It might be a surprise, but research shows that the majority of organizations who hold raffle ticket fundraisers do not know how much money they will make until after the raffle is over. Nearly all raffles have a target amount of money that they would like the raffle to produce, and there is a simple calculation that can be made to see how many tickets you will need to sell at what price in order to meet that goal. By playing around with the quantity of raffle tickets and the pricing in order to match your customer base it is fairly easy to plan your raffle so that you meet your fundraising needs.

In order to help ensure that your next raffle ticket event is a success, the rest of the article describes factors that you should take into consideration when planning your fundraiser. This raffle ticket calculator utility will help you price the correct amount of raffle tickets for your event.
Fundraising Goal
It is important to know how much profit your organization would like to earn during your raffle ticket event. This value should be the ideal net proceeds to the event after all other costs have been subtracted.

Raffle Costs – There are several costs that can be incurred during a raffle ticket event. The list below lists the most common ones.

Raffle Ticket Costs: whether you print your raffle tickets yourself or have a company like www.TicketPrinting.com print the tickets for you, your raffle tickets are going to cost money. Often times the look and feel of the raffle ticket will help convey a sense of value to your supporters allowing you to charge more for them. I have talked to customers that wanted custom raffle tickets designed that looked expensive so that it would be easier for them to sell the raffle tickets at a higher price. This price should include all related costs as well (shipping, sales tax, and other fees all add up to produce the total cost of generating the tickets that you will use for your event).

Raffle Prize Costs: More often than not, you will not find an organization that is willing to just give you an item for you to give away (at least not something cool enough to make people want to win it). Often times you will have to pay at lease part of the price of the prizes for your event. Most people will be willing to give you a prize at a reduced price after you sell them on the publicity that they will be receiving as a sponsor to your event.

Raffle Ticket Distribution Costs: The distribution costs of your raffle include all of the related costs of marketing and selling your raffle tickets. This could be posters that will be printed or even a television or radio advertisement. What ever the costs are; they will be a factor in how profitable the event is.

Total Expected Raffle Ticket Revenue – The total revenue that your organization will receive as a result of the sales of raffle tickets is a factor of two things: the number of raffle tickets sold, and the price at which the tickets are sold. These are most likely the two variables over which you have the most control and the ones that are most important to match up directly to your customer group.

Quantity of Raffle Tickets: The quantity of raffle tickets should be decided upon while thinking about the number of people in your community who are likely to buy raffle tickets. It is important to remember that people often buy more than one raffle ticket and this can be encouraged by offering a discount if you buy a larger quantity of tickets ($5 each or 5 for $20 is an example of quantity discounts).

Price of Raffle Tickets: The price that you can charge for raffle tickets will depend on the prizes that you are offering and the demographic of your target market. Selling $100 raffle tickets to college students might be a long shot as would be selling $15 raffle tickets for a chance to win a DVD. When deciding the price you need to take into consideration how much the prizes would be worth to most of your participants. It will also help boost sales if the ticket price is a convenient amount (most people do not want to pay $3.76 for a raffle ticket).

Finalizing Price and Quantity of Raffle Tickets – Once you have an idea of the price that people will pay for your tickets and how many you can sell, you can calculate how much money you can earn. First, add up all of the costs of your event. As an example, $75 for Raffle Tickets, $500 for prizes and $50 for additional marketing materials would give us a total cost of $625. The next step is to add the fundraising goal to that value. If we wanted to raise $2000 we would add that to the $625 that we already have spent to get $2625.

Calculate Price of Raffle Tickets: Once we have the total revenue to be raised ($2625) we can find out what the price of the tickets would need to be for a given quantity of raffle ticket sales. To do this we divide the total revenue by the quantity of tickets. As an example, if we thought that we could sell 1000 raffle tickets we would need to sell each one for $3.63 to reach our goal (I would recommend that we round up to the nearest dollar).

Calculate Quantity of Raffle Tickets: To calculate how many raffle tickets we need to sell we can divide the total amount of revenue by the price of the tickets to find out how many tickets we need to sell. In our example, if we wanted to sell each ticket for $5 we would need to sell 2625/5= 525 tickets to meet our goal. Again I recommend always rounding up as most organizations can deal with extra money easier than they can with too little money.

This simple calculation will make it easier to plan profitable raffle ticket events that do not leave you in the dark.

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Your Challenge: The Successful Raffle

Great rewards require great effort. The payoffs from a prize draw can be substantial, if you make an investment of time, forethought, and common sense, but don’t count your revenue before it’s collected! Consider possible stumbling blocks. According to TicketPrinting.com’s survey of over 200 raffle holders, the top five most difficult tasks are:

• Selling Ticket
• Tracking Sales
• Encouraging Participation
• Soliciting Prize Donations
• Raising Awareness

There is no silver bullet solution, but there are resources and techniques to help your organization rise above obstacles.

1. Ticket Sales: By far, the #1 most difficult task reported was the ability to sell tickets. Different people have different tastes in prizes. Make sure your prizes make sense for your organization and your potential ticket purchasers. For instance, if your prize is a hunting package, you don’t go to animal rights groups to sell tickets. You try a sporting organization or a gun club! Do go to local business and other groups in your communities. Make your presence known at large gatherings, and don’t forget to ask your family and friends. Remember, you’ll sell more tickets with fun or clever promotions. Here are some ideas:

a.Early bird pricing: Offer a special low price in the early days of selling tickets. People love a good deal and will be more likely to buy.
b.Special deals: Find creative ways to give deals to customers. For example, offer $40 for as many tickets they can fit once around their head, waist, neck, etc…
c.Dunk, throw pies, or cut hair: Along with your prizes, find a sympathetic local celebrity (a school’s principal, a TV reporter, a popular coach) and sell tickets for a chance (or multiple chances) to dunk him, throw a pie at him, or cut his hair. Don’t forget to invite the newspaper and local media outlets for more publicity.
d. Advertise on your website, local radio, public events, newspapers, and at local business.
e. Prizes for sellers: Offering rewards for most tickets sold, most hours put in, or best attitude provides ticket sellers with an attractive goal.
It is also important that the consumer knows why you are selling tickets. You’re not just earning money for your cause, you’re also spreading its message. Create an enthusiastic sales pitch. Include your organization’s name and purpose, address frequently asked questions, and finish up with a request that the listener purchase tickets. Keep it short and sweet so you don’t lose their attention.

2. Tracking: Ticketprinting.com’s survey reported that 19% of nonprofits did not record ticket sales, but the government will require you to report the outcomes of your raffle. You’re legally obligated to keep track! Accurate tracking can also create a database of potential customers for your next raffle. Microsoft Excel was nonprofits’ favorite program for tracking, with 43% of all respondents using the program. Record everything! This includes names, relation to seller, phone number, email, addresses dates, ticket numbers. Excel allows you to easily set up a spreadsheet with all the required information. Set up your spreadsheet correctly, and it can be used over and over again. Below is an example of a typical recording spreadsheet in Excel:
   
   

   raffle spreadsheet
3. Participation: If your raffle will depend on volunteers, it may be hard to find reliable support. People can’t help if they don’t know about the raffle, so tell everyone about your opportunity. Joining online networks specifically for volunteering is an excellent way to connect your organization with people in your area who are ready and willing to help. Remember you must accommodate your volunteers. According to volunteermatch.org, 89% of volunteers think it is important for volunteering to fit into their schedule and 80% found it important to understand expectations. So be specific about your needs! Idle volunteers probably won’t come back. Always show your appreciation by following up with thank-you letters.
4. Donations: Finding the right prizes is the first step in initiating a successful raffle. There are many online sites where businesses and individuals can make donations. Sign up for one today and start collecting. Also, ask local business to provide prizes. They are often willing to give back to the community, especially if you can offer some positive publicity. Adding their logo to your Raffle Ticket or providing free ad space in your publication is a great motivator! Don’t be shy about approaching anyone who might help. You may be surprised when you find out how many powerful supporters you actually have.
5. Awareness: The most effective way to create awareness for a raffle is through word of mouth. Promote your raffle through your website, newsletters, email, TV, and meetings. Tell everyone about your raffle and ask them to do the same. 63% of the respondents in TicketPrinting.com’s survey said they hold raffles in conjunction with a major event such as a dinner or a sporting event. This way your raffle can be promoted through the event as well.

Now you know the challenges and the solutions. Get out there and start selling Raffle Tickets to support your organization!

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Once you have the essentials of your raffle planned out, it is important to manage efficiently. Managing a raffle continues throughout the whole process and will likely determine the overall profitability of the program. Let’s take a look at how to manage your raffle.

On Your Mark…

It is important to plan all aspects of your raffle beforehand to make sure you will reach your goals. Prepare for everything! Above nothing else, have the following sorted out to perfection:

• Prizes: Know what prizes you are raffling. Whether they are donated or you had to invest in some yourself, it is beneficial to have them before you start selling tickets. Prizes are one of the top factors in a successful raffle. There are a number of ways to obtain great tickets for your event, but the ticket pricing should reflect the perceived value of your prizes; not your costs.

• Volunteers/organizers: Make sure everyone knows their job by assigning tasks and positions. Set up group leaders to manage your various tasks, like ticket selling.

• Ticket sales process: Know how you will track your ticket sales! Whether it is by hand, on the web, or by an Excel spreadsheet, record everything. Analyzing this data can determine what needs to be improved, what areas you are doing well at, and perspective buyers for your next raffle.

Get Set…

An essential yet very difficult task in directing a raffle is managing the people involved. Most raffles are organized and managed solely by volunteers, or a mix of volunteers and the organization members. This means you have to get people motivated. As you probably already know, this is easier said than done. The top motivator for volunteers is to make it clear they are helping a great cause. Let everyone know your organizations purpose and tell them how their work will specifically help the organization reach its’ goals. Give updates on how the event is going and keep everyone informed.

From TicketPrinting.com’s survey, we found there are two very different approaches to getting volunteers involved in the ticket sales process. The first, and most popular approach, is to have prizes or awards for sellers with the greatest number of tickets sold (prizes for best attitude, hardest worker, etc. were also given in many situations). Conversely, the other option is to have sellers take only as many tickets as they think they can sell. Then, if all their tickets are not sold the specified deadline, they will have to purchase their remaining tickets. Whichever method you choose, remember to keep all volunteers busy and make them feel like they are making a difference!

GO!

As mentioned, tracking and recording sales is an essential part of hosting a raffle. Doing a poor job of tracking opens the doors for legal repercussions. According to our recent survey of over 200 nonprofit

organizations, a surprising 19% had no tracking system at all. To effectively track ticket sales, you must at minimum record the seller/buyer’s name, amount sold, price, location, ticket numbers, and dates. You can track sales by hand, use an Excel spreadsheet, or invest in an online program. For those looking for a more inexpensive and simple tracking system, consider setting up a Microsoft Office template. The key to templates is to make them reusable, saving you the time of reproducing documents.

Now that you know the essentials in managing a raffle, put this knowledge to use! Raffles are great fundraisers and can have a real impact on your organization. The more time you put in before the raffle, the more likely you will be able to handle any unexpected setbacks. Following these steps will help ensure a smooth raffle and give you confidence for future events.

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