How To Manage Your Raffle

Who Sold What
There are several ways to hand out tickets for sale -- one: keep a log of what ticket numbers were consigned to whom, and two: charge each seller for the tickets they received; they can sell them or keep them -- your life just got a lot easier. If you follow the first option, be certain that you specify when unsold tickets must be returned. Give yourself plenty of time. And get the money in for tickets sold every day if possible.

Prize Selection
Are you offering something people are willing to take a chance on? Have you set your ticket prices correctly? We recently saw a raffle which offered airline tickets to Argentina, Greece, and London. The promoters got three airlines to donate the prizes. They were selling the tickets for $1.00 each, with the expectation of selling 3,000 tickets. The prizes were worth $4,500. They reasoned that the tickets did not cost them anything, so they could sell them so cheaply. That doesn't make much sense, and your audience will wonder if you know what you are doing! Moral: Price your tickets correctly.

Policy
Establish rules for how your raffle will be conducted. Some methods include Winners Must Be Present, the second and more popular method states Winner Need Not Be Present. If you choose the latter, take steps to make sure that a drawn winner is really identified. If you are not careful, it is possible that a drawn number will not be identified because of poor bookkeeping, such as a stub which was not filled out. Drawing can be continued with another number -- then the first winner shows up.
Another method of awarding prizes uses an Open Ended Date - 'Drawing Will Be Held when 1,000 Tickets Are Sold', etc. Using this method requires that you keep your ticket buyers advised .. and that process can speed up the sale of remaining tickets.

Laws Governing Raffles
Is it legal? Some states require a license to sell raffle tickets. Check with your lawyer, and do some research at

http://stepbystepfundraising.com/raffle-laws-us-by-state/

Raffle Data Collection
If this will be your only raffle, no problem. But if your financial needs are continuing, you will want to keep in touch with your ticket buyers -- they can be you best prospects for our fund raising events such as an Evening at the Theater, Dinners, Silent Auictions, the list goes on. Keep those names, and mail them a Thank You letter -- whether they win or not!

Continuing Fundraisers -- Keep The Program Going!
If you do it right, your sale of a raffle ticket can be a lifelong experience of contributing and joining in your cause. If you don't have a website, consider spending the $15 to register you name with the 'org' suffix, and email your contributors regularly. And don't forget a Newsletter -- it is now possible to create a good looking newsletter which can be produced as an email message -- looks great, and you can even print off some copies to send to people who do not have email addresses!

How To Print Raffle Tickets

Don't forget to prepare your paper --if you are using pre-perforated blanks, always "work" your stock so that air is introduced between the sheets.

In the Duuh Category, remember to check your stock to be sure it is feeding into the printer correctly (errors happen, so be careful when you add more stock to the printer tray).

Printing Problems:
If you are using graphics, the file may too big, causing your printer to "choke" in the middle of printing. Even if the graphic is very small on your ticket, the file size may still be large. Every ticket you print will contain the graphic, so multiply your graphic size by the number of tickets -- it adds up. To avoid this problem, most graphic programs allow you to change the resolution or width of the the graphic to the size you want to use. And remember, a graphic four inches wide may not even by recognizable when reduced to one-half inch wide! (for more details on graphics, see topic "How To Add Graphics To Your Ticket".

Printer Settings:

Laser Printers:
Heat can be a problem. Your stock may be so badly curled that it cannot be cut or even separated easily when using fully perforated sheets. If stock must be cut after printing, stack sheets as evenly as possible, then weight down for at least two hours.

InkJet Printers:
If you are using an H-P printer, try "Draft" mode for printing. Often the quality will be fine for a raffle ticket, and the speed will usually double. Test your printer in draft mode first -- some printers such as Epson do not have a suitable draft mode for printing, but H-P almost always does.

Using Various Types of Blanks
Some software allows you to choose between "stacked" numbering or "page sequence" numbering -- if you will be printing 1,000 or more tickets, it may make sense to buy partially perforated stock which contains a perforation for stub. After printing, when stock is cut apart into tickets, each stack will automatically be in the correct numeric sequence. If you are using fully perforated blanks which must be separated by hand, you will want to use "page sequence" (0001,0002,0003,0004, 0005 on first page, etc.).

Using Pre-numbered Tickets
Pre-numbered blanks are available from some office supply stores. All of these numbers are in page sequence. When printing, divide the number of tickets per page by the total number of tickets furnished (500 -- 5 tickets per page = 100 sheets). Use your File>Print menu and select 'Number of Pages' as 100. Although these blanks are convenient for small quantities, you cannot buy consecutive numbers past the quantity in each package.

How To Select Raffle Prizes

Did you ever wonder where the huge old Sears Catalog went? Once people could travel to stores, the need to shop at home went away. Now the spirit of the old catalogs has returned -- thanks to the internet. Imagine a catalog built just for you and the people who support your cause by buying raffle tickets!
Let us say your ticket buyers are interested in sporting goods, or electronics, or travel, or home appliances, or educational toys -- you name the category, your winners can now pick their own prizes.
Here is how it works: your winners can choose their own prizes according to price range by either going to a website, or you can furnish a printout they can use to make their selections.

'Our People Want Their Prizes Now!'
Not a problem. If you have set up your raffle prizes by price ranges (and you must decide soon what you can give away based on what you can sell) then you can issue either Bank Checks or Gift Cards from the major credit card companies such as American Express.

'Suppose The Prize Money is Not Enough to Pay for the Prize?'
This is where Winner Selected Prizes really come in handy -- let us say your winner has won $500. They browse through the catalogs and find a great TV for $699.00. They apply their $500 to the purchase and they only have to come up with $200. Isn't that better than giving away a cheaper model, and then facing the hassle of returning the prize?

The Problem No One Wants To Face...
If you buy your prizes in advance, what happens when you arrive at the club or lodge one morning to find the prizes gone? Everyone says 'it could not happen to us', but it happens every day -- in rural areas and big cities alike! Our advice? Keep your money in the bank until it is time to award the prizes.

'Sounds Expensive...'
Not really -- these are self-help suggestions so there is no cost to you. The merchants listed below are only a few suggestions out of hundreds of retailers who will cooperate with you. In fact, some retailers may donate or discount products for your raffle. And don't forget that you can print an ad on the back of your raffle tickets for a retailer who wants to offer Discount Coupons for your buyers -- then everyone is a winner!

Some Sources...

http://www.bestbuy.com/
A cornucopia of goodies from TVs to stereos, computers, applicances, cameras. A good reference to current models of most everything electronic.

http://target.com

The ultimate home and appliance store, with some designer accessories made just for Target. You can also add to the list potterybarn and williamsonoma for high-end markets, and WalMart for economy brands.

http://www.abtelectronics.com/

Perhaps more focused on TV than BestBuy, and with an enormous range of appliances -- small and large.


http://www.cabelas.com/

Really the ultimate sporting good store -- if you were to choose a prize from the cabelas site, where would you begin? Also sportsmen probably already have anything you could think of -- it is a good idea to let them choose their own from this site.