What Drinks should I offer & how much should I sell them for?

1000 beer tickets

You should sell Drink Tickets for around the $4 or $5 mark, but it really does depend on which city you are in.  You see, in the Niagara region, they tend to price things cheaper and you might even see $3.50 drinks.  The closer to Burlington, the prices will be around $5 or even $6.  Head over to Toronto and you can expect prices closer to $7 or $8.  If you run your own bar or if the hall runs the bar might also dictate your prices so that you are still making a profit.

Also, remember that you cannot discount drinks – so you cannot offer $5 per drink or two drinks for $8 as an example.  It is illegal!  So if they are part of a package, you can discount the package if offering raffle tickets or game tickets, but you cannot discount the drink ticket part.

Beer

Choose 2-4 types of beer – that is it!  People will always find a beer they like based on the choices you offer.  Nobody is going to listen to the beer choices, and say “no thank you – you don’t have my brand”.  They will be fine!  Make all beers the same price, and don’t have premium beers if this is a fundraiser. Keep it simple!  So we suggest around $4 if you are in the Niagara area, or $5 if in the Grimsby/Stoney Creek/Hamilton areas.  Burlington you might want to go up to $5 or $6.  Use the Beer Ticket for this one – and if you decide to have premium beers despite our recommendation, then choose 2 colours of Beer Tickets to distinguish them.

Liquor

Some people might want to do shots, but again keep it simple!  Have 3-4 hard liquor options available (vodka, rye, rum) and don’t worry about tequila or speciality shots.  Keep this price the same as the Beer price to again keep things simple.  Use the Liquor Ticket for this one if you are selling it for a different price than Beer.

Coolers

Don’t sell coolers or ciders at your Fundraiser!  Sorry, were we too blunt there?!  These are fantastic for people attending a Fundraiser, as people like options.  But Coolers are pricey, and then you have to charge more for these plus have a different type of ticket to sell for them. This causes a tiny bit more work for the people selling the tickets, and a tiny more brain power for the bartenders when distinguishing the different coloured liquor tickets.  If you charge the same price for a Cooler as you do for a Beer, then you will be out profit wise.  They are a fun option, but your profit margin is drastically decreased.  We recommend you to just stay away from these altogether at Fundraisers.

Jello Shooters / Pudding Shots / Drunken Gummy Bears

You can sell these at the bar, but probably what is most profitable for you, would be to have some pretty girls walking from table to table selling these.  I know that is totally sexist to say… but you know we are right.  Have 2 flavours to choose from, there is no need to offer more than that. Just like our Beer comment, people won’t turn them down because you don’t have their favourite flavour. They will choose between one of the two options, we assure you! Most people charge $1 but some charge $2 especially if they are a bit bigger of a cup.  These you usually just sell with money rather than getting a special ticket for them, but if you have set up to use tickets, then use a Refreshment Ticket. We recommend that you find the cups that have lids on them so that they can be stacked and kept fresher.

Pop / Juice / Water Bottle

We suggest that you have 2 types of pop and 2 types of juices – something like gingerale, coke, cranberry juice, and orange juice.  These make for great mixers!  You would use a Refreshment Ticket for these, and we recommend only selling them for $2 each can/glass.  Water bottles can also use the same Refreshment Ticket.  If you need to charge different prices for these, then use different colours of the Refreshment Tickets, but as always we encourage you to keep things simple and of the same price.

Did you find this FAQ helpful?
Thumbs Up Icon 5
Thumbs Down Icon 0
Category: Drink FAQs