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Raffles are a powerful fundraising tool for nonprofits, combining excitement with the potential for significant donations. It is a simple game of chance where donors purchase raffle tickets for a chance to win prizes.
Explore 12 innovative raffle ideas to elevate your next fundraising event, from traditional single raffles to engaging peer-to-peer campaigns. We'll cover the benefits of hosting raffles, legal considerations, and creative prize ideas that appeal to diverse audiences.
Whether you're organizing a small community event or a large-scale fundraiser, these strategies will help you maximize participation and contributions. Discover how to make your raffle not just a game of chance but a cornerstone of your fundraising success.
Top 12 raffle ideas for successful fundraising events
By hosting a raffle, you know how many tickets you need to sell to meet your fundraising goal and how much funds the raffle will bring. Since the ticket cost is usually low, it attracts a broad audience, boosting sales.
Raffles are simple and easy for everyone, from organizers to participants. All you need to do is create tickets and secure prizes, which can be donated by local sponsors and businesses.
With Zeffy’s 100% free online raffle platform, you can easily generate tickets, customize your raffle forms, and sell raffle tickets.
By spreading the cost of prizes across many supporters through raffle ticket sales, nonprofits can offer more valuable prizes that attract more participants and boost fundraising. This helps you meet fundraising goals and gives donors a chance to win valuable prizes like a weekend getaway, for the price of a single ticket.
Adaptable and versatile
Raffles can be held online, in-person, or as a combination of both, offering flexibility in how they are conducted. They can range from simple 50/50 raffles to larger ones with multiple prizes, catering to organizations of all sizes.
Note: When planning your raffle, ensure you understand local gambling laws in your state. Raffle legislation and licensing requirements vary across the United States and Canada. Do your research to avoid getting in trouble with the law.
Top 12 raffle ideas to make your next fundraiser a success
1. Single raffle
A single raffle is a straightforward raffle format where participants purchase tickets for a chance to win one high-value prize, such as a premium product, experience, or in-kind gift. Tickets could cost from 10% to 20% of the retail value.
Collect the names, addresses, and emails of those who purchased raffle tickets. After the raffle, introduce your nonprofit and engage these new contacts with your organization's mission and upcoming events.
Consider offering a small discount or perk for their next donation or event participation. This approach can transform one-time raffle participants into long-term supporters of your cause.
2. 50/50 raffle
A 50/50 raffle is a great idea when you can’t secure exciting products or get enough donations. In this raffle, half of the amount collected through ticket sales goes to the nonprofit, and the other half goes to the lucky winner.
To make the most out of this 50/50 raffle idea, pair it up with a fundraising event, like a community event, gala, or auction.
The more attendees, the more raffle tickets will sell, and the more funds you will raise.
Sell raffle tickets alongside event registration leading up to the event day. On the day of the event, ensure your volunteers continue selling raffle tickets to maximize funds raised.
When the event ends, inform your audience how much they raised through raffles as well as who won. Don't forget to thank all participants for their support, emphasizing how their contributions will benefit your cause.
Reverse raffles offer a thrilling twist on traditional fundraising. Limit entries and price tickets higher to create exclusivity. The prize, half the total pot, is known upfront, adding to the excitement.
Unlike standard raffles, the last uncalled number wins. To keep the energy high, allow participants to buy back in if their number is called. Use a screen to display numbers and quicken the pace.
This unique format builds suspense as players hope their number stays in play. The reverse raffle not only raises funds but also creates a memorable, engaging experience for supporters.
4. Online raffle
You don't need an in-person fundraiser or separate raffle event to raise money for your organization—you can do everything online without compromising on the experience (or the donations).
To organize a successful online raffle, choose a 100% free platform like Zeffy that generates tickets automatically. Announce winners on your digital channels and share prizes through delivery or pick-up from your organization. Online raffles also help your nonprofit to:
Attract a larger audience
Save time and money on ticket design and printing or arranging physical props
Keep a record of ticket sales and donor information
5. Peer-to-peer raffle
Peer-to-peer raffle fundraisers let your supporters sell tickets using their own personal pages. This helps spread the word about your cause and brings in more money as people tap into their friends and family networks.
Hosting a peer-to-peer raffle can be done in two ways. Your supporters can sell raffle tickets with personalized fundraising pages, or you can encourage your donors to create a peer-to-peer campaign to collect donations from their network, offering a raffle prize entry for every donation made.
To keep the game fair, decide on a limited donation amount. Set an end date for the peer-to-peer and raffle campaign.
Once the campaign is done, export all donor information to total the number of tickets and use a random number generator to pick the winner. Consider offering a small reward or recognition to top fundraisers, encouraging their continued involvement in future campaigns.
6. Golden tickets
Tap into the nostalgia of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with this raffle idea. You can hold this delectable and fun event by purchasing a bunch of candy bars or chocolates and placing golden tickets under the wrapper of a few bars.
Sell the bars to every guest all at once so that no one ruins the game for anyone else. Take a snapshot of the winner's reaction to finding the winning ticket tucked inside.
The best part about this raffle is that everyone's a winner. After all, everyone ends up with a sweet treat!
7. Guess the amount
Use this raffle idea for your next community charity dinner, trivia night, game night, or any other intimate get-together. The concept of this raffle is pretty straightforward. You ask your attendees to guess the amount for a small fee, and the person who guesses right or closest to the number wins.
For this raffle, you can fill a jar, tub, or whatever you want with small items or even coins and real money. The winner is the one who chooses the closest amount to what you have.
8. Door prizes
If you host monthly charity events or have a location that sees many visitors, a door prize raffle can be a successful fundraising idea. Door prizes are special giveaways where every attendee has a chance to win simply by showing up to the event.
For your raffle, display items or their pictures at your next event or nearby location with a jar next to each. Ask attendees or passersby to purchase raffle tickets for a dollar each. Once they have their tickets, they can put them in the jar next to the items they want to win.
Close the raffle campaign once you have received the required donations. Choose your next fundraising event to pick a ticket out of each jar and announce the lucky raffle winner.
This approach combines the excitement of a traditional raffle with the inclusive nature of door prizes, boosting both attendance and engagement.
9. Heads or tails
Heads or tails raffles work perfectly for in-person events. They're exciting and will get your attendees pumped up. Make sure you hire a fun host who will get the crowd excited enough to play and make the raffle more memorable.
When the time comes to play, everyone involved stands up. The host will prompt them to pick heads or tails, and they choose by placing their hands on their head and tails. They will then flip the coin and call out what it says. Everyone who picked correctly will stay standing.
The host will keep flipping and calling out heads or tails until there is only one left standing!
10. Mystery box raffles
This raffle idea helps build a sense of excitement and anticipation around your fundraisers. Participants purchase tickets without knowing what the prizes will be. The prizes are revealed only after the winners are drawn, adding an element of surprise to the event.
Try to provide hints and clues about the potential prizes while promoting your fundraiser and raffle to maximize participation. Limit the number of entries to the raffle to create a sense of FOMO (fear of missing out), encouraging more ticket sales.
11. Social media raffle
This raffle idea may not earn you funds, but it will introduce your nonprofit to more people and grow your social media following.
Create a campaign on Instagram and Facebook. Share the start and end date through your emails, social media stories, and social groups or in a separate post on your feed. Participants can enter by sharing the post, liking, or commenting.
Choose the winners at random and offer prizes like tickets to fundraising events, branded merch, or a gift card.
Pro tip: Incentivize participants by offering higher chances of winning if they make a donation to your nonprofit in addition to sharing the raffle on social media.
12. Calendar raffle
In a calendar raffle, each ticket sold corresponds to a specific date on a calendar, and winners are drawn daily for a predetermined period, usually a month. Since it offers participants various opportunities to win, it increases excitement and involvement, boosting fundraising.
To host this raffle, you will need to secure enough prizes for each day of the raffle period. Prizes can range from small items to more significant rewards.
Design a calendar showing the prizes for each day. Promote and sell tickets through word of mouth, social media, fundraising pages, or local events. You must ensure each ticket has a unique identifier corresponding to a date on the calendar.
Use a random drawing method to draw the ticket each day and announce the winner on your digital channels.
Case Study: Special Olympics Idaho's Successful $11,000 Raffle Fundraiser with Zeffy
Special Olympics Idaho is a nonprofit organization helping individuals with intellectual disabilities through sports training and competition.
The organization wanted to host a raffle to support their athletes’ training, travel expenses, and competition opportunities. They wanted an efficient way to reach a wider audience and streamline ticket sales processes.
Special Olympics Idaho partnered with Zeffy, a 100% free raffle platform that offers. The nonprofit found a strategic way to create raffle tickets, sell them online or offline, and track sales—all through a single dashboard. With Zeffy, Special Olympics Idaho successfully raised $11,000 and saved $550 on fees.
What's even better is that Special Olympics Idaho was able to direct every penny towards its cause without paying any platform or processing charges.
Final thoughts on fundraising raffles
Hosting a raffle elevates any fundraising event and drives more ticket sales and funds.
With so many raffle ideas available, you can make each event unique and exciting for your donors. Prizes can range from simple and sweet to luxurious and extravagant, just ensure you've something that appeals to everyone.
Whether you decide to host a standalone raffle campaign or combine it with another fundraiser, count on Zeffy to power your game of chance.
Zeffy offers a 100% free and easy raffle solution to automatically generate and sell raffle tickets. Our platform also produces separate printed tickets for in-person raffles. We accept all payment types without charging extra fees as transaction or processing charges.
Raffle gift baskets are quite popular with donors and a tried-and-true favorite of many benefit fundraisers. Some of the best raffle basket ideas are coffee supplies, wine, spa day certificates, or baked goods.
Experiences also offer exceptional value to donors, making them another popular idea. These can include anything from beach gateways to winery tours, city stays, and alpine escapes.
Sports memorabilia and tickets to concerts or art shows are great items to offer as raffle prizes.
In a raffle, supporters purchase tickets, typically for a low fee, with each ticket offering one entry into the raffle. At the end of the event, one or more winners are drawn randomly, depending on the prizes offered.
Raffles are usually held with fundraising events like galas or auctions. They can also be organized virtually, with participants purchasing tickets online.
Local businesses often donate products or gift cards, while supporters might offer in-kind donations of items or experiences. For themed baskets, consider bulk purchases to create cost-effective prizes.
Find corporate sponsors who are often eager to provide high-value items as it offers them positive exposure and community involvement. When approaching potential donors, emphasize the mutual benefits of their involvement with your nonprofit.
The only 100% free fundraising platform for nonprofits
How to Do an Online Raffle: 11 Easy Steps for Fundraisers
Learn how to create a virtual raffle and increase fundraising for your nonprofit. Get our step-by-step guide and the best tools for hosting an online raffle.
