Raffle prize ideas that sell more tickets at a charity event

Good raffle prize ideas have very little to do with how much the prize cost. The prizes that sell tickets are the ones most of the room would actually like to win, displayed where everyone can see them, and described in one sentence.

I am Kevin Durham, a professional charity auctioneer and event host. A raffle sits somewhere in most of the fundraising evenings I work on, and the prize table is usually where it is won or lost. Here are the prizes worth chasing, the ones to leave out, and the UK rules that decide what you can offer.

What makes a good raffle prize?

A good raffle prize is one that most people in the room would be pleased to win. That sounds obvious, but it rules out a surprising amount of what ends up on prize tables.

Run every prize past three questions:

• Would most guests want it? A weekend away, yes. A voucher for a specialist service, probably not.
• Can you explain it in a sentence? If the seller has to describe terms and conditions, the sale is gone.
• Can the winner use it easily? Awkward dates, long journeys and heavy boxes all take the shine off.

A raffle is a volume game. You are selling a lot of cheap tickets to a lot of people, so the prize has to work for a lot of people.

What are the best raffle prize ideas for a gala dinner?

The best raffle prize ideas for a gala dinner are experiences and treats that feel generous but suit almost anyone: a hotel stay, a meal for two, a luxury hamper, or tickets to something local.

Lead with one headline prize and say its name every time the raffle is mentioned. Guests buy tickets for the prize they have heard about three times, not the one listed halfway down a sheet.

Which raffle prize ideas work on a small budget?

On a small budget, the raffle prize ideas that work best are hampers built from several small donations, vouchers from local businesses, and bottles. None of them needs to cost the organisers anything.

• Build-your-own hampers. Ask each committee member, class, or team to bring one item to a theme. Ten small gifts become one prize worth winning.
• Local vouchers. Cafes, salons, garden centres, and gyms will often give a voucher where they would not give cash.
• A bottle tombola. Guests bring a bottle as their entry or donation, every bottle gets a ticket, and winners take home whatever they draw. The prizes are supplied by the people playing.
• Experiences that cost nothing. A reserved parking space, a day off, lunch with the chief executive, or the head teacher’s chair for a day.

Tombola prizes follow the same rule as raffle prizes: variety beats value. A tombola needs plenty of modest prizes more than it needs a few good ones, because people keep playing when they see others winning.

How many raffle prizes do you need?

You need fewer raffle prizes than you think: one headline prize, two or three strong supporting prizes, and a handful of smaller ones is plenty for a dinner. That is somewhere between six and ten in total.

A very long prize list causes two problems. The draw drags on while the room stops listening, and the headline prize gets lost among the rest.

If you have been given more than you can use, combine them. Three unremarkable donations become one good hamper, and the rest can go into a tombola or be saved for the next event.

Should a prize go in the raffle or the live auction?

Put a prize in the raffle if most of the room would want it, and in the live auction if a few people would want it badly. That one test settles most arguments on a committee.

A raffle caps what any one guest pays at the price of a few tickets. That is ideal for a hamper. It is a waste of a one-off experience that two tables would have fought over.

Before you put your best donation on the raffle table, ask whether two people in the room might bid against each other for it. If the answer is yes, it is an auction lot. I cover what makes a strong lot in my guide to donation ideas.

How do you get raffle prizes donated?

You get raffle prizes donated by asking specific people for specific things, early, and making it easy to say yes. A general appeal for “raffle prizes” gets you a table of unwanted gifts.

• Start with your own room. Guests, sponsors, and trustees often own or work for the businesses you want to approach.
• Ask for one named item. “A dinner for two” is easier to agree to than “anything you can spare”.
• Offer something back. A mention from the stage, a line in the programme, and a thank-you afterwards.
• Give a deadline. Prizes that arrive on the day cannot be displayed or promoted.

I always advise charities to source prizes and lots in-house where they can, because it keeps far more of the money with the cause. The same approach I set out for sourcing lots works for a raffle.

What are the rules on raffle prizes in the UK?

In the UK the rules on raffle prizes depend on which kind of raffle you are running, because a raffle is a lottery in law. Most charity raffles are one of two types.

A raffle sold and run at your event is an incidental lottery. The Gambling Commission’s rules for event raffles let you take up to £500 from ticket money to buy prizes, and up to £100 for costs. Donated prizes have no limit on their value. Prizes cannot roll over to another raffle.

A raffle sold in advance is usually a small society lottery, registered with your local council. Under the rules for a small society lottery, no single prize may be worth more than £25,000, even if it was donated, and at least 20% of proceeds must go to the society’s purposes.

In practice the £500 limit is the one that catches people out. If you were planning to buy a big prize out of ticket sales at a dinner, you probably cannot. Have it donated instead.

For the full process, including registration and who can buy tickets, read my guide to running a charity raffle. I am an auctioneer, not a lawyer, so check anything unusual with your council’s licensing team.

Prizes I would leave out

Some prizes cost you ticket sales. These are the ones I would think twice about.

• Anything that needs explaining. Vouchers with long conditions, or services most guests will never use.
• Prizes with a hidden cost. A “holiday” that is accommodation only, with flights the winner has to pay for, must be described honestly or left out.
• Second-hand or regifted items. Guests can tell, and it sets the tone for the whole table.
• Prizes that do not suit the room. Not every guest drinks, and not every event should lead with alcohol.

The fundraising code expects fundraising to be open and honest. Describe every prize accurately, including what is not included.

Selling the tickets on the night

A good prize still has to be sold. Put the prizes where guests walk past them on the way in, with the headline prize at the front and its name on a card.

Sell while people are waiting: at the drinks reception, and in the gaps between courses. Never approach a guest with food going into their mouth. They cannot answer, they cannot reach a wallet, and they will remember being interrupted.

Give your sellers one line about the headline prize and one price offer. Then have your host mention the raffle from the stage before the last sales round.

One variation worth knowing

A reverse raffle turns the draw around: every ticket drawn is knocked out, and the last ticket left in wins the prize. It takes longer, so it suits an evening where the draw itself is part of the entertainment.

It needs one prize big enough to hold attention to the end, which makes it a good home for a single strong donation.

A raffle is one of several fundraising games I run as part of a full evening, alongside the live auction and the pledge. To talk through your event, email hello@thecharityauctioneer.uk or call 07596 851647.