Basics of the Bake Sale/ Magnet Sale

Bake sales are easy and fun!

First off, a little bit of contact information for Conference Services you'll need later on in this post.

Conference Services

Plaster Student Union, Room 302

Telephone:  417-836-5653

Email:  ConferenceServices@MissouriState.edu

Hours:  Monday through Friday - 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Planning

Plan your general time frame during the month you want a bake sale.  Bring this up with the general meeting and/or the officers, and with them pick a few specific dates and times and which you prefer.  Go with these to Conference Services and reserve a table outside Siceluff or inside the union.  Specify the number of tables and chairs you need.  They’ve been known to be late in the morning of the bake sale with tables because they forgot, so if they don’t show up, badger them at the office or call them.  (When in doubt about a phone number remember that the university’s switchboard is 417.836.5000.)  When the date is reserved, send a sheet around asking people what they’ll make.  That way not everyone makes brownies and nothing but brownies.

Baking Party

Throw a baking party the night before a sale at an officer or member’s house.  It’s a good time for the members, and it encourages people to actually bake instead of saying they’ll make something and then not having social pressure to follow up on it.  You can share baking supplies easily also.  Make sure people record their ingredients, I'll bring up why in a couple paragraphs.

There are lots of things you can do while stuff is in the oven.  Bring games, art supplies, movies.  Massage party!

Setting up Your Table

Individually seal food items in ziploc or plastic.  Ingredients should be listed.  It looks professional, it’s helpful for anyone watching what they eat or with allergies, and if you do something novel with your food then it’s a good conversation starter.  If you have a lot of something and it’s not on track to sell out by the time you’re doing clean up, reduce the price.  Put the Club Banner up on the table.  Bring string and/or tape to secure it down to the front of the table, the wind can be a nuisance and blow it all over.  Make sure you have enough cash and change in the box to facilitate transactions.

Earnings

Count the cashbox before the sale.  Count it again after the sale.  This is a lot easier way to record the earnings than counting each individual transaction.  Make note of which items were popular and what time of day they were popular during, so that you can solicit for best sellers before the next sale.