A raffle is a great way to raise money for your organization. However, it can be difficult to get people to participate.
Promote the event through your nonprofit organization’s social media, email list and website. Distribute flyers or posters in the community. Partner with local businesses willing to display your posters or sell tickets on-site.
Setting Up Your Sales Stations
Get the word out about your raffle by leveraging social media and email promotions, partnering with local businesses, and creating time-limited offers. These marketing strategies can significantly increase ticket sales and event attendance.
Leverage your personal networks and encourage family, friends, and coworkers to sell tickets. Provide them with the appropriate resources, such as raffle ticket booklets and talking points that clearly explain prizes, ticket prices, and draw dates. Also, teach them how to engage with attendees in a friendly, upbeat manner that promotes sales.
Lastly, set up a table at high-traffic locations and place signs to attract attention and convert passersby into potential ticket buyers. Then approach them and deliver a powerful, persuasive two-sentence sales pitch. This approach can double or even triple your ticket sales.
Getting the Word Out
Raffle tickets make a great marketing tool for schools. They can be customized to create a distinctive look and are more effective than handing out cash. They also work well in conjunction with local businesses that may be willing to provide prizes or help distribute tickets at their restaurants, cafes, and small shops.
It’s important to get as much support from the community as possible, whether it’s online or at the event itself. Advertise your raffle on social media, ensuring the ads are highly recognizable and eye-catching. A video can be even more engaging than a picture, and is more likely to be reposted or shared.
Reach out to influencers and community admins who have a large following and can attract audiences to the fundraiser. These individuals can promote the raffle on their channels and in their newsletters.
Establishing a Timeline
Make sure everyone knows how many tickets they need to sell to reach their goal. This will help to keep the momentum going and will ensure that tickets are sold by the time of the drawing.
Schedule regular social media posts to promote the raffle and encourage your supporters to share them. Use Facebook Stories and Instagram reels to increase the reach of your posts.
When determining the date of the prize draw, take into account when ticket sales will end and how long it will take to count all the tickets. It is a good idea to have weekly committee meetings to report on ticket sales and brainstorm ways to boost them. Keep records of which tickets were sold by whom and how much each person has sold.
Making the Rules Clear
Often, a raffle is seen as a way to pad school coffers, but it’s also a great way to build a strong bond with the community. Encourage local businesses to donate prizes and promote the event at places where crowds gather such as children’s sporting events, community meetings or conferences.
Make sure that the rules are clear on your website and available to ticket sellers so that they can clearly explain them to buyers. If the winner needs to be present, make that clear as well. Otherwise, it’s a good idea to have a way to contact winners after the fact (like phone or email) and to have people write their contact information on the back of the tickets before turning them in.
Also, it’s important to clearly define the type and value of the prize in order to meet legal requirements in your locale (retail value of prizes may change how you are regulated). It’s also a good idea to set a firm date for the drawing so that no one is disappointed.
Getting Prizes
Regardless of whether the event is in-person or virtual, your organization needs prizes to lure ticket buyers. Ensure that the raffle prizes are within your state’s gambling laws and that they have broad appeal. For example, local art studios, cooking classes, or wine-making sessions can all be great prizes for a nonprofit’s raffle.
Make sure that your tickets are numbered to keep track of the tickets your volunteers sell and the stubs that donors turn in for entry into the drawing. Don’t try to save money by printing unnumbered tickets; this will be frustrating for your volunteers and a deterrent to future donations.
Create a list of potential prize contributors (vendors, local businesses, major donors, board members) and assign one member to contact each.
