Active Minds at ESU has done Have a Heart for Mental Health for more than three years now and prior customers look forward to these cookies every year during Valentines Day. The cookies sold are small cookies (1 pound) for $5 and large cookies (2 pounds) for $10. These cookies are a great gift for others on V-day. Have a Heart for Mental Health is a pre-order heart shaped cookie sale and is by far the most successful fundraiser we do that brings in about $1,000 every year. This fundraiser also follows up with a regular bake sale. To execute this fundraiser the following steps are recommended:
- Allocate funds. Figure/find out where you will get funds to buy the ingredients and supplies needed.Alternatively, you can wait until you get money from pre selling the cookies to buy supplies/ingredients.
- Make a sample. Follow the recipe and bake a couple of sample cookies small and large. Put some extra chocolate chips on top of the cookie to make it look more chocolatey!
- Fundraising sheets. At the beginning of the spring semester pass out the fundraising sheets to members so they can start selling. You can consider doing an incentive to encourage members to sell cookies. The incentive can be a $10 gift card to the member who sells the most cookies.
- Formulate your elevator pitch. Inform members what they can say to sell cookies. Have them explain what Active Minds is and does on campus and describe how wonderfully delicious the cookie is. Divide the cookie samples so members can show them to potential customers.
- Divide and Conquer. Split up going to different buildings/departments on campus within officers and members. The majority of our customers have been ESU professors and staff.
- Do as much pre-planning as possible. Cut out hearts out of poster-board in advance (this is to make it more presentable and helps create a sturdy backing). You will need 2 per cookie. Have a reusable heart cut out as your stencil to trace. Measure out dry ingredients in advance and put them in ziplock bags. Cut ribbons. Print out cards to represent your club and to create awareness. Put your meeting time/day. (This serves as a good publicity bonus). Get boxes to put the cookies in when you’re done. (You can sometimes get boxes from your university’s cafeteria.)
- Plan dates to bake. Create a doodle to figure out which dates/times work best for members to get together and bake. Depending on how many cookies you sell you may want to plan at least 4 dates.
- Finalize how many cookies need to be baked. Collect money from members who sold cookies and scan their sheets with a scanner app so you have a copy of it. Compute the total of small and large cookies each members needs. Also make some extra so you can sell the day of the bake sale.
- Shop, shop, shop! Buy the rest of the ingredients and supplies needed.
- Bake and prepare to wrap cookies. Start baking the cookies and when they get done baking put them in the freezer or put them outside (if its cold) so the cookie can be wrapped without causes chocolate smudges. This also makes it easier to take it out of the cookie tray. Use a butter knife around the tray to get the cookie out without breaking it.
- Make the cookies look delicious and presentable. Wrap the cookie with the plastic wrap and put the ribbon diagonally, secure with tape. Add a plastic heart shaped ring to the cookie to add an extra spark.
- Organize orders. Ideally it would be best to have a box for every order over 4 cookies. Seperate the orders and set up a date/time for members to come pick up their orders. Offer help to deliver cookies if a member sold more than 15.
- Deliver! After all the busy planning and baking. Now you’re ready to deliver your cookies. Make sure you thank your customers for their support.
- Show appreciation. Thank all members who helped and meet with your eboard to talk about how it went and how it could have went better. Don’t forget to pat yourself on the back, because you and your team pulled it off!
List of supplies:
- 10-15 Heart Cookie Pan – Small
- 10-15 Heart Cookie Pan – Large
- Plastic wrap
- Ribbons
- Heart shaped plastic ring
- Club card
- Tape
- Posterboard
- Scissors
- Boxes
- Mixer
- Ziplock bags
- Containers
List of ingredients:
- Butter
- Granulated sugar
- Firmly packed brown sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Flour
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Chocolate chips
- Eggs
Recipe:
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray pan with vegetable pan spray. In large bowl, with electric mixer, beat butter with sugars until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; mix well. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt; mix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread dough into prepared pan. Bake 15-20 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool on rack 5 minutes. Remove from pan. Cool before cutting. Decorate. Makes 8-10 servings.
Double recipe and get 3 small hearts.
Fundraising Sheet: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VXMAkyx83Qku6qMloUlvuvD6BFh_jJmfDXT8IGik3PQ/edit#
