One More Thing to Do - Bake Sale Preparation

There's always one more thing to do in preparing for a fund raising bake sale. The question is, what is that one more thing? The answer is, it's always the one thing you haven't anticipated or experienced. It should be considered putting together a Bake Sale Emergency Kit. Here are some of those "one more things" to do.

Take a good supply of heavy duty garbage bags. As the sale progresses you will be able to discard paper products and keep your table clean. See if you can make arrangements with your custodian to pick up the garbage at intervals during the sale. If this is not possible, find out where you can place the trash bags away from the baked goods.

Take a mop and broom for spills and crumbs that reach the floor. Take a small dust pan and brush to use to brush away crumbs from the table areas. These tools will make it easy to keep the area clean.

Don't forget to take a few rolls of masking and Scotch Tape. These will be used for repairing signs and fastening table covers. They may also come handy in wrapping baked goods.

Take a ball of string, rubber bands, twist ties, ribbon, and a pair of scissors. These will be useful in placing decorations around your site and in wrapping baked goods.

Consider placing a microwave in an easily accessed area so customers are able to warm their purchase.

And the one really big last minute item to pay attention to is, how are you going to accept payment?" Once your bake sale begins, everyone will be very busy. Sales people can't be looking in their wallets or purses to make change. They're going to be called in different directions by customers who don't want to wait. So the message here is: be prepared.

First, be sure to get enough change for your bake sale table sellers to have on hand. Before sale day, make sure you get plenty of change at the bank. Ask the bank for several quarters, several dollar bills, and perhaps a quantity of five and ten dollar bills. Do get a few rolls of nickels and dimes, but in general you want to plan to have all your unit sales be a minimum of twenty-five cents or in multiples of twenty-five cents. If you set your selling prices in this manner, it will be easy to mentally add up purchases and make change quickly. Quick service is appreciated.

Keep your change in a lockable lock box and under the charge of one or two people. Since it will need to be at the bake sale table be sure it is not easily accessible to outsiders. When necessary and for security reasons, remove excess money from the cash box throughout the sale.

Your organization may be in a position to accept checks, credit cards, and debit cards. If you decide to accept these forms of payment make sure you have a posted sign indicating which cards you accept. Will you have a minimum purchase requirements? Be clear.

If you are able to accept payments other than cash, designate the people who will run the credit card machine.

Since you will be trying to learn what system works best for your organization you will take notes for the next event.

Yes, there's always one more thing to do. The good thing is that with informed and dedicated volunteers the preplanning will pay off. Team work and looking ahead really will create a smooth event.

Elaine S. Rexdale earned a BA in Elementary Education from Augustana College in Rock Island, IL and an MA in Early Childhood Education from Teachers College at Columbia University in NY. She has been an early childhood educator and administrator for the past 30 years and has served in public and private schools in IL, LA, and NY. Her website is http://www.ElaineRexdale.com