Why Does Icing Smiles Need Donations?

This is a question we hear a lot. Below, our Executive Director/Founder, Tracy Quisenberry, shares why we need your generous donations. Icing Smiles has an annual budget of $150,000 before we even consider the value of the cakes donated. So, what types of costs do we have? Here’s an overview of how cash expenditures break down:

40% – People

This category includes salaries, payroll taxes, and stipends. These are the people who help us coordinate and schedule each special cake, and the volunteers (we have no full-time staff) who keep our doors open. Our administrative team is made up of over 75 people who contribute more than 50,000 hours per year to the Icing Smiles mission. A handful of long-term volunteers (who deserve much more than we have to offer) receive a stipend because they make the magic happen! The truth of the matter…we know we could reach so many more families if we could afford full-time staff.

25% – Volunteer Related Expenses

While our Sugar Angels donate their time and expertise, Icing Smiles still has additional costs related to our SMILES. These expenses include things like volunteer reimbursement for supplies, purchasing cakes if a volunteer isn’t available, recognizing the generous Icing Smiles volunteers (PIN PROGRAM!!!), and recruiting new volunteers at trade shows/conventions. We also protect our volunteers with liability insurance, so they don’t have to worry about anything other than making children smile!

15% – Technology

This bucket encompasses the fees associated with our website where families and volunteers apply. We think you would agree, that this is an unavoidable expense! In addition, our technology budget also covers operations software which allows us to process applications in 10 minutes rather than the 30 minutes it takes to do it manually. You know what this means…..more SMILES. Finally, we have other administrative and accounting systems that we would much rather NOT have to include, but the auditors would not be happy with us if we cancel those subscriptions. Even the business of delivering smiles, one cake at a time, is a complicated one!

20% – Legal & Professional Fees (including state registration fees)

This one is not fun, but we have no choice. Icing Smiles provides cakes in all 50 states, and we must register to do business in each state and follow each state’s reporting requirements. In the past, we have tried to do this with volunteers, but with very strict deadlines, it was quite a burden. We decided to hire a company so that we can focus on creating SMILES, rather than pushing paper. Finally, some of those states require an Independent Auditor Report. Our founder is a CPA, and we tried to get them to just trust us but they didn’t go for it! Transparency is at the core of what we do.

A note from our founder, Tracy:

“As much as we wish we could pay our bills in cake, we can’t! BUT, We do a lot with very little cash! When you add in the value of our in-kind donations, our combined administrative and fundraising costs are less then 10% of our total budget.  We are incredibly appreciative of your financial support so that we can continue to bring SMILES to critically ill children and create magical memories for their families all across the country. ”

Want to be a part of spreading smiles? Donate Today!