AGENCY FAQs
We can’t wait to celebrate our amazing kiddos and young adults!
See below to answer (hopefully) most of the questions you may have about our program :)
GENERAL
• • • • • Where are you located?
We’re in a lot of places! Check out our Chapter List to see all the states and counties we’re open in, and going to open in as well - yours might be next! If you’d like your city to be considered, submit for consideration. If you know someone who would like to open a chapter, share this page to take a look at our requirements and see if they’d be a good fit!
• • • • • Who do you serve?
We partner with fellow registered 501c3 nonprofits that have been in existence for longer than 5 years.
Those 501c3 partner nonprofits will qualify as:
• Foster care agencies
• Family or youth homeless or alternative-care shelters
• Domestic violence shelters
• LGBTQIA+ shelters
As well as agencies serving:
• Critically/terminally ill children
• Human/sex trafficked youth
• Youth with incarcerated parents
These agencies should serve children and young adults, generally ages 1-27 years old.
We are always open to different types of agencies, so if you don’t see your type of agency listed here but you serve youth facing adversity, please sign up for cakes and we’ll get in contact with you!
• • • • • Is this free for us?
Yep 100% free! The volunteers cover the costs of the cake and their transportation. We cover the costs of the software, several programs that we run including our Volunteer Recognition program and DEI (Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion) initiatives, and additional overhead that we have. The cakes are valued at $40/cake, and we have saved our nonprofit partner agencies almost $500,000 in celebration costs! Love, joy, community, and smiles, though, is pretty priceless ;)
• • • • • What if we have a confidential address?
Not to worry! Please be sure to check in with the Chapter Leader about this and we’ll arrange a pickup with you at a specific location that’s close to your office. We do ask to make sure that you input that drop-off location in the Agency Sign-Up form so there’s no confusion – be sure to tell your agency staff where the pickup location is on cake-delivery day!
• • • • • All of our staff work from home. Can the cakes be delivered to the case workers’ homes?
To avoid confusion for our volunteer bakers, we deliver cakes to your commercial office location or the agreed-upon drop-off location if your address is confidential. Exceptions would be group homes that are staffed, parks/venues for special events, etc.
• • • • • Not sure our agency can commit yet…
We totally understand! Follow us on Instagram or Facebook for updates. Reach out and join whenever you’re ready for a fun afternoon of good feels.
• • • • • What is your Covid-19 policy?
We adhered to the CDC’s guideline for Covid-19, meaning between March 2020 and January 2023, our volunteers have been masked up during baking, decorating, and delivery of the cakes. However, we have revised our policy and do not require our volunteers to mask up or wear gloves during baking, decorating, or delivery of cakes. We do, however, have a very strict food safety policy which has been in place since our establishment in 2016.
OUR VOLUNTEERS
• • • • • Who are baking the cakes?
Our registered volunteer baker must be at least 18 years old and in good standing with us. They may have their child or teen (lovingly known as Lil’ Sprinklers 🥰) help bake the actual cake as well, but there is mandated parental supervision for that. They are from all skill levels – newbie home bakers to professional cake decorators, seeing the creativity is half the fun! (Eating it is the second half..)
• • • • • What are your volunteers trained on?
Our volunteers are trained on food safety, confidentiality, how to use social media when posting about their cakes (see below), and that they won’t meet the recipient of the cake. If your agency wants the child or young adult to meet the volunteer baker, that is 100% at your agency’s discretion, and For Goodness Cakes’ bakers understand that is very rare.
• • • • • What is your food safety course like?
Our mandatory volunteer online orientation includes a food safety course that covers everything from proper hygiene and food handling, to cleanliness standards, to a very descriptive list of different types of bacteria that can exist in food – and our volunteers must get a 90% or higher to pass. They have a total of two attempts, and if they don’t pass within those two attempts, they can take the National ServSafe course and qualify to bake for us.
• • • • • Can I post the cake on Instagram/Facebook/Twitter?
Of course! Check out our short how-to guide to take the most flattering photo of your cake.
If your agency wants to share photos of the cakes and/or the recipients on a public Instagram or Facebook page, we’re more than happy to re-share it and we know our volunteers love seeing their cakes being eaten! (But of course, we 100% do not expect the agency to share photos, that’s always just the cherry on top :) ).
Please tag us in any related posts for the following social media platforms:
Facebook: facebook.com/forgoodnesscakesinc/
Instagram: instagram.com/forgoodnesscakeshq
Twitter (honestly, though, we’re not really active on Twitter): twitter.com/fgc_org
We also have Chapter Instagram accounts:
@forgoodnesscakeshq • Headquarters
@forgoodnesscakesaz • Maricopa County, AZ
@forgoodnesscakescentralcoast • Central Coast, CA
@forgoodnesscakesie • Inland Empire, CA
@forgoodnesscakescalifornia • Los Angeles & Orange County, CA
@forgoodnesscakesky • Covington, KY
@forgoodnesscakestwincities • Twin Cities (St. Paul & Minneapolis), MN
@forgoodnesscakesnj • North Jersey, NJ
@forgoodnesscakesabq • Albuquerque, NM
@forgoodnesscakesbflo • Buffalo, NY
@forgoodnesscakesnyc • New York City, NY
@forgoodnesscakespdx • Portland Metro, OR
@forgoodnesscakesphilly • Philadelphia, PA
@forgoodnesscakesmke • Milwaukee, WI
IMPORTANT NOTES:
(1) Our volunteers are told to not give away the name of the agency and only the first name/age of the recipient is okay to show on social media.
(2) If you ever see recipients being posted from our social media accounts, that is because we coordinated with them beforehand to share photos, like in our Phoenix Rising Football Club deliveries. Lots of fun talks BEFORE and waivers all around!
CAKES
• • • • • What cakes can you request?
(1) Cake (serves ~ 12), for birthdays or graduations.
(2) Cupcakes (serves ~12), for birthday or graduations.
They can have names and ages on them, or they can be “nondescript,” see the image below for examples.
IMPORTANT NOTES:
(1) We do not do baby shower cakes, adoption cakes, or wedding cakes
(2) Individual Chapters may choose to do Back-to-School, holiday, or “Trunk or Treat” goodies, but that’s wholly up to the discretion of the Chapter Leader and the availability of volunteers. The more volunteers we have, the more likely we can take on the request! (Feel free to tell your friends about us 🥳)
• • • • • Do you do allergen, vegan, or gluten-free cakes?
No, unfortunately not. Since our wonderful and amazing Sprinkle Squad bakers are baking from their home kitchens, there is no way to guarantee that their kitchens are allergen-safe, 100% vegan, or 100% gluten-free. You can request a vegan cake and hopefully one of our vegan bakers will pick that up, but we cannot guarantee that will be the case.
• • • • • I submitted my first cake request, how will I know if my request will be fulfilled?
An email confirmation will be immediately emailed to you after you submit your request - please check your spam folder if you do not see it and triple check the details you requested. Any updates? Corrections? Reach out to your Chapter Leader.
While you will not receive an email notification that a volunteer has signed up to bake your request, you can rest assured that once you submit your request, it will be delivered on the date you provided 🥳🎂
• • • • • I need a cake in less than 10 days, can you still accommodate?
Maybe! If you need a cake sooner than 10 days, please reach out directly to your Chapter Leader. We will do our best; our volunteers want to make sure every child gets celebrated.
• • • • • I ordered 3 dozen cupcakes but only one volunteer showed up with 1 dozen. Where are the rest?
When you request 3 dozen it will be split up into 3 tasks, so you’ll have more than one volunteer baking and delivering the cupcakes.
• • • • • Can the staff order a cake for ourselves?
We are 100% amazed and grateful for all of hard and never-ending work our partner agencies put into helping our disadvantaged youth! Our Chapters, at their discretion, have a period of Agency Appreciation! We ask that you do not request cakes for the staff and let the Chapters whip that surprise up :)
• • • • • Do you have cake request forms on paper for families?
Sure do! If you want to have a family or youth fill out the form for themselves and hand it to your point-of-contact, we have a cake request form for that.
ENGLISH
SPANISH (Español)
Have the recipient/their family fill it out, return it to the caseworker or program manager (point-of-contact), and have the point-of-contact enter in the request through our online cake request form. Easy pease!
• • • • • Is there anything I should know about cake delivery day?
Yes! Please tell your reception or staff to expect a cake delivery that day. Sometimes agencies have volunteer receptionists that rotate daily, are completely new, or the desk is unattended for a large portion of the day. We have a flyer that introduces our organization and what we do, just ask your Chapter Leader for that. Also - enjoy the sweets!!!
• • • • • What if I have a problem with the delivery, who do I call?
It wouldn’t be life without a hiccup or two ;) The volunteer will have your contact information that you gave on the sign-up sheet. If you’re having a different type of problem, please get in touch with your Chapter Leader contact. We advise agency staff to give phone numbers to people who will pick up the phone for delivery day – not to a reception desk which may be unattended during your delivery time (see above).
• • • • • How should we throw celebrations?
That is completely up to you! We have had agencies order all of the cakes on the first day of the month to celebrate all birthdays that day and have no other deliveries the rest of the month, and we have agencies that order for each specific recipient’s date-of-honor and receive cakes all month long. It just depends on how your program is run and staffed. Either way, please make sure to submit all your cake requests at least 10 days in advance!
• • • • • I know a nonprofit that For Goodness Cakes should work with!
Amazing! Please send them this link and let them know to fill out the form, and the Chapter Leader will get in touch. We want to serve all agencies in your area as much as possible, so please let your colleagues and networks know that we’re here!
