One of my small guilds used to do refreshments before the meeting. Two people would sign up to be the hostesses for each month and they were responsible for bringing all the snacks and usually water or tea to drink plus the plates and napkins or whatever you needed to eat the treats and then they cleaned up after. Pretty much every body took a turn eventually.

if a majority of the members want snacks to be provided a majority should be willing to share the responsibilty
there are a number of ways to (pass around the responsibility)
you could pass out numbers as people come through the door- then with the guild calendar in hand randomly draw numbers from a hat- whom ever has the corresponding number would be written down for that meeting- ect until the calendar is filled- then reminders would need to be sent out - maybe in the newsletter/agenda - the secretary would probably be responsible for that- if anyone had a problem-could not participate she could let (whom ever) know so a new number could be drawn to replace her month....there are lots of different ways to deal with it- or if not that many people care about snacks- forget about them-

I'm in charge of refreshments at the night meeting and always bring something. I don't mind bringing a dish. It's a chore to get other people to sign up to bring food. They don't want to bring anything (not all members are like that but a majority are)....but they want to eat. If there is no food brought then they can do without...I wish they would just do away with refreshments.

Lynn

We just send around a sheet once or twice a year and people sign up (2 for each meeting). However, many of us have discussed the fact that we don't need or really want refreshments that late in the evening (we meet at 7 p.m.) and I am hoping we will vote not to have them anymore.

Long ago our guild used to have snacks at the meetings, but it was decided that we really didn't need them, and now only bottles of water or soda are available for $.50 each.

We have a sign up sheet at the beginning of the year. You pick a month and put your name down. At the end of each meeting a reminder is announced to remind the Hostess's they are hosting the following month, works great and no complaints.

we do not have snacks or treats at our business meeting or work meetings, unless it is an all day sew or quilt retreat, then we pot luck it. If someone wants to bring a snack in, then it is their choice.

Pass around a sign-up sheet for the year. If there is a month when no one signs up, then there are no treats. No begging. No threats of not having treats if no one steps up to sign up. No whining. No judgments. Must keep the message positive or people sometimes are just not responding because they don't like the mean-sounding voices begging.

Then again, maybe the economy has just finally hit some folks and buying snacks is just an unwanted expense.

We meet 10 am to 3 pm and everyone brings a sack lunch. Anyone can bring a cake, cookies, pot of soup whatever to share. No obligation so we always have several who bring something to share at every meeting.

We do the Birthday month - you bring in something the month of your birthday- we are a very small group 12 members so others bring in extras so it is not a problem usually :)