Fundraising with online raffles
Combining an activity people enjoy with raising money for charities is the essence of raffles. When carried out properly, the transparency and ease of the process ensure high participation rates and as a result, a plentiful supply of donations. If done correctly, online charity raffles have huge fundraising opportunities for charities.
Despite this, however, whilst a well executed online raffle can appear seamless, there are several questions to contend with that can initially seem daunting. How do I encourage people to play? Where can I source a prize from? Is there a way for me to run raffles digitally and physically? What if I accidentally host an illegal lottery when trying to host a raffle?
All of the above are valid concerns and it’s extremely important to be mindful of the regulations around raffles and lotteries. The good news is that there are hundreds of providers who can help charities to navigate this process, and charities indeed do make use of them.
Unsuitable digital solutions
While there are a plethora of external lottery managers in operation today, many tend to work with relatively antiquated technologies and can, as a result, be somewhat unsuited to delivering a digital raffle solution that’s appropriate for the modern customer.
With this in mind, charities should always look for forward-thinking providers who would use sets of modern technology to operate their raffles and lotteries. In addition, charities should naturally pick providers with a solid track record of delivering successful projects, who compete effectively on price, and have the ability to customise the raffle most closely in line with the charity’s desires. So charities really do need to do their research.
A good online raffle needs a number of key ingredients. These include offering an attractive prize, ensuring an easy and painless entry process, providing a clearly outlined draw mechanism (or a sufficient level of trust in the operator), and, of course, attracting a set of willing participants who are happy to enter.
Raffles typically fall under quite stringent laws that relate to lotteries and arise from the Gambling Act 2005, so prospective charity operators (or even individuals who want to host a raffle to support their charity) do need to be careful to fall on the right side of the law.
Remember the rules
There are, generally speaking, a handful of ways to run a legal raffle to support a charity:
ORGANISING A RAFFLE IN THE FORM OF AN INCIDENTAL LOTTERY. Perhaps the easiest way to run a raffle legally is to pair it up with an existing event and operate the raffle as an additional fundraising activity on the day. This is termed an “incidental lottery” and it does not require the operator or individual to make any registrations or acquire a licence.
If this sounds like an appealing option, then just be aware that (i) the tickets must all be the same price (i.e. you can’t sell some for £10 and some for £5), (ii) the sale of tickets and the draw must both occur at the event, (iii) children under 16 may not sell or buy tickets, and (iv) deductions for any prizes cannot exceed £500.
SMALL SOCIETY LOTTERIES. To raise money for the benefit of a non-commercial society (which includes charities and other organisations such as a sporting or cultural society), you may also wish to consider running a small society lottery.
You will need to register your raffle with your local authority licensing department – fees are around £40 to do so. However, raffle tickets can be sold in advance and the draw can be advertised to the general public. These are more complicated to run and require careful administration. Thus before doing so, you should read up on the guidance issued by the Gambling Commission on how to operate a small society lottery.
“PRIZE COMPETITIONS” OR “FREE DRAWS”. You may wish to run a prize competition or a free draw instead of a raffle - neither of which requires licenses or any registrations. Prize competitions can have a cost to enter, but there must be an element of skill which limits the number of people who can win. This can be a tricky question that must be answered when entering.
A “free draw” format must allow the participant to enter for free, and payment to enter must be voluntary. There are some other items that must also be adhered to to ensure the legality of the format. Once again, organisers should read up on the latest guidance from the Gambling Commission.
In addition to the above, running a digital raffle – either with the help of an external lottery manager or a free draw provider – can be combined with physical raffle sales too if the relevant laws and regulations are adhered to. For example, QR codes at events are a great way to streamline participation through the same medium, and this is certainly a suitable option for many raffle organisers.
Measuring success
If a charity wishes to run a series of online raffles (in any case, more than one), then finding the time to evaluate existing results and plan new approaches for the future is an important last step in this process.
Some of the most important data to always review are the following: (i) the number of participants, (ii) the number of unique page views your raffle receives (and compare these to the number of participants), and (iii) the conversion rate of any communications or marketing, to determine in particular whether the marginal cost of each advert is paid back.
It is also highly useful to analyse the demographics of the players and iterate the marketing towards the most engaged groups in subsequent raffles. During the second year of The Great Christmas Raffle, there was the chance to iterate the marketing based on participating charities’ feedback and other on-site intelligence that had been gathered the previous year.
As a result, the amount raised from was doubled from one year to the next, with over £92,000 donated in the most recent year to over 70 charities.
If a charity looks to maximise results across the three metrics numbered above and if it is willing to commit to testing new approaches each time, then its performance is extremely likely to improve over time!
Preventing excessive play
Whilst online raffles are a very low risk form of gambling operators must stay vigilant of the potential for excessive play and take appropriate action where necessary. Ideally there should be a Responsible Play policy displayed.
By keeping all of the above in mind and by taking these recommended first steps, you can be sure that your charity will soon enjoy the benefits of hosting its first online raffle. What’s more, in the UK, the age-old raffle is a much loved and well understood feature of British life. Now, as online raffles continue to offer users and organisers alike more flexibility than ever before, there are a whole host of reasons why they should be considered for fundraising purposes.
With digital raffles soaring in popularity, there really has never been a better time for charities to get involved.
