Football card fundraiser: how it works and how to run one legally

A football card fundraiser is a simple game: a card lists football teams, people pay to put their name against one, and when every team is taken a hidden panel reveals the winner. It is also a lottery in law, so the rules matter.

I’m Kevin Durham, a charity auctioneer and event host. Here is how a card works and the rules for running one properly.

What is a football card fundraiser?

A football card fundraiser is a card of team names, each sold for a fixed price, with the winning team hidden under a seal. The organiser writes the price and the prize on the card before selling, and whoever bought the winning square takes the prize.

Cards come in sizes of 20 to 80 teams. Most have a silver panel you scratch off, which is why the same thing gets sold as a scratch card fundraiser or a scratch off card fundraiser.

How does a football card work?

A football card works by selling every square first and revealing the winner last.

1. Set the price and prize. Write both on the card before the first sale.
2. Sell the squares. Each buyer writes their name against a team.
3. Fill the card. Every card has a different winner, so an empty square could be the one.
4. Reveal. Scratch the panel in front of people and find the name on that team.
5. Pay out. The prize goes to the winner, the rest to the cause.

One card seller suggests giving about half the takings as the prize. On a 40-team card at £1 a square, that is £20 to the winner and £20 to your cause.

Is a football card fundraiser legal?

Yes, a football card fundraiser is legal if you run it under the right type of lottery. Under the Gambling Act, anything where people pay, a prize is allocated and the result relies wholly on chance is a lottery. The Gambling Commission puts it plainly: fundraising lotteries are forms of gambling.

The type depends on where and to whom you sell. These are the Commission’s rules as they stood in October 2026.

At a one-off event

A card sold at a fete, fair or fundraising dinner is an incidental lottery. It can’t be the main reason for the event, and the money must go to charity, not private gain. Squares must be sold only at the event, while it is happening. Children can buy, £100 can go on costs, and prizes can’t roll over.

Inside your own club

A sports club can run a card as a private society lottery. Members can buy, and non-members only on the club’s physical premises. Everyone pays the same price, sales are physical only and the reveal happens at the club. The Act lets children take part in a private lottery, so junior members can buy a square too.

So a player taking a card to work for colleagues to fill falls outside this route.

To the public

To sell beyond the event or the clubhouse, register a small society lottery with your council: £40, then £20 a year. Buyers must be 16 or over, at least 20% must go to your cause, and you send the council a return within three months of the draw. Tickets must show your society’s name, the price, the organiser’s name and address and the draw date, so ask your council how to handle that on a card.

Do you need a licence to sell football cards online?

You need a registration or a licence to sell football card squares online. The Commission says this covers social media, selling sites and fundraising platforms. Running an illegal lottery is a criminal offence.

Treat a team group chat taking names the same way. Under £20,000 a draw and £250,000 a year, a council registration covers online sales.

What about scratch card and 50/50 raffle fundraisers?

A scratch card fundraiser is the same game under another name, and the same rules apply. A 50/50 raffle is different: half the money taken goes to the winner, so the prize grows with sales.

That growth is the catch at an event. An incidental lottery can only spend £500 of takings on prizes, so a 50/50 pot over £1,000 breaks the rule. Bigger 50/50 draws belong under a small society registration. My guide to running a charity raffle covers the draw itself.

Running a football card at a charity dinner

At a sports dinner, one card per table is a neat icebreaker. The banter about who drew which club does the selling for you.

Here is how I’d run it:

• Sell while guests are waiting, before the starter. Never approach someone with food going into their mouth.
• Give each buyer a cloakroom ticket with their team on it. An event lottery needs physical tickets.
• Keep the prize modest. Ten tables at £2 a square and a £20 prize per card take £800, give away £200 and keep £600.
• Reveal every card at once, from the stage.
• Close the cards before the auction starts.

That last one matters most. Whoever holds the room holds the total, and nobody holds a room that is still scratching cards.

I open with Heads or Tails to warm the room, and a card can do the same job. At a sports dinner, though, the big numbers come from the live auction and the pledge. At the Jigsaw Trust’s event, the team expected £14,000 from the auction. It made £27,000, and a live pledge they hadn’t planned raised another £30,600.

That was a powerful team behind a powerful charity. The pledge is where the real money lives.

Five ways a card fundraiser goes wrong

1. Selling online without registering. A social post taking names is an online lottery.
2. Making it the main event. An incidental lottery can’t be the reason people came.
3. Revealing a half-sold card. The winner may be an empty square.
4. Rolling a prize over. You can’t, at an event or in a private society lottery.
5. Claiming Gift Aid. HMRC treats lottery tickets as a payment, not a gift.

Tell buyers where the money goes. The Fundraising Regulator expects donors to know how much reaches the cause. Write it on the card.

Planning your next fundraiser

Keep a football card small and legal and it stays cheap and quick. I’m an auctioneer, not a lawyer, so take anything unusual to your council’s licensing team.

For more ideas, see my charity event games guide and the fundraising games I run at events. If you’re planning a dinner and want the auction and pledge to do the heavy lifting, call me on 07596 851647.