SC - Feast profits?

[Rebecca E Tants]

Ras asked...
>Is it a usual practice to price a feast to make a profit? 

Depends how you think about it.  I work with the autocrat.  We calculate 
a break even attendence point that we are sure (short of a noreaster) we 
will hit and then set our prices for on/off/out board appropriately.  I 
then cook to those numbers.

For example, The Feast of the 7 Deadly Sins last year sat 124 at feast 
and had probably another 30-40 off/out boards.  I cooked based bought 
food based upon our figure of 100 people in attendence and then made it 
feed up to 125.  Everything over those 100 on boards was "profit".  

Some of that profit get's eaten by unexpected problems or expenses, but 
most goes into the baronial funds and are used for regalia, loaner 
gear/garb, kitchen supplies (I WANT CHAFING DISHES/WARMING TRAYS THIS 
YEAR!) and other things that become the groups property and are used for 
the good of the group and our ability to more correctly EDUCATE 
interested parties.  No single person makes money off the event, and 
therefore it doesn't violate the rules of a non-profit.  (Just like 
selling girl scout cookies doesn't hurt the girl scouts.)

The reason this is important is that for every 3 7 deadlies that go off 
without a hitch, there will be 1 that get's a noreaster, or a cook that 
goes over budget, or an outdoor event that get's rained out but for 
which we still have to pay the site fee.  Believe me, there aren't 
groups with huge amounts of money sitting around.  While we try to make 
at least a little profit on every event (and the example above did quite 
nicely), there are plenty of times when we lose money.

So yes, I plan to make a profit - Or rather, I plan to break even on the 
minimum number of reasonably expected people and cook for the maximum I 
can stretch for without sacrificing quality, quantity or variety, and 
the rest goes to either the baronial account or to cover this years 
unexpected problem!

Caitlen Ruadh
(1999 Feast of the 7 Deadly Sins, Feb. 13, 1999! Everyone is invited!)



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