Marketing Lessons from a Charity Bake Sale

I don't know what I expected of the Share Our Strength Bake Sale, but I know marketing wasn't on my mind.

Here's what I learned:

1. Follow the baking trends. Cake pops were a huge hit along with decorated cookies. I don't think my favorite banana nut bread recipe went over well with the public. Maybe two or three of them were sold. I ate four of them (because they really are THAT good) and the rest went to a food pantry.

2. Branding is essential. This one surprised me the most. People would come by and say, "Oh, this looks good. Who made it?" If we told them the blogger or bakery name, more times than not, the person bought it. If we told them that a home baker made it, the item was placed back on the table. ??? What makes an established blogger's kitchen any better than mine? That was confusing.

3. Presentation matters, even when it's for charity. I made it clear that my presentation skills were lacking and I was told it was not a problem. Au contraire. Don't do this:

Sandwich baggies and curling ribbon with handwritten labels = NOT COOL. I didn't take pictures of the items made "professional bloggers," but they had nice logos and printed labels.

4. You are networking all the time, whether you realize it or not. A politician came by and thanked us for participating, then gave us her card. I really did accidentally lose it, so I don't know who she is. She was very nice and she seemed sincere. A few bloggers who had attended the Arkansas Women Bloggers Conference stopped by and chatted with Christie Ison of Fancy Pants Foodie who organized the bake sale. They had no interest in any of the rest of us working the sale. I do remember them and no, I won't give them a shout out.

I know....I'm such a cynic. I'm used to volunteering for school bake sales and making food for the homeless, all of which don't really care what it looks like, they are just thrilled that you are participating. I'm still going to help at public charity events, but I'll be a little more prepared for the next one.

Great American Bake Sale: North Little Rock

As a food channel junkie, I first heard about the Share our Strength's Great American Bake Sale on Food Network. I always thought it would be wonderful to organize a local bake sale, but I never put any real effort into pursuing anything. When I saw that Christie Ison of Fancy Pants Foodie was needing help with the bake sale she was organizing, I jumped at the chance.  

It was kind of a personal mission for me since I know what it's like to have to depend on food charity and the generosity of others. My family didn't have much money when I was a child and there were some really lean times. We were given food by family and church friends; there were a few times that food came from local food banks. I know it was harder for my parents than it was for me and my brothers since we didn't understand exactly what was going on. 

I spent Friday night making banana nut muffins and lemon blueberry muffins. I figured those would be the easiest to wrap individually and I wouldn't have to worry about messy frosting. Plus, they are my favorites. By the end of the night, Hubs was helping me package and label each of the 4 dozen muffins. 

The North Little Rock version of the Great American Bake Sale was overwhelmingly successful. The unofficial total was $949 raised to help end childhood hunger! Christie did a wonderful job of recruiting professional bakers and bloggers to donate baked goodies. Christie has a real knack for engaging people and I was impressed by her natural warmth toward everyone that came by the sale.

I took Little Miss with me and she was a big help. Sometimes a bit too much of a help, but I was glad to see that she was eager to participate. It's important to me that she learns to serve others and I try to include her in as many community service projects as I can.

In all, it was a great day. I met some really fantastic people (Saige, not Paige) and learned quite a few lessons regarding, surprisingly enough, marketing. I'll share that later :)