How to Organize a Concession Stand

A concession stand is a small food and beverage stand set up at a sporting event, school, or public venue, typically run by volunteers to raise money for a team, club, or organization. It sounds simple until you're the one running it, then it's a budget, an inventory list, a volunteer schedule, a cash box, and a permit application, all happening at once, usually on top of everything else you already do.

This covers the whole thing: what it costs, what to stock, how to staff it without burning out, and how to keep it organized across a full season rather than reinventing it every week.

Building Your Budget and Pricing

Start with what you're actually trying to raise, not just what you're planning to sell. If your goal is $2,000 for the season, work backward: estimate attendance per game, a realistic percentage of attendees who'll buy something, and average spend per person. That tells you whether your price points and menu size can realistically hit the number, before you've bought a single case of hot dogs.

Price for a healthy margin, not just to cover cost. A good starting target is pricing each item at two to three times what it costs you, since you're also covering spoilage, unsold inventory, and the items you'll inevitably give away or undercharge for in the chaos of a rush. Round prices to whole dollars or clean quarter increments wherever you can. Making change quickly matters more than squeezing an extra 25 cents out of every sale.

Genius Tip

Bundle a drink with a food item at a slightly discounted combined price. It moves faster at the register than ringing up two separate items, and it nudges people toward a bigger sale than they walked up planning to make.

Deciding What to Sell and Sourcing It

Keep your menu smaller than you think you need. A tight menu of five to eight items you can execute quickly beats a long menu that slows down the line and multiplies your inventory headaches. Classic, low-prep items, hot dogs, popcorn, candy, canned drinks, move faster and spoil less than anything requiring real cooking equipment or refrigeration you don't have on-site.

Decide early whether you're purchasing inventory wholesale or asking families to donate items. Wholesale buying clubs and restaurant supply stores typically beat grocery store prices by a wide margin once you're buying in the quantities a season requires. Donations reduce your upfront cost but make inventory far less predictable, you may end up with twelve bags of chips and no napkins.

Equipment and Setup Essentials

Beyond food, a functioning stand needs a checklist most first-time coordinators underestimate:

• A cash box or lockable register drawer, with a starting float of small bills and coins
• Coolers or a way to keep cold items cold for the full event window
• Tables and a simple line-management setup so people aren't crowding the window
• Hand sanitizer, gloves, and basic first aid supplies
• An extension cord and power strip if you're running any equipment
• Trash cans and extra bags, concession stands generate more trash than people expect
• Clear, visible signage with your menu and prices, so the line moves faster

Do a walkthrough of your actual setup location before the season starts, not the morning of your first event. Outlet access, water access, and covered space for rain all vary by venue, and finding out you don't have one of these on day one costs you the whole first game.

Recruiting and Structuring Your Team

Break the work into distinct roles rather than a single vague "help at the stand" ask: setup, cashier, food prep, serving, and breakdown. A volunteer who knows exactly what they signed up for is more likely to show up and more likely to actually be useful once they do.

Size your shifts to the event, not a fixed number. A weeknight practice concession stand might run fine with two people; a tournament final might need six. Build in a slight buffer of extra coverage for your busiest, highest-traffic games rather than staffing every date identically.

New volunteers do better with five minutes of orientation than none: where the cash box is, how to use the register or make change, where supplies are stored, and who to ask if something runs out. A quick verbal walkthrough at the start of each shift prevents most of the mistakes that happen in the first twenty minutes.

Genius Tip

Reaching out to last year's volunteers first? Duplicate last year's sign up instead of building a new one from scratch. You'll keep the same roles and structure that already worked, and you can send it to your returning group the moment your dates are set.

How to Get More Volunteers to Sign Up and Show Up

Staying Organized All Season

This is where most concession stands actually fall apart, not on game day, but in the week-to-week grind of re-recruiting, re-reminding, and re-explaining the same shifts over and over. A sign up built for the full season handles this instead of you.

A concession stand touches more of the platform than just a sign up sheet, worth calling that out explicitly rather than leaving it implied. Here's a paragraph plus bullets:

Running a concession stand well means juggling more than just a volunteer schedule, you're handling money, tracking a fundraising goal, and possibly even selling pre-orders or merchandise on the side. SignUpGenius covers the whole picture, not just the staffing piece, so nothing has to live in a separate app or a second spreadsheet.

Handling Money Safely

Count your starting cash float with a second person present and record the amount before the stand opens. Do the same at close, two people counting down, both signing off on the total. This single habit prevents the overwhelming majority of "where did the money go" disputes that come up over a season.

Keep the cash box out of sight and never left unattended, even for a two-minute break. If your stand handles a meaningful volume of sales, consider a mid-event cash pickup to move accumulated cash somewhere secure rather than letting it build up in the box all night.

Health, Safety, and Compliance

Check your local health department and venue rules before you open. Requirements vary widely by city and county, and some venues require a temporary food service permit even for volunteer-run stands. Don't assume last year's rules still apply, ordinances and venue policies change more often than people expect.

If you're serving anything beyond prepackaged items, at least one person on-site should understand basic food safety: keeping cold items cold, hot items hot, and avoiding cross-contact with common allergens. Post a visible allergen list if your menu includes common triggers like peanuts or tree nuts.

Keep a basic fire safety plan if you're using any grills, warmers, or heating equipment: a fire extinguisher on-site, clear space around heat sources, and at least one volunteer who knows where the shutoff is.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a concession stand?
A concession stand is a small food and beverage stand at a sporting event, school, or public venue, usually run by volunteers to raise money for a team, club, or organization.

How much should I charge for concession stand items?
Price items at roughly two to three times what they cost you, to cover spoilage and unsold inventory, and round to whole dollars or clean quarter increments so making change stays fast during a rush.

What permits do I need to run a concession stand?
Requirements vary by city, county, and venue, and some places require a temporary food service permit even for volunteer-run stands. Check with your local health department and venue before opening.

How do I staff a concession stand for a full season of games?
Set up recurring dates so your sign up covers the whole season at once, use automatic reminders so volunteers don't forget their shift, and link a separate donations sign up with a tab group if you're also collecting supplies.

How do I keep concession stand cash handling secure?
Count the starting float and closing total with two people present each time, keep the cash box out of sight and never unattended, and consider a mid-event cash pickup for high-volume stands.