7 Reasons NOT to Have a Church Youth Group Bake Sale

Many church youth groups plan bake sales to support their programs, summer camp or mission trips. Everyone likes cookies and cupcakes, so why not have a bake sale? While a bake sale might sound like a good idea, here are 7 reasons why it may not be the best idea.

1. Bake Sale Item Prices - Bake sale items are typically priced quite low. After all, you can only charge so much for a little zippy bag of cookies. Prices generally range from 50 cents to $10 for a cake. So unless they give an extra donation, each person who makes a purchase is contributing a very small amount.

2. Impossible Volume - Considering the low price point of items, your church youth group would have to do a lot of baking to come up with enough items to generate a good income at the end of the day. With baked goods it's just not possible.

3. Potential Funds Raised -Unless you only need to raise $100 or less your group is not likely to reach it's goal with a bake sale. Why would you spend so much effort on something that produces so little results?

4. Too Much Work - Anyone who's ever baked items for a sale (and I have) knows how much work it is. It may take all afternoon to bake a few dozen cookies and cupcakes. At best your hard work will fetch the organization $10-20. Was it really worth it?

5. Perishable Foods - Baked goods need to be sold the day of the sale. If bad weather, a low crowd or something else thwarts the bake sale, you can't save them for later.

6. Too Many Fundraisers -Because bake sales generate such a low amount of income for the group, it becomes just one more fundraiser people are asked to participate in. After awhile even people who support your group will get tired of being asked.

7. Divides Your Efforts - Because your church youth group is spending time on the bake sale, it is taking time away from fundraisers that could be more profitable. Why not focus all of your efforts on one or two fundraisers that will produce much more results?

Instead of wasting time with a bake sale, find a fundraiser that is the best match for your church youth group. An effective fundraiser is appealing to a wide majority of your supporters, brings in the most amount of money compared to the effort and doesn't cost more than is appropriate.

There are a variety of great fundraising ideas... bake sales are just not one of them!

About the Author: Sandra Sims is dedicated to helping non profits raise more funds to support their causes. She publishes http://StepbyStepFundraising.com which provides information about a variety of fundraising options. Visit the website to find out more about silent auctions and other fundraisers.

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