I enjoy baking; most people enjoy eating baked goods and are willing to pay for them... Combine the two and it's clear that a bake sale is the way to go.
A vegan bake sale is great for two key reason: Fundraising and Outreach. Obviously any money raised can go to a good cause, such as your local campaign group to fund future campaigns, to a national campaign group, to an animal shelter, and so on. The outreach aspect also makes activities such as bake sales well worth while. It sends out a positive image of vegans and veganism, and - so long as the food is tasty! - it shows off how good vegan food can be.
We held ours on campus, which took a quick email to the student activities organiser to arrange. There's a usual spot at my uni for holding stalls, bake sales etc, just outside the Students' Union building and by the student pub / bar.
Chocolate brownies (which disappeared within about 15 minutes of us setting up - will make more next time!), flapjacks, chocolate fudge, and lots of different flavour cupcakes were on sale. In the four hours we were out we raised £50.60 - not bad, especially considering it wasn't a very busy day at the Uni and that we'd almost ran out of the food by the end!
Having others help with a bake sale is crucial. There were two of us on the stall the entire time, and a friend who was unable to help on the day kindly baked cupcakes for the sale. Make sure you know what everyone's making so you can get a good range of baked goods.
We used an inexpensive cake stand and some pretty plastic plates to make it look nice, as well as a table cloth, as pasting tables aren't really that attractive! There were a few different vegan leaflets to the side too, such as the Animal Aid "I can't believe it's... Vegan!" one which I always try and have on stalls. I also printed off some copies of some of the recipes I'd used too. People may ask you questions about veganism or other animal issues, so treat this in the same way you would any vegan / animal rights stall, and make sure you know your stuff!
That was our first bake sale. Once I'm back at Uni come September, there'll be more bake sales organised. I know now to bake more brownies, and have some form of bags for people to put their purchases in if need be. I've also got copies of "The Cake Scoffer" booklet to sell to raise some extra funds too.
It's things like bake sales which I enjoy probably more than many other forms of activism, as they're more relaxed but still have an important place.
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