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Pancake Breakfast
A pancake breakfast as a school fundraiser is a fairly simple event and can be planned in just a few weeks. We've found that pancake breakfasts are most successful when planned for a Sunday morning from 7:00/8:00am-11:00am/12:00pm. The dates, times, and dollar amounts shown here are general guidelines and can vary depending upon your area.
ADVERTISE
The success to any pancake breakfast is in the advertising. While you want to significantly advertise, you may want to focus your advertising in a few select areas. Because, unlike a craft or yard sale where you are encouraging a high volume of spontaneous traffic, with a pancake breakfast it's best to have an idea of how many people are expected to attend in order to plan your food quantities.
We recommend advertising heavily to school parents and grandparents. Do this by sending home flyers with the students 3 weeks prior to your breakfast date. These initial flyers should have a return form for ordering tickets and also request volunteers. If initial response is low, send a second flyer 1 week prior to your sale. Then send a reminder notice home in the student's backpacks the Friday prior to your Sunday breakfast. We've attached some sample flyers to save you time (see below). Note that tickets do not have to be physically distributed with each order. For convenience purposes, keep a list of orders and have your guests check in at the front door on that day.
Although not all, most churches gather on Sunday morning. By asking your local churches to announce your pancake breakfast at the end of their service, you will encourage spontaneous walk-in sales.
PLAN THE MENU
Keep your menu simple: pancakes with syrup, sausage, juice, milk, and coffee with cream and sugar. You may want to vary this slightly depending on your area. Since this is a school fundraiser, your guests will not expect an extravagant breakfast, but they will expect well-prepared food.
SPONSORSHIPS
Many local vendors are more than happy to support their local schools. We recommend you first contact a few breakfast establishments, speak to the owner, and see if they would be willing to donate any food items to your fundraiser. Chain restaurants (i.e. McDonalds, Burger King, etc.) are more likely to have pre-made pancake mixes in large quantities. By using pre-made mixes you avoid the need for additional ingredients (i.e. eggs, milk). If you do not receive donated food items, you will need to purchase them. A wholesale warehouse (BJ's Wholesale, Costco, Sams Club) has products packaged in larger quantities. Or purchase items at your local grocery store. Disposable plates, forks, knives, spoons, cups (coffee & juice), and napkins may either be donated or purchased as well.
For more information on obtaining sponsors & advertising, Sign up and receive immediate access to Fundraising: Success is in the Details, a Free online guide from PTO Ideas featuring 8 essential steps to creating successful fundraisers. Click here.
SET A TICKET PRICE
Once you've determined how your food and paper goods will be provided for the breakfast (donated or purchased) and you've priced out the items that need to be purchased, it's time to set a ticket price. Do this by picking an estimated number of people; let's 50 people. Calculate the food and paper goods cost by actually going to the store and checking prices on items to be purchased. Divide your total costs by 50 to determine your cost to feed each person. Then add on $1.00 - $3.00 per person for profit.
| Item | Quantity | Unit Price | Total Price |
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| Pancake Mix | 2 large boxes | $3.99 | $7.97 |
| Milk | 2 gallons | $2.89 | $5.78 |
| Eggs | 5 dozen | $1.19 | $5.95 |
| Syrup | 3 large | $0.99 | $2.97 |
| Sausage | 100 links | | $10.00 |
| Milk | 50 small cartons | $0.25 | $12.50 |
| Orange Juice | 3 gallons | 2.89 | $8.67 |
| Coffee | 1 large container | $6.99 |
| Cream | 2 large containers | $2.00 | $4.00 |
| Sugar | $2.00 |
| Plates | $5.00 |
| Coffee & Juice cups | $5.00 |
| Forks, Knives, Spoons, Stirrers | $12.00 |
| Napkins | $2.00 |
| Butter | $4.00 |
| Total cost for 50 people | $94.83 |
| Total cost per person | $1.89 |
| Ticket Prices: $3.50 children, $5.00 adults |
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By selling as many advance tickets as possible, you'll be able to better estimate food quantities. Then plan your food purchases to be 80-100% over your ticket sales to account for walk-in, spontaneous sales. It's better to have too much food than not enough.
RESERVE THE LOCATION
It's easiest to utilize your school cafeteria for your pancake breakfast. The kitchen, tables, and chairs are already located here. Be sure to obtain appropriate approvals from your school principal. You'll also need to ensure access to the school on the morning of your breakfast. This may entail hiring a custodian for the day.
ADD VALUE TO YOUR EVENT
Pancake breakfasts are not necessarily a high dollar fundraiser. You can expect to profit a few hundred dollars. However, they do generate an audience; this makes it a perfect opportunity to sell raffle tickets. See our Raffle and Gift Basket ideas. The combination of a pancake breakfast and a raffle make for a more profitable fundraising event.
THANK YOUR SPONSORS
Please remember to always send a thank you note to any company that contributes a donated item. It shows your appreciation and will help maintain a good working relationship with the vendor.
THINGS TO REMEMBER
- Determine the location (school kitchen & cafeteria)
- Tables and chairs
- Set the menu (i.e. pancakes with syrup and butter, sausage, juice, milk, and coffee with cream and sugar). Additional milk and eggs to make the pancakes if needed.
- Paper goods: plates, forks, knives, spoons, cups (coffee & juice), cofee stirrers, and napkins.
- Trash barrels & trash bags
- Pancake breakfast tickets
- Raffle tickets
- Volunteers (set-up, clean-up, cooking, serving, cleaning tables, selling breakfast & raffle tickets)
- Access to the school
- Hire a custodian, if needed
- "Pancake Breakfast" signs posted on the entrance door to your school
Please view our sample flyers to make advertising even easier:
- Pancake Breakfast Announcement, distribute 3 weeks prior to event.
- Volunteer Request Form, distribute to parents only 3 weeks prior to event.
- Pancake Breakfast Sign
- Reminder Notice, distribute to parents only 3 days prior to event.
SAMPLE ANNOUNCEMENT
The School Name will be hosting a
Pancake Breakfast
Sunday, May 15th
at the ABC School
Street Address, City
8:00 am - 11:00 am
Please support our fundraising efforts by attending our pancake breakfast. Tickets: $3.00 children age 12 and under, $4.50 adults. The purchase of advance ticket reservations are greatly appreciated.
We will also be hosting our annual Gift Basket Raffle. Each raffle basket contains over $300 in gifts. Tickets: $1.00 each or 10 for $5.00
All proceeds to benefit the ABC School.
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Please return this portion to the School Name.
Pancake Breakfast advance ticket reservations:
Children (age 12 & under)_____ @ $3.00 each = $_______
Adults _____ @ $4.50 each = $_______
Total Children & Adults: _____; Total Amount $_______
Gift Basket Raffle tickets:
Please indicate the total number of raffle tickets you would like to purchase and the baskets in which you would like us to place your tickets.
Total no. of raffle tickets purchased ______ @ $1.00 each or 10 for $5.00 = $_______
_____Family Game Night; _____Movie Night; _____All Sports; _____Four Season; _____Road to Reading; _____Home Improvement
Name:__________________________ Phone:_______ - ______________
Address:______________________________________________________
Total Amount Enclosed $_________ (cash or check made payable to School Name PTO).
SAMPLE VOLUNTEER REQUEST FORM
Parent volunteers needed for the
School Name
Pancake Breakfast
Sunday, May 15th
8:00 am - 11:00 am
Please support our efforts by volunteering.
All proceeds to benefit the School Name.
_____ YES, I can help with set-up, 7:00 am to 9:00 am
_____ YES, I can help with cooking, serving, ticket sales, 8:00 am to 11:00 am
_____ YES, I can help with clean-up, 10:30-12:00
Name:__________________________ Phone:_______ - ______________
Address:______________________________________________________
SAMPLE SIGN
Pancake Breakfast & Raffle
Fundraiser
Sunday, May 15th
at the School Name
Street Address, City
8:00 am - 11:00 am
SAMPLE REMINDER NOTICE
Please come to the
School Name
Pancake Breakfast
Sunday, May 15th
8:00 am - 11:00 am
All proceeds to benefit the school.
Parent Volunteers still needed
Please contact _________________ at ____-___________ to volunteer.
____________________________________________________________
PTO Ideas has provided you with ideas for planning an event. This information should not be used as a legal reference and may not be all-inclusive. We suggest consulting with the head of your school or any other essential professional.
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