| A well-run raffle with the right grand prize can raise | | | | to buy a ticket on the spot, and that emotional |
| incredible amounts of money for your school, church, | | | | trigger is what you want in a big prize. |
| or charity. Most groups underestimate how much | | | | With dream prizes, more tickets will need to be sold |
| money a raffle can raise. | | | | with ticket prices correspondingly higher. A new car |
| You can easily raise ten thousand with a simple raffle, | | | | raffle might have tickets priced anywhere from $20 |
| tens of thousands with a desirable prize such as a | | | | to $100, depending on how many tickets were being |
| new car, and hundreds of thousands of dollars with a | | | | sold and the value of the vehicle. |
| truly deluxe prize such as a new home. | | | | A good rule of thumb is to keep ticket prices low |
| Cash prizes | | | | enough to have widespread appeal without having to |
| From the late-1700s to the early 1900s, many public | | | | sell so many tickets that your volunteers run out of |
| buildings and university expansions were funded by | | | | energy and prospects. |
| raffles. The raffle prize was always cash and the | | | | Prize costs |
| raffles always sold out all their chances. | | | | Obviously, you would love to have a dream prize |
| Cash prizes allow people to dream of what they'd do | | | | such as a house or a car donated to your group, but |
| with the cash if they won. Cash awards work best | | | | that's neither realistic or necessary. Obtaining a good |
| when ticket prices are fairly low and the grand prize | | | | discount is all you need to focus on since any |
| is a significant multiple of ticket cost. | | | | discount directly translates into extra profits. |
| For instance, when you have a $10 ticket price, a | | | | As with a cash raffle, keep your prize costs under |
| $10,000 cash prize is a huge draw. Having lots of | | | | 50% of total ticket sales. The larger the grand prize, |
| additional chances to win smaller cash prizes is | | | | the smaller the percentage can be. |
| another great ticket sales incentive. | | | | For example, a car being raffled can have it's MSRP |
| The most popular cash raffles combine low-priced | | | | pegged at 40% of total ticket revenue. With a good |
| tickets with a significant cash prize and several tiers | | | | discount, your profit could end up at 67% of total |
| of smaller cash prizes. Total cash awards should | | | | revenue. A house being raffled can be positioned |
| always be less than 50% of total ticket revenue. | | | | with it's appraised value at 33% of total ticket sales. |
| Luxury prizes | | | | How much can you raise? |
| Physical prizes that match the ticket buyers "wants" | | | | Raffle profits vary wildly across the different prize |
| also do well. Vacation getaways, restaurant gift | | | | categories. You can easily raise $10,000 with a cash |
| certificates, spa treatments, and other items with a | | | | raffle or one offering luxury prizes. When cash raffles |
| luxury feel also work well as prizes. | | | | are tied to well-publicized events like a golf ball drop, |
| And don't forget prizes aimed at men such as | | | | profits can easily exceed $25,000. |
| sporting event tickets, sports memorabilia, | | | | Car raffles will raise that much and more, depending |
| golf-related gifts, and anything that goes fast or | | | | on the desirability of the car being raffled, the ticket |
| makes lots of noise are also good draws for ticket | | | | pricing and the overall ticket sales volume. |
| buyers. | | | | Raffling a new home can raise hundreds of |
| You can combine luxury prizes with cash prizes or | | | | thousands of dollars. I've even seen a group make |
| you can do raffle where all prizes consist of luxury | | | | several million dollars by raffling a luxury beach home. |
| items. Because some people will not want the luxury | | | | They sold 32,000 tickets at $150 each, grossing $4.8 |
| prize, you should always promote your raffle as | | | | million for a house appraised at $1.8 million. Now that's |
| offering an alternate cash value prize for any item | | | | a raffle! |
| offered. | | | | Summary |
| Another option instead of offering a $10,000 first | | | | There is no single best raffle prize. Your choice of |
| prize plus five $1,000 cash prizes, would be to switch | | | | prize or prizes will vary depending on your financial |
| the secondary cash prizes for things like a big screen | | | | goal, the size of your potential market, and how |
| TV, vacation packages, stereo system, Omaha | | | | many volunteers you have to sell tickets. |
| steaks, etc. This type of combo raffle has | | | | Bigger prizes mean more tickets must be sold to turn |
| widespread appeal. | | | | a profit, but they also mean substantially higher |
| Dream prizes | | | | profits. Design your raffle prize offerings to match |
| And the lure of "dream" prizes such as a new car or | | | | your community's tastes and always offer alternate |
| even a new house can't be underestimated. It is a | | | | cash awards in lieu of any physical prize. |
| powerful emotional draw that really creates an urge | | | | |