Hi All! Have been so busy haven't have time to post how this event went but wanted to let you all know. We had never done something like this, and some of you have heard me whining before about lack of participation etc so I wanted to update you on this event....IT WENT FANTASTIC!
We did it 2 weekends ago on a Saturday morning and we were nervous because we had never done anything like this. It wasn't a fundraiser it was a family and community event. We bought enough to make 700 pancakes and had to run out and buy more. We had more families come and participate than ever before. Principal, Vice Principal and Teachers were all there to make pancakes, sell and decorate pumpkins. The kids and their families just loved it. It was without a doubt the most successful event we have had and the feedback from families was so positive. I would have to say that if you are looking for something to get families involved do something like this!
me_n_rory;136718 wrote: Hi,
Have any of you even done a pancake breakfast? We are planning one in late October and I was wondering if we should pre-sell tickets? We are doing it on a Saturday morning so it will be open to the community but would it be a good idea to also presell for our school families?
We've never done one of these before so if any and all suggestions are welcome. (also doing a pumpkin patch same morning)
We haven't done one at our school; however, the local Lions Club does one in the Spring and Fall during Community Days festival. It is a great fundraiser. They also have sausage patties and biscuits available. Members can presell tickets or they may be purchased at the door. I'd suggest tying onto an existing event such as the festival. There is a high volume of traffic associated with this event. Good luck.
Thanks for the info...will check out the nursery idea. We were thinking of a "BYOP"...Bring your own pumpkin and then we would supply the tables and craft items for decorating. No sharp tools if we can help it. In addition, the food would be a Fall theme with hotdogs, chili, etc.
Thank you again for your feedback.
Just an idea to go along with your Pumpkin patch theme, I would see if you have a local photographer who would be willing to take family photos that morning also, have a few bales of hay set up with some scarecrows and some pumpkins and enourage everyone to wear their fall attire for family or kids photos that day, you could charge some $$ for prints also.
Pre-selling tickets is a great idea. That way you can get some sort of idea for a head count. I love the pumpkin patch idea, too. Many of these events are held on school days with a lot of groups figuring they get more participation that way with families being busy on weekends. But opening it up to the public would help out there.
Maybe make tickets available at the school office, local grocery store and such. Make sure you advertise it at least twice in the local paper, I know I miss a lot of stuff that only gets advertised once since I don't always read the paper. Send home notices more than once, too. Maybe even send tickets home for the kids to sell to neighbors & extended family.
I hope its fun! We went to a local nursery who is providing us with the pumpkins, at cost (about $1.00-$3.00 each) and will also come set it up and decorate the school yard where we will be selling the pumpkins. They are also setting up carving demos and we will charge 2.00-6.00 for each pumpkin. The nursery owner has a neice at the school so she is not charging us for anything but cost, but I do know of another school that does it and the nursery does this for them as well, but with a slightly higher cost. (about 20%) We haven't done this before but I think its a great way to raise a little $$ but most importantly get our school out in the community.
