Raffle Fundraising Platform for Easy Online Raffles

States have the exclusive rights to determine what is allowed and what is not in terms of gaming in the US. With gaming laws varying significantly from one state to another, understanding the specific requirements in your jurisdiction is crucial to conducting your fundraising activities legally and successfully. If your organization is domiciled in a US state where online raffles are prohibited, you cannot use our raffle software platform. We’ve compiled a list of every U.S. state and its raffle laws to assist your organization.

Determining how much money you wish to raise from the raffle is the first step in creating fundraising goals. Once you determine your fundraising goal, you’ll set your price structure. Many organizations have a single raffle ticket price and a discounted rate for multiple purchases.

Next, decide if your participants have a minimum number of tickets to sell. For example, if a sports team raises money for new equipment, each team member may be tasked with selling at least ten raffle tickets. Setting realistic goals always helps with raffle sales. Make sure to allow a reasonable amount of time for the raffle ticket sales (at least one month to 6 weeks). Trying to sell raffle tickets at the last minute will make it challenging to accomplish your goals and have a successful campaign.

Don’t forget to create incentives for your ticket sellers. Establish milestones that reward sellers and great prizes for top performers. This will motivate your group to achieve more and keep everyone focused on the fundraising goals.

Appealing prizes make for a successful charity raffle. After all, this will be the first question people will ask when approached to purchase tickets. Make sure the prizes are desirable and relevant to your audience and location. Relevancy is essential to your success – for example, while gun raffles are popular with sporting groups and clubs, a gun raffle would not be appropriate for a school fundraiser.

Though you always want to ask for donations first, don’t limit your fundraising raffle to donated items. This is a mistake that many organizations make, as they want to keep all of the raffle proceeds. Yet organizations can raise far more money with desirable, high-value items. We’re not talking about $1 raffles at the football game; in this case, donated prizes are acceptable and necessary to raise money. But if your school or organization wants to raise $10,000 or even more on a fundraising raffle, you will likely need to purchase the grand prize.

Here are some great raffle prize ideas that are sure to attract attention:

• Travel Packages: Offering a travel package is always a great grand prize, as most people love to travel and are limited by budget. Approach an airline that uses your city as a hub and ask them to donate two round-trip domestic tickets. It’s great advertising for them, and a high-ticket item like this will sell raffle tickets. 
• Weekend Getaways: Look for desirable locations and assemble a compelling weekend getaway, including hotel, spa service, dinner, and entertainment. People often will not purchase these privileges for themselves but greatly appreciate them as a raffle prize.
• Electronic Equipment: Flat-screen TVs and stereos are always popular raffle incentives. Is there a local electronic store that may be interested in participating as a raffle sponsor? The additional exposure could be beneficial in an economic environment where retail sales are slow.
• Gift Certificates or Gift Cards: These are great secondary prizes and can be donated by local stores, movie theaters, or local restaurants. Movie passes or free pizza may be great considerations for students. And don’t forget online gift cards that appeal to teens and supporters.
• Sports Memorabilia: Autographed items from sports celebrities and/or game tickets can be a great raffle prize. This is especially relevant if a sports team or booster club hosts a raffle.
• 50/50 or Cash Pot Raffles: When running a 50/50 raffle, the sponsoring school or charity receives 50% of the raffle, and the raffle winner receives the other 50%. Another option for a cash raffle is to award a grand prize of a specific monetary amount and secondary prizes in diminishing amounts. 
• House Raffles: Tickets for this type of raffle are generally $100 or more, so you must have a strong base of committed constituents. The most important things to consider are getting good legal counsel and establishing a minimum number of tickets that must be sold to cover your raffle costs. If minimums are not met, raffle donations must be returned to donors. 
• Winner’s Choice Raffles: Winner’s Choice raffles are a great idea to ensure the winning ticket holder loves their prize. This is easy to implement with our unique travel packages and can also be used for a car raffle, electronic equipment, gift certificates, and other prizes.

One of your goals is to keep costs minimal, and this is easiest if you get several of the raffle prizes donated. The best way to get donations is to start by talking to students, parents, and employees at your school or nonprofit organization. Individuals and local business persons may have something of value to contribute, and their in-kind contributions can be considered for event sponsorship. After you’ve exhausted all routes for in-kind donations, purchase items to fill in the blanks.

Make sure to thank all your volunteers, businesses who donated in-kind prizes, ticket sellers, and supporters who purchased raffle tickets. Acknowledge and reward the star performers who raised the most funds for your cause. By raising funds with an online raffle, everyone’s a winner!