This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.
Plant sales for school fundraising
Hello
Have any of you wise people out there been involved in organising a plant sale for a school fundraiser? I'm thinking maybe I could combine my two passions.
Would you go to local garden centres to ask them for plant donations to sell at a profit along with free advertising for them ? Would they do that, or do you have to rely on parents bringing plants to sell ?
I am currently working on the wildlife garden at the school as well, and last year we did ask parents to bring plants in which we did plant up. We may be asking them to donate plants for another gardening day so may not donate plants twice.
Any ideas / advice ?
Thank you.
0
Posts
I've done this quite a few (!) times. A lot will depend on when your plant sale will be.
Firstly, much as we gardeners think that home-raised perennials sold at a plant sale/summer fete or whatever are a bargain over the high price at a GC, the average punter tends to ignore such choice plants. If you like, they are looking for plant bling.
The easiest and most profitable sales come from annual plants raised from seed - think French marigold, cosmos daisy, alyssum etc. Or cuttings from pelargoniums etc. And the greater profit comes from ready-planted pots/tubs/baskets.
By all means get as many parents involved as possible (especially if they are doing stuff in their own GH - a few extras for the school are easy for them when they are pricking out seedlings) and see if local GCs would get in on the act. They may be able to donate a basket or two etc. Or a couple of bags of compost.
Check the price at the GC and price yours just a bit below, but don't try to be too clever - the pricing strategy has to be right. And if you can produce plants in flower, punters will buy. We know that "buds are best" ie future flowers are better than soon-to-fade flowers, but the impulse buyers rarely does - which is why GCs put full-flowered plants out in great number to attract the eye rather than the brain.
Well, this has been my experience - I hope it goes well for you!
Why not? Try all the ones local to you, and it might be worth saying 'so and so are donating x'. Maybe offer to take all their reduced plants or ones they have a glut of, off their hands
Shrinking Violet is right, annuals sell well, but it depends on when the sale is. I do plant sales for charity though and I can usually choose when.
When I divide perennials in autumn and spring I pot some up and keep them in a cold frame, no lid, unless they are a bit tender. So I include perennials but have more annuals. For the annuals I Google the pictures and put them on Word pages which I print and put out so people can see what they will grow into. Most people who buy aren't knowledgeable gardeners. Ask friends and parents too, nothing venture, nothing gain!
Last year I sowed too many petunias. I found a load of large flower pots in a skip so I planted pots with 3 or more petunias and they sold well. If you have time you can paint or decorate the pots, or the schoolchildren can.
You could try the GC for slightly out of date seeds, they only throw them away because seeds now will say 2016/17 probably, but when I was on the scrounge for seeds for a charity I asked in a local Farm suppliers, they gave thousands of packets far more helpful than the GC.
Hopefully there will be other parents willing to pop a few trays in their greenhouses.
Other than that, I think Violet and Lizzie have advised spot on. Good luck with it, its very satisfying to do something like this.
Maybe not of interest to you, but my step daughter who is a teacher, wanted to get her girls (pupils) making cakes and biscuits to sell at their fundraising do, but were told that only bought cakes etc were allowed these days, nothing homemade!
To do with allergies, she was told. People have been baking for these events forever, seems not now though.
There is no legislation which forbids home-made jams, pickles or cakes for one-off events.
I know from personal knowledge of a daughter who was forbidden to take a birthday cake into a care home for her mother.
But, since 13 December 2014 you have to be sure that every cooked item is labelled with allergy information.
From experience with our local WI people will not buy bought cakes.
All getting silly, W.O, this is actually a school in Wales. Perhaps the Head didnt think they could be trusted to label goods.
I used to cook for our local W.I. market, but it got so complicated, then they started to talk about stainless steel worktops etc, I couldn't be doing with it anymore.
The whole home made food stuff "rules" is silly. I have issues with food allergies and don't even trust my own mother not to try and poison me so guess what... I just don't buy the homemade food regardless of what label they might put with it. Do I think that they should stop homemade foods being sold at events?! Good lord no!
Regarding your plant sales when is it being hosted? Are you allowed to get the children to make crafts? I.e. plant labels, little signposts telling slugs to go away, decorated pots...
Good luck!
Thank you for all of your helpful responses. I'll see what I can do. Just got to organise a sponsored pancake flip first, get two sheds taken down and find volunteers to help me take those down, and put up and organise the new one, then there is the potential movie night...
Plants are so much more fun than that. Looking forward to better weather so i can get out in my garden and think about that rather than PTA stuff.