Charity Coffee Morning

Hosting Your Fundraising Coffee Morning

Who doesn’t love a coffee and a natter? It gives us invaluable human connection, a time to share, something to look forward to – something we’ve missed over the last year.

So with the annual Macmillan ‘Worlds Biggest Coffee Morning’ just around the corner, why not get your business involved and host your own event at your café or coffee shop?^[1] It’s an excellent opportunity to bring together members of your local community while raising funds at the same time.

Here are a few tips to get you started on how to organise a charity coffee morning:

Decide on a Date for Your Coffee Morning

This year’s official Macmillan World’s Biggest Coffee Morning date is 24 September. Still, you could host yours whenever suits you, at the weekend if you want to attract a wider audience.

Give Your Coffee Morning a Theme

Mums and bumps, parents or grandparents with toddlers, over 60s or just a general welcome to all: who do you want your coffee morning to appeal to? You may attract people by giving your event a theme and invite experts to give demos and talks. Make it engaging. If you have the facilities, you could run interactive coffee morning activities: craft sessions, cake decorating, or host quizzes, for example.

If you decide to hold it later in the year and support a local charity, consider a festive theme, Christmas wreath-making is popular.

How Much to Charge for a Coffee Morning?

Your entry fee will depend on the theme of your event. If you’re investing in a speaker or running workshops that need equipment, you’ll need to cover your costs. Have plenty of donation points available, particularly as people arrive and leave.

Support Local Groups

Groups, organisations, or other small local businesses may want to host their own coffee morning but don’t have suitable premises. Work in partnership to supply your café or coffee shop as the venue and support them by promoting the event.

Spread the Word

Once you’ve decided on the date and theme of your coffee morning, you need to promote it well. Macmillan has a range of resources you can download from the website.[2] You can also get your event listed on the Macmillan site.[3]

Social media is the cheapest and most effective option to spread the word and get people talking about your coffee morning. If you have a Facebook page, you can set up an event on your page and invite your followers to attend. This is an excellent tool because the more people accept your invitation, the greater exposure Facebook will give your event.[4] Posters and flyers in your café window and on tables leading up to the event will also help raise awareness.

On the day

Take lots of photos of the event. Photos are great for sharing across social media sites. If you choose to share your photos and fundraising activity on social media, don’t forget to tag those who took part (if possible) and the charity. This will further promote your coffee morning whilst spreading awareness for the charity you’re supporting.

All that remains now is to enjoy it. You’re not only holding an event that brings people together – something we all appreciate, now more than ever – you’ll also be supporting a great cause.

Coffee Shop Insurance

You should already have café business insurance or coffee shop insurance in place to protect you, your business, and your customers. Make sure that you have the right insurance to host large groups of people, especially if you’re planning on running extra activities and workshops.

_{[1] https://coffee.macmillan.org.uk/

[2] https://coffee.macmillan.org.uk/hosting/downloads/

[3] https://coffee.macmillan.org.uk/about/search/

[4] https://www.facebook.com/business/pages/post-event}