Advice for returning Coffee Morning hosts

It can be helpful to reflect on your previous event(s) and review what did and didn't work last time.

To help you decide how to host this year's event, ask yourself:

• Was the venue I held my last event suitable?
• Did I invite too many or not enough guests last time?
• Did I have enough support during planning and on the day of the Coffee Morning?
• Do I want to have a private event this year or invite people from my community and the public?
• How long do I want to host my Coffee Morning for? Did we have enough time at the last event?

Top tip: Don't focus on 'perfection'. Instead, think about how you best want to bring those who matter to you together to raise funds for Macmillan.

If you have hosted a Coffee Morning before, then you may want to select the lite kit option when you sign up for this year's event.

The lite kit contains all the essentials for hosting again but leaves out some of decorations from the full kit. This way you can reuse materials from your previous Coffee Morning.

"Learn what your bestsellers are and make more of them. I found that simple bakes sell really well. Victoria sponge cake and fruit and plain scones are some of my bestsellers." - Jane, a returning Coffee Morning host

What did well at your previous Coffee Morning? What food sold out quickly or didn't sell as well? Did you have requests for other bites such as savoury, gluten free or vegan food?

Deciding what food and drinks to serve at your Coffee Morning this year can be easy. If certain dishes at your last event did well, make them again! Everyone loves a fan favourite.

Perhaps this year you want to avoid doing all the baking. You could provide shop bought food, ask guests to bring a dish, or even get sponsors to donate food or drinks for your event. This way you can focus your efforts elsewhere.

You may also want to think about if you had enough people helping serve food and drinks at your last Coffee Morning. You could focus on having fewer types of bakes and focus on the most popular ones at this year's event. You could nominate friends and family to help you, or make your food stand self-serve.

Top tip: Suggested donation amounts tend to work better than fixed pricing for bakes and drinks.

When deciding who you want to invite, you may want to start with inviting people who came to your event last time. You know they supported you before and they may be excited to be part of a regular event.

If you want to have a bigger Coffee Morning this year, you could extend invites beyond your friends and family.

If your event is open to the public and you want people in your community to attend, you can add your event to our Coffee Morning map.

Top tip: A reminder a day or two before the event can be helpful for guests and often makes a difference to turnout.

Having fundraising games and activities at your Coffee Morning can be a fun way to raise even more money and entertain your guests.

Don't be afraid to try out different ideas. For example, if you're hosting a Coffee Morning at your sports club, why not host a friendly match? People can make a small donation to participate and you could get sponsors to match donations.

By trying out new activities, you'll help your Coffee Morning avoid feeling too similar to your last event.