Organize the Best Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser with These 7 Tips

When you’re on a tight budget and need to warm up your organization’s finances, consider a pancake breakfast fundraiser.

While many event-based fundraising ideas can be successful, pancake breakfasts have relatively low supply costs, strong familiarity, and a casual atmosphere, making them appealing to core supporters and the larger community.

Making it a financial and outreach success, however, takes planning and strategy. We’ve stacked up our favorite pancake breakfast fundraiser ideas and best practices below to help you sweeten your outcome.

1. Set your goals 

What are your goals for the event? Beyond just saying “we want to profit,” identify specific objectives and how you can reach them, such as: 

• Profit – Target the specific amount needed after paying for direct and indirect costs.
  
  
• Volunteer engagement – Secure the right mix, number, and assignment skill set.
  
  
• Community connections – Build awareness through local news and attendance.
  
  
• Social media engagement – Increase views, shares, comments, and responses.
  
  
• Membership and/or volunteer drive – Gain new levels of involvement.

2. Apply project management best practices 

To organize an event with multiple volunteers, stakeholders, and task dependencies, you’ll want to put on your project management hat. At a practical level, plan to:

• Start early—even annual pancake breakfasts often take up to 6 months to plan.
• Employ centralized data available to the team, such as timelines, checklists, meeting notes, etc.
• Establish start dates, target dates, and hard deadlines for tasks.
• Assign clear responsibilities in writing.
• Set a budget and identify costs and opportunities.

Think about communication from the start by offering transparency, ensuring the technology is available and understood by everyone, and checking in for updates.

3. Use RaiseRight to save on expenses

Keep your costs down by buying in bulk and doing some DIY work. You can save with smart purchases and earn up to 20% back for your fundraiser by using RaiseRight gift cards to pay for: 

• Kitchen supplies – Buy cooking and serving tools and recipe ingredients from grocery stores, Sam's Club, Target, or Amazon.
  
  
• Signage – Make signage and display materials with products from Walmart, JOANN, Michaels, or Big Lots!.
  
  
• Everything else – Use universal prepaid cards (like Visa or American Express) to buy the rest.

Not yet earning with RaiseRight? Learn more about this easy, no-selling fundraising method or get started for free today.

4. Ensure the price is right 

Do a bit of research before setting your ticket prices. This starts by determining your actual cost per pancake or plate. Once you have your budget figured out, consider: 

• Whether to charge by age, plate size, pancake, etc.
• All-in pricing or premium option upgrades
• The average cost of the same meal at nearby restaurants and when cooked at home

Basically, you’ll want to identify the most efficient road to meeting your financial goal. If your prices are too low, you lose out on profit opportunities—if they’re too high, you may sell fewer tickets to a smaller audience. 

Consider all the supporting factors—location, advertising efforts, captive audience availability, competition, or facility appeal—before finalizing a price list that has the best chance of meeting (or exceeding) your goal.

Additional suggestions from experienced pancake breakfast organizers on Reddit at r/nonprofit include:

• Unlimited pancakes only—never include meats, eggs, or fruits in an unlimited price
• Opt for lemonade or orange drink instead of expensive juice
• Solicit local restaurants and franchises for donations of pancake batter, beverages, etc.
• Include tip jars at tables and order locations

5. Plan the menu with profits and appeal in mind

What will you put on your promotional flyers beyond the words “pancake breakfast?” Think about how the menu can contribute to the appeal of your event. This may include: 

• Multiple nutritional options such as carnivore, gluten-free, or vegan
• Offering specific pancakes like buttermilk, potato, blueberry, or whole wheat
• Providing a toppings bar with fruit, whipped cream, multiple syrups, nuts, etc.

Look for options that help you increase the appeal without breaking the budget, such as banana pancakes, powdered sugar, or Southern fried apples. Conversely, you may need to charge a pretty penny if you want to offer pure maple syrup (with bulk prices well over $200 per gallon) or other pricier upgrades.

6. Seek sponsors or advertisers 

Pancakes aren’t the only way to make money at your breakfast fundraiser. Any major event fundraiser provides the opportunity to offer sponsorships to local businesses and even national businesses that relate to your organization’s activities, needs, or demographics. 

To secure sponsorships, offer multiple tiers with different price ranges and packages that include benefits such as: 

• Tabletop signage
• Banners or wall signage
• Ad space in newsletters or programs
• Banner ads, links, or mentions on your website, social accounts, or email newsletters
• Named sponsor listing in promotional materials
• Complimentary tickets to the breakfast 

Other pancake breakfast organizers on Reddit shared these tips:

• Sell advertising on bulk-printed paper placemats that help with easy clean-up
• Encourage businesses to buy ticket sheets or bundles to give away to their clients
• Presell as many tickets as possible

7. Collect details as well as dollars 

Live events can yield new volunteer and member contacts as well as profits. Plan to come away from your events with accurate and useful data. Ask for: 

• Contact info: phone(s), email, address, and social account handles
• General availability (days, times of day, months, or seasons)
• Relevant skills and interests (baking, events, marketing, sales, etc.)

Consider including one or more tablets to allow newcomers to enter their contact information into a survey or database. This will cut down on errors and on the need to transcribe handwritten sign-up sheets.

A "batter" way to earn year-round

In addition to hosting a pancake breakfast fundraiser, add RaiseRight to your strategy to ensure your organization continues earning all year long. 

RaiseRight is an evergreen, no-selling fundraising program that leverages multiple methods to help supporters earn funds without spending an extra dime—and without the time investment of sales or events. 

Families can average over $1,000 annually in earnings just by paying for the goods and services they already use—gas, groceries, clothing, and more—with RaiseRight gift cards or online shopping links. It's that simple!