Cake stalls take very little organisation and are immensely popular, making them the perfect PTA fundraiser! Forget Tupperware boxes and cling film – entice fairgoers from across the room with a sumptuous display of sweet treats!
Requesting cake donations
To ensure maximum profit on the day, try to get as many cakes donated as possible. Appeal to supporters – mums, dads, grandparents, children, and neighbours. Don’t ask for too much, if everyone supplies ten cupcakes each, you’ll be well on your way. Ask donors to provide a list of ingredients along with their cakes.
To pull in potential donors, use our cake poem examples – stick the poems on a plate or advertise it across social media/on posters to grab everyone’s attention. Let everyone know where and when they need to deliver their cakes. Set up your stall at least an hour before the event starts.
Pricing up your cakes
You don’t want to empty people’s pockets, but remember you’re there to raise money. Price cakes according to size and intricacy. As a rough guide:
- 30p for small cupcakes decorated by children,
- 75p for a large slice of cake,
- £1 for fancy cupcakes.
Displaying your cakes
Make your display look as enticing as possible... Seek out a variety of different cake stands of varying heights – not only will this make it easier to fit more on the table, but people will also be drawn in by all your mouth-watering goodies as they approach!
Try to label your cakes, making it easier for visitors to choose – this won’t take long, just some cut-up card and a marker pen to make some stand-up labels.
Give your sale a vintage twist by sourcing old-fashioned cups and saucers from charity shops, popping a moist muffin in the cup, and wrapping these in cellophane. Your price can increase to cover the cost of the crockery!
Variations to help boost profits
Position your display near the tea and coffee stall to maximise sales of both cakes and hot drinks! You could also have a cake-decorating table for children nearby, with plain fairy cakes or cookies, different coloured icing in squeezy bottles and a choice of toppings from silver balls to dolly mixtures.
Can one of your talented supporters (or a local cake decorator) donate a fabulous, large, decorated cake to be used for a ‘guess the weight of the cake’ game? If your event is themed, see if you can reflect that with a large winter wonderland fruit cake or a Mad Hatter cake for an Alice-in-Wonderland-themed summer fair. While people are queuing up for a chunk of chocolate brownie, perhaps they’d like to throw in £1 to have a guess! Prepare a sheet of possible guesses, taking names and contact numbers down against each guess. The person with the correct answer, wins the cake!
- Email us your cake stall tips at editorial@pta.co.uk. We’d love to hear from you!
