Hi everyone,

I am relatively new at this, but have agreed to head up a cupcake sale/fundraiser to benefit my church music program.  I have already done a lot of research on this board and am planning on following the guidelines for Ohio's cottage law as most of the baking/decorating will be done from my home kitchen.  Right now, I'm in the process of pricing ingredients and figuring out how much each cupcake will cost, and have come up with a couple of questions.  First, I know that each cupcake will vary in cost because of different ingredients, filled vs. unfilled, frosting type, etc.  Is it acceptable to charge a different amount for each variety, or should I price them all the same?  For example, $12 a dozen for white almond cupcakes with swiss meringue butter cream and $15 a dozen for a chocolate cupcake with ganache filling and chocolate butter cream.  Next, do you think those prices are acceptable for a fundraiser? (in central Ohio)  I know I need to price carefully to be able to sell enough to make it worth the time and effort that is going into it.  If I did my calculations correctly, we should be able to profit anywhere from $7 to $10 a dozen not figuring in labor or utilities which are being donated.  

Other things that I am considering:

1.  making this a preorder/prepaid sale 

2.  designing a flyer/order form with thorough descriptions of each product including photos taken by a photographer friend

3.  packaging in high dome clam shells with labeling that includes the organization name, ingredients and allergy information, and specifying that the product is made in a home kitchen

4.  sending a tasting tray to a couple of key locations (large office buildings) to help boost orders, I plan on cutting a sheet cake into small squares and placing a dollop of frosting on each square.  My thought is small tastes are more cost effective to make and people are more likely to try more than one kind, and therefore order more than one flavor, if the samples are smaller. 

I'm making my best effort to ensure this fundraiser is a success, but I know that my inexperience could potentially be a problem.  I appreciate your experience and any advice you can give me!