I have been asked to donate a certificate for a cake for a local PTO. Have any of you ever done that? I don't mind to do it, but I don't want to get taken advantage of either. Thanks for any help anyone has to offer!

Amanda

I wouldn't do it.

What's a PTO?

watching this thread, since i was just asked to do the same thing this morning. my daughter is a speech student at the school, so i don't mind donating, but am curious to see how others handled it.

I donated a cake certificate once as a door prize. I offered an 8" round or 9x13 sheet. If you want to do it, make sure to specify when the certificate expires, which flavors they have a choice from, whether delivery is included, and any other details you think are important.

What about just making a cake for the night they are having the raffle (if that's what they are doing) Then you won't have to worry about someone all of the sudden calling the day before saying they want a cake for the next day because they have this certificate.

I wish I had an offer like that.
A friend of mine sampled one of her cakes at a school, and now she gets tons of orders for kids birthdays who attend the school. It's a certain circle of mom's who love & have money to spend. So my friend is really thankful.
It really is good PR. there's a million kids, moms and birthdays to be celebrated. It's like shooting LOTS of birds with one stone.

Good luck.

I have donated a few times, I usually do a certificate with a certain value, usually $25 this way they can put it towards something or get a cake for that dollar amount. I have gotten alot of my customers from it. Most of my donations were for a silent auction for a my neighbors little girl who was diagnosed with leukemia. They are doing a fundraiser on the 14th of Sept and I am donating 200 cupcakes and a gift certificate for the auction.

I give a very limited number of gift certificates out per year, and on them, I state that orders depend on my availability - no last minute orders are accepted if I can't accommodate them. I do only give them out the the charities/schools that I wish to support...not everyone gets them.

Here is a list of my Terms and Conditions listed on the certificate:

Valid for one year from date listed above. Subject to availability â please call soon to avoid disappointment!

Non-redeemable for cash.

May only be used for in-house cake decorating services (excludes equipment purchases, rentals, delivery charges, or any outside services from another vendor â ie. fresh flowers).

Certificate is not transferable.

here's where i'm a little stumped. for those of you who only do a $25 certificate, do you mostly do weddings, where the price of your cakes are hundreds of dollars? i have a minimum of $75, and i can't see why someone would spend 50 or hopefully even way more, just to get a discount of $25...what if the cake order is only around the $75 mark...they've broken about even. obviously, i hope someone will buy it so they can purchase a carved cake that will be on up there, but i just wondered how you handled it.

i was thinking i would have to give a certificate that would give them a credit of $25 beyond what they had already paid at the auction...but i certainly like the flat $25 much better!!!

mixinvixen - I don't make a lot of HUGE cakes. Mostly I do party cakes. I don't charge as much as what some of you on here do, they range from $30 to $75 so I will probably do a $30 certificate! BTW - my cakes have gotten WAY better since the pics I have posted! LOL!

I was going to do this to raise money for my hubby's pool league last year to go to Vegas (i was too prego to care and ended up not doing) But my plan was to do what marmalade1687 & Tallmama say with the terms and conditions. That is what I was planning. And I would only do it for a specific size! If you list the options YOU are willing to do and let them choose off of that, then they still feel like they are getting what they want!! Good Luck...I agree as well that it would be good business down the road!! Good Luck

For schools, I tend to give a $40 gift certificate - that gets the recipient a free 9x13, which is what most clients buy for their kids birthdays. When I do a bridal show (the one that I do every year expects a certificate) I give 30% off the cake cost. Just know the market that you are targeting (that is why it is called marketing! ) - you can change the amount on the certificate anytime!

One thing to note when giving out gift certificates - keep track of them, and who won them!! (Believe me, this was a lesson learned the hard way! ) That way, you know how much money you have floating around that has not been redeemed yet (and who should be redeeming them - I don't allow transfers of the certificate).

I live in a small town and always donate when asked. It promotes goodwill and is GREAT advertising!

I donated to our local nature center as part of a pkg they are going to be auctioning off at their annual fundraising event. I agreed to do a cake for a bday party pkg. On my certificate, there are no limitations other than time. Of course, my reasoning is b/c I'm just getting started in doing this for extra money so I need all the advertising I can get.

It's a 50/50 thing.

If you donate, you could get really good publicity. The again, your phone could be ringing off the hook for donations. Lets be realistic, if you can get something for free- why not exhaust every avenue to try and get it?

If you decide to do it, specify exactly what they're limited to.
Good Luck!

I wish I had the luxury of being able to donate to all who asked, but Ottawa is Canada's national capital, and home of hundreds of non-profit organizations national offices...plus the many, many schools, government offices, etc. who have fundraisers all year - you get the idea. At certain times of the year, I get up to 5 calls a day...if I said yes to all of them, I'd be bankrupt. Having to say no is all part of business.

When you do a donation, YOU control the donation... BE SURE to put stipulations like they need to present the certificate to obtain the discount (that way if they give it to someone, it's still a certificate). I like the idea of putting a dollar amount value because if you say an 8" cake and they need a 12" for an event, they'll try to walk on you for what they think they should pay for that 12" because AFTER ALL, it's only 4" different...

I have a limited number of groups that I support, I have to be honest and say the PTO isn't one of them... I've been burned already with DD's daycare for a donation, I don't plan on doing another one unless it's a cake on the spot.

I also like the cake on the spot to take and have it completely DONE, overwith, never have to deal with them again factor. (did that for a bridal fair and I think it was the best way to go)...