Guides to running a raffle

Organise

• How to run a raffle, step by step

  Running a raffle means setting a target, getting the right permit or licence before you sell, gathering prizes, selling tickets and holding a public, verifiable draw. Allow around eight weeks: the permit comes first, and nothing is sold before it.

Tickets and prices

• How much should I charge for raffle tickets?

  The right price is one your supporters pay without hesitating, and the right number of tickets is what your sellers can really sell. Start from your net target, add the cost of prizes and expenses, divide by the price — that is how many tickets you need — then compare it with the number of people you can reach.

Prizes

• Raffle prize ideas, and how to get them donated

  The best prizes are the ones your supporters want — one headline prize that makes people buy, then a varied list, often local or an experience. Most can be donated by local businesses and sponsors in exchange for simple visibility and a real thank-you.

The draw

• How to run a fair raffle draw

  A raffle draw is fair when every ticket in play has exactly the same chance, nobody — neither the organiser nor the software — can choose or know the result in advance, and anyone can check it afterwards. In practice: close the ticket list before the draw, use randomness that depends on no one, draw in public and publish what is needed to verify.

Choose a platform

• How to choose online raffle software

  Choose the tool that pays the money straight into your organisation's account, whose fees are written in black and white, that also handles paper tickets and your sellers, and whose draw anyone can verify. Then check that it helps you with your permit or licence and handles your supporters' data properly.