When you’re on a tight budget and need to warm up your organization’s finances, consider a pancake 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 success, however, takes planning and strategy. We’ve stacked up our favorite pancake fundraising ideas and best practices to help you sweeten your outcome.
1. Set specific goals
What are your goals for a pancake breakfast fundraiser? Beyond just saying "we want to profit," identify specific objectives and how you can reach them, such as:
- Fundraising target – How many tickets or plates do you need to sell to reach your earning goal?
- Volunteer engagement – Ensure you have enough cooks, servers, and clean-up crews to run things smoothly.
- Community connections – Build awareness through local news and attendance.
- Social media engagement – Increase event awareness with posts and photos.
- Membership and/or volunteer drive – Use this opportunity to recruit new members or volunteers for your organization.
2. Make it a team effort
To organize a pancake breakfast with multiple volunteers, stakeholders, and task dependencies, you’ll want to bring a team together and 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 overhead costs
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, Michaels, or Big Lots!.
- Everything else – Use universal prepaid cards (like Visa, American Express, or the Grocery and Auto+ Mastercard) 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. Don't short-stack your prices
Do a bit of research before setting your ticket prices. First, determine 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
You’ll want to identify the most efficient route to meeting your financial goals. If your prices are too low, you lose 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 an 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. Build a menu everyone will love
Think about how the menu can contribute to the appeal of your event. Consider:
- 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 and toppings that increase appeal without breaking the budget, such as bananas, powdered sugar, or Southern-fried apples.
6. Team up with local businesses
Pancakes aren’t the only moneymaker. With your pancake fundraiser, you can offer sponsorships to local businesses (or even national businesses) that relate to your organization’s mission, 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 or plates for the pancake 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. Swap the griddle for gift cards
If coordinating a pancake breakfast sounds like too much work, simplify your fundraising efforts with RaiseRight gift cards.
Families and supporters can buy gift cards for popular pancake breakfast spots like IHOP, Denny’s, or Applebee’s, and your organization will earn 7% or more—without selling or planning a thing!
RaiseRight is an evergreen, no-selling fundraising program that leverages multiple earning methods (shopping, dining, and travel bookings) to help supporters raise funds without spending an extra dime. Our platform offers something for everyone, including hundreds of well-known brands like Walmart, Starbucks, Bath & Body Works, Nike, and more.
Top participants earn over $1,000 annually using RaiseRight wherever they shop or dine! If you're curious about how much your household can earn in one year by using RaiseRight, try our free earning potential calculator:
Ready to start earning with RaiseRight?
Here are some next steps to get the ball rolling:
- Learn more about how RaiseRight works.
- Download The RaiseRight Fundraising Playbook and share it with others in your organization.
- Start a free program by completing a short, online enrollment form.
If your organization is already earning with RaiseRight, you just need your enrollment code to create an account and begin fundraising right away.
