How to Plan a Breakfast with Santa Fundraiser: Timeline, Tickets and Checklist

Breakfast with Santa is one of the easiest holiday fundraisers to run well, and one of the easiest to run chaotically. The difference is almost always planning: knowing your numbers, having tickets sorted and getting the word out early. Here's a simple plan you can follow from six weeks out to the big morning.

6 weeks out: lock in the basics

• Book the venue (gym, parish hall, fire station or community center) and confirm kitchen access.
• Confirm your Santa, and a backup Santa.
• Set the date and a two-hour window. Saturday mornings in early to mid-December are popular.
• Decide on your price. Many groups charge a small per-child amount with a slightly higher adult price and free entry for toddlers.

4 weeks out: promote it

• Send the flyer home in backpacks and post it on school, church and community Facebook pages.
• Share a phone-sized version in parent group chats.
• Start ticket sales so you can plan food quantities.

This is where a ready-made kit saves real time. Our vintage Breakfast with Santa flyer and ticket kit gives you a printable 8.5x11 flyer, an Instagram post and a phone evite from one Canva link, so you're not resizing the same design three times.

2 weeks out: tickets and volunteers

Numbered admission tickets make the morning much smoother. They help you track how many people paid, how many to cook for and how many photos Santa will be taking. Print them on cardstock and cut them apart. Then fill your volunteer roles:

• Set-up crew
• Pancake station and drinks
• Ticket table
• Photo line helper
• Crafts and coloring table
• Clean-up crew

The week before: final details

• Buy food based on ticket sales, plus a buffer for walk-ins.
• Print signs for the menu, the photo line and the ticket table.
• Prepare a cash box and a way to take card or online payments if you can.
• Remind families with one more social media post.

On the day

Open the doors on time, keep the photo line moving, and have a volunteer gently manage how long each family spends with Santa. Take photos for next year's flyer and thank-you posts.

Keeping it all organized

A shared checklist makes everything above easier. The kit above includes a free 18-page printable party planner (checklist, budget tracker, shopping list, timeline and more) and a free party planner web app you can use from your phone, with no account needed.

The bottom line

A great Breakfast with Santa comes down to three things: early promotion, clear ticketing and enough volunteers. Get those sorted and the pancakes, cocoa and smiles take care of themselves.

Frequently Asked Questions