How Bakeries and Food Producers Can Sell Through Fundraisers

Bread, baking, preserves and fresh produce — food producers have products every fundraiser wants, and a natural advantage: everyone needs to eat.

Here's the short version: list your products on Generous.nz's wholesale catalogue, let fundraisers sell them from their own pages at a price you set, and give the cause a share of at least 10% of every sale. You fulfil the orders as they come in. It's a volume game — pies, bread and baking sell in dozens, not singles — so the maths works best when many fundraisers are selling your products at once.

Why food producers fit fundraising

Food is the original fundraiser. Sausage sizzles, bake sales and pie drives have funded school trips for generations — and the digital version is the same product with less work: no stall, no cash box, no volunteer roster. A fundraiser adds your product to their store, their community buys, and you bake or pack to order.

For producers, the appeal is scale. One fundraiser might sell 50 pies; twenty fundraisers across the country can sell a thousand. Wholesale food is a repeat-purchase category, and every sale is a new household that has tasted your product.

The maths that works

Let's price a $20 pie-and-baking pack (say six pies) with a 10% share:

What happens	Amount
Buyer pays	$20.00
Fundraiser's share (10%)	$2.00
Platform fee (5% + GST on the sale)	~$1.10
You receive	~$16.90

If the pack costs you $11 in ingredients and packaging, that's a $5.90 margin per pack — and a school selling 200 packs earns the cause $400 while you clear $1,180. Food margins are real but thin, which is why the 10% floor is usually right. The share guide helps you check your own numbers.

What makes it work

• Make the pack, not the single. Packs — "six pies", "a baker's dozen of bread", "a preserve hamper" — lift the order value and simplify your fulfilment.
• Think about shelf life. Fresh products need pickup days and order windows; long-life products (preserves, frozen pies, dried goods) can ship anywhere, anytime. Design your offer around your product's real life.
• Set pickup or delivery terms clearly. "Pickup Fridays at the bakery" or "courier nationwide" — stated upfront, there are no surprises. See how to set terms that protect you.
• Match the season. Mince pies in winter, Christmas baking in November, preserves at harvest time, hot cross buns at Easter — seasonal products sell themselves. Plan the year and you'll have a campaign every month.
• Serve the match-day market. Sports clubs selling pies and baking at games is a classic — your products become part of their routine, and they keep coming back.

Which fundraisers to choose

Schools, sports clubs and churches are the natural partners for food products — they have built-in volume and events where food is expected. If you want to spread across many campaigns at once, the wholesale catalogue model means fundraisers find you, rather than you chasing each one.

A few honest notes

Food is a trust product: your name goes on every pack, so quality and food safety matter more than margin. Start with a limited product range and a manageable order volume, prove the fulfilment works, then let more fundraisers sell it. And remember the buyer details go straight to you for fulfilment — you always know who you're baking for.

Frequently asked questions

What's the minimum share I give a fundraiser?

At least 10% of each sale on Generous.nz. Food margins usually keep most producers at 10–15%.

Who pays the platform fee?

You do — 5% + GST on sales, fee-free on your first $1,000, and nothing if nothing sells.

How do fundraisers sell my products?

They add your product to their store from the wholesale catalogue with one click, list it on their page at the price you set, and their community buys. Orders come to you to fulfil.

What if I can't fulfil an order?

Set realistic inventory levels on your listing — when stock runs out, sales pause automatically. That's better than overselling and disappointing a fundraiser's supporters.

Do I get the buyer's details?

Yes — every order includes the buyer's details for fulfilment, so you know exactly who to bake for and where to send it.