge varies depending on the number/age of children, that they persuade more friends to come along or that you do some form of fundraising to try and get a bit of money in and keep costs down (acknowledging that that will only work until that money runs out so you're postponing the issue rather than solving it. You can then work out what your funding looks like and how much money you have to spend each week and whether doing things like crafts is actually viable.
It's all well & good us suggesting things here but you'll know better what the local population is like. If £3 is the only toddler group they can afford and a 50p price rise would mean they can no longer attend, then you probably want to look at options which don't involve putting the price up as they're losing a valuable lifeline. If you've got families turning up as it's local and a convenient time and it's what they and their friends do on that day but the next day they're at a baby sensory group at £12 a child and then a music group at a similar price, then you can put your prices up. Or it might be that you've got a mix and some of the more wealthier attendees are happy to donate a bit more knowing it will be used for craft activities for the whole group.

I used to run a similar group, our craft table was really popular with slightly older toddlers, so we tried to have it every week. On special occasions we might do something more structured, but in between times it was cheep simple options. Paints, crayons, glue sticks and bits of coloured paper, threading pasta or Cheerios type things.

Amazon wishlist is great for that sort of thing as it's easy to add anything as it runs low.

For special occasions we'd do something a bit more specific, and generally find more people would turn up those weeks! Things like hand/footprints with one of the many free poems you can find online.

Funds were always tight, we asked for a suggested donation. Some would add a bit more, others weren't in a position to pay every time. So putting up the amounts wasn't much of an option.

We did an annual toy sale, early autumn was good when people are having a clear out. People in the group would bring stuff, a couple of us would also ask in local Facebook groups to or donations. We always made it clear some would be used by the group, others would be sold for funds. That usually set us up for the year.

I think a go fund me is a great idea... you might reach people who see the benefit in the provision of a low cost community space without needing to benefit from it. A well worded piece of communication shared in the right places, might result funds without much more effort on your part. Maybe there is someone with time and experience in the group who could help. Maybe someone could start it off with a £10 donation to set expectations.