A raffle is an excellent and easily organised way to raise money for an association. In addition, it is an effective event to publicise your organisation and its supported cause. A raffle also creates an enjoyable moment for your employees or supporters. You can organise one on special occasions, like Christmas for instance.
Are you considering organising a raffle but don’t know where to start? Here is everything you need to know to make your event a success.
Summary
1. What is a raffle?
A raffle is essentially a game of chance where participants buy at least one lottery ticket and only prizes in kind can be won. Raffles can be organised at a variety of events: sports tournaments, school parties, company anniversaries or association activities.
The conditions are very similar to those of a lottery:
- Anyone can participate because the event is open to the public,
- Participants must buy lottery tickets to have a chance of winning,
- Winners are chosen at random through a draw, which may or may not be supervised by a bailiff.
Unlike many lotteries, in a raffle you do not choose your own numbers: you are randomly given a pre-printed lottery ticket, and a winner is always designated at the end of the raffle.
2. Check legal requirements in the UK
In the UK, organising a raffle falls under the Gambling Act 2005, and you’ll need to follow certain guidelines depending on the type of raffle:
For small society raffles:
- Your organisation must be non-commercial (e.g., a charity or community group)
- The total value of prizes must not exceed £20,000 (or £250,000 annually)
- You must register with your local council, not the Gambling Commission
- All proceeds must go to a good cause
For incidental raffles (e.g. at a school fête or dinner):
- Tickets can only be sold and drawn during the event
- No licence is required, but you must not run the raffle for personal profit
Check with your local authority (e.g., London Borough Council) for detailed rules and applications.
3. Set clear goals for your raffle
As with any event, even if it is non-commercial, it is important to set clear goals. Set deadlines, an expected number of participants, and most importantly, a financial target amount (the amount you hope to raise from the raffle). Also determine how many people you need to sell the lottery tickets, distribute prizes, receive visitors or man stands.
If you need to apply for a licence, knowing your financial goals in advance is necessary to show where the proceeds will go.
4. Decide on your raffle prizes
Another important step is finding a balance between the total value of the prizes and the target amount you want to raise.
It is common to provide different prize categories, for example:
- Prizes of less than €25,
- Prizes up to €50,
- Prizes above €100,
- One main prize over €200.
In most cases, the total value of the prizes should not exceed 25% of the expected revenue, this way your budget remains healthy and you achieve your goal: raising money for your association or initiative.
5. Set your ticket price
You are completely free to set the price of the lottery tickets for your raffle, just as you would for any other type of event (fair, market, conference…).
As mentioned earlier, the price of your raffle tickets should be determined based on two factors:
- Your goals, in particular the target amount you want to raise
- The total value of the prizes you are offering
When setting the ticket price, keep in mind that a tombola should remain a low-key event, accessible to everyone. In principle, the price of a tombola ticket should therefore be limited to a few euros.
6. Prize ideas for your raffle
Need inspiration for the prizes you can raffle? Here are some ideas:
- Gift vouchers (Bol.com, Decathlon, cinemas, dinners…)
- Small electronics (raclette grill, toaster, tablet, bluetooth speaker…)
- Tickets for an amusement park or a voucher for dinner
- Tickets for a concert in your area
- Culinary packages (wine, sausage, chocolate, regional products…)
- Household appliances or kitchen utensils
- A weekend away or even a full trip, if the budget allows it
Don’t forget that you can also appeal to sponsors to expand your budget or have prizes donated directly. Local merchants or bigger brands are often happy to support such initiatives in exchange for visibility.
7. Promote and sell tickets
Besides the classic physical sale of tombola tickets, online sales are an indispensable channel today if you want to increase participation rates.
We recommend creating a dedicated event page for your raffle – on your social media or on your organisation’s website. In it, you can also integrate a registration form so you can easily keep track of how many participants you can expect.
Weezevent offers quick and easy-to-implement solutions for organising a raffle, such as online registrations, cashless payments and CRM solutions for managing participants.
