Donating Voucher Or Cake To Auction?
Business By melysa Updated 19 Jul 2007 , 4:22am by peacockplace
I donate gift certificates to charity events quite often in my area. I would NOT make a real cake to give that day. The person may not have an event to use the cake for and you would not want it to go to waste. I would imagine that you would want a cake that you will spend so much time on to go to someone for a special occasion where you know it will be enjoyed! And if people are bidding on it, I don't think you should put a dollar amount on the certificate, just put the specifications of the cake. I have never had anyone give me problems like "well I think this deserves a bigger/fancier/different cake than what you promised in the voucher. You will get more exposure if you give a gift certificate for a later date with some business cards. The person will have something to look forward to for the future. And also, what if the person that gets the cake is not going straight home after the event? They can't leave it in the car. What if they won't be home to eat it in the next few day? I mean, that's not the worst thing that could happen I know, but you might as well make your hard work worth while by letting them use it for their next occasion. JMO
You will get more exposure if you give a gift certificate for a later date with some business cards....
... And also, what if the person that gets the cake is not going straight home after the event? They can't leave it in the car. What if they won't be home to eat it in the next few day?
i mentioned a little earlier that i do not run a business , nor am i advertising. in my state it is illegal to advertise via business cards without a legitamate business. for me, this was an intention to just make a donation for a good cause. it is my hobby.
...i imagine if that was their situation, they would not bid. its a fundraiser auction, not a raffle.
but, thank you for your input anyhow.
i think i have actually decided to withdraw my proposal to donate. it has become too much to worry about when it should have been something simple. it may just be that a cake in an impractical thing, and i think i may end up spending more money and time than it would bring in for the fundraiser. my husband was layed off last week from his company, and i am a stay at home mom of 3 kids. though its a good cause, so is the need for milk and toilet paper for my family right about now.
i do not run a bakery. i do not have a legal business, I do not advertise. i dont want this to become an issue in donating a certificate and order lists/ choices / prices etc. simply put, i do not want to get in to trouble because someone supposes that i am advertising a business and trying to get orders out of this. .
Well, you've convinced me to switch sides on this debate. Sometimes you just have to do what is easiest for you and you are right about giving someone a nice cake that looks and tastes awesome. Who knows, maybe the people we think won't buy a fancy cake will see it and think, "You know, I'm going to treat myself and/or my family with that fancy cake!"
Maybe we are all overthinking this....
that was my first thought when i proposed the idea of a donation to the coordinator. how was i to know it would stress the patooti out of me because she asked the question about doing a voucher instead. i just thought of it as a treat...and as my way of donating what i was capable of doing in a well done and unique way.
I didn't read all of the posts but what I have done when I donate to an auction or charity is to make a cookie bouquet (to grab their attention and give them something to take home), include a color brochure and include a gift certificate for a specific amount(say $50) to put towards a cake. In most cases they will order a larger cake, put the certificate towards it and pay the addtional cost.
Jacqui
Another solution is to make a dummy of the cake that you are donating. That way they can see spacifically what they get, but they can order it when they need it. After it's over you'll have a cool dummy to display. I would make something that says at please give least two weeks notice for this cake. Best of luck! 
melysa wrote: i think i have actually decided to withdraw my proposal to donate. it has become too much to worry about when it should have been something simple. it may just be that a cake in an impractical thing, and i think i may end up spending more money and time than it would bring in for the fundraiser. my husband was layed off last week from his company, and i am a stay at home mom of 3 kids. though its a good cause, so is the need for milk and toilet paper for my family right about now.
It was nice of you to offer to donate a cake. If you feel it's become too much of a hassle than I can understand withdrawing. When you make a donation out of good faith, it should be accepted as is. I don't think it was nice to ask you to change to a voucher (just my opinion) in the first place. No good deed goes unpunished...
Sorry to hear about your husband. My husband lost his job recently and I, too, am a SAHM of three. I understand where you are coming from. You have to ensure that your children have what they need and since the cake has become such a hassle, just let it go. You don't need to worry about a gesture you made out of kindness.
Jodie
i think i have actually decided to withdraw my proposal to donate. it has become too much to worry about when it should have been something simple. it may just be that a cake in an impractical thing, and i think i may end up spending more money and time than it would bring in for the fundraiser. my husband was layed off last week from his company, and i am a stay at home mom of 3 kids. though its a good cause, so is the need for milk and toilet paper for my family right about now.
Sorry. I didn't read that before I posted. We've been there. I thought that there was no way we would make it, but it turned out that we could make do with a lot less than we thought. Best of luck to you!
thanks for the last couple of posts...it was considerate.
well, after a night to sleep on it, i am not so frustrated like i was yesterday. i have a friend who recently offered to touch up photos with some software that she's been playin' with. well, i took her up on it and this morning she cropped the photo of the one i did previously and really made it look cool with shadowy background and everything now i can submit a photo of the bible cake alone without the pillow, and put details in the voucher as to what i am offering. a bible cake to feed x amount of people, valued at x amount of dollars, with the only choices being flavors. i'll put an exp. date and conditions of availability.
thanks everyone for the input.
thanks. BTW !!! my husband recieved an amazing job offer today. it will pay 20,000 higher annually than his last job. this is perfect timing, as we had just recently decided to begin putting money aside each month for a business within the next year. UNBELIEVABLY COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! just thought i'd share my excitement since i had mentioned the unemployment. yippeeeeee 
on a "side" note , lol, the gift certificate and photo worked out perfectly. the auction is tonight and so i'll let you all know what it sells for.
update! i was just told that the gift certificate for the cake sold for "close to the value" ($100...20-25 servings) and was "a very popular item" ... now i feel good. kept it simple and within reasonable limitations, and no more worries about it only bringing in $17. 
i am sure i'll do this again . i appreciate everyones advice!!!
Firstly from a customer's point of view...I went to a cake competition on the weekend. They had 4 raffles. Two were baskets of goodies - one grocery items, one 'cake stuff'. The others were cakes. I admired them but didn't think twice about purchasing tickets, because I thought to myself 'lovely, but what on earth would I do with it???" I bought tickets for the other two, and was delighted to find out later I had won one of them.
Now from the 'donator's' perspective, I do a voucher for my childrens fair every year. They raffle or auction it off, and tickets go 'like hot cakes!!" since the winners of previous vouchers have given good feedback. I have received several orders as a direct result of doing this.
Like others have said, if you do donate a voucher, be specific about normal price, needing a reasonable amount of notice, size and basic flavours. And remember why you're doing this, to do someone a good deed, you shouldn't have to stress about it!
I agree with amberhoney and a few others, I would also not bid on an already baked cake unless I had an event planned and no cake already made for it. (I personally always have a menu done.... so not me)
A certificate or voucher would be better for me.
(Often people forget the vouchers and dont use it.) 
** You might want to put an expiry date on the certificate, everyone does it. 
I have 2 certificate I got for my b-day last year, they are about to expire. I have to get a manicure and go for a luncheon/demonstration with a chef at a local high end Kitchen store all in the next 3 weeks! 
With 2 kids in summer camps and a 7 week old baby I am not sure how I will get it all done!
(I could not read the 3rd page of this post, the site would not let me on it. Hope I'm not repeating what someone already wrote.
Good Luck whatever you decide.
I donate decorated cakes for live auctions and cake gift certificates for silent auctions for our community center. I print a photo of a decorated 10" cake and state the value, the amount it will feed. I then give them a choice of flavor and design and I add they must give 2 weeks notice. When they call we discuss flavor and design, if that want something more elaborate than the cake in the photo I tell them I can do that but they will have to pay extra for it. I have never had a complaint, they have gone away happy and so have I.
update! i was just told that the gift certificate for the cake sold for "close to the value" ($100...20-25 servings) and was "a very popular item" ...
now i feel good. kept it simple and within reasonable limitations, and no more worries about it only bringing in $17. i am sure i'll do this again . i appreciate everyones advice!!!
make sure to post a picture once they order the cake!
Just wanted to say congrats about the cake and the new job! Sounds like you were blessed for trying to be charitable!
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