A Raffle is a Simple and Genius Fundraiser by Madison Eason
A Raffle is a Simple and Genius Fundraiser by Madison Eason
Growing up, my brother was always very involved with scouting. Since scouting can be rather expensive, it can hardly be talked about without mentioning fundraising. We as a family were a part of dozens of fundraisers for dozens of different scouting occasions. We tried everything from selling donuts to offering manual labor to spaghetti dinners. I got so tired of hosting fundraiser after fundraiser.
Several years ago, the scouts decided to have a raffle fundraiser. When this was announced, I was a little skeptical of the idea; who would want to waste their money on a little piece of paper? I was soon proven wrong, however.
After weeks of tedious planning, the day for the fundraiser came, and we had a fantastic turnout. There were many prizes to be won once the tickets were drawn, and people were so excited to see if their name was the one exclaimed from the stage. The suspense of not knowing if or what you would win seemed to get people excited about buying the raffle tickets. We were constantly announcing that the more tickets they bought, the more likely it was for them to get a prize. Of course, people always bought several, so that they would have a better chance of winning.
This mindset is a large part of the reason the fundraiser was so successful. We also made sure there were worthy incentives. Included in the prizes were large plates of cinnamon rolls baked by the scouting mothers, homemade jewelry, and warm winter blankets.
Some people really became competitive with each other and it became a funny game to see who could buy the most tickets. A little healthy competition proved to be of great worth to the scouts. The boys earned thousands of dollars that night to send them on their high-adventure trip, and I learned a valuable tactic in fundraising that I plan to use in my future efforts. I have absolutely no complaints about our raffling experience. Selling raffle tickets is a fantastic way to earn money for any cause. It is relatively easy to put together; all you need is a roll of tickets and a few great prizes. It is a guaranteed success for raising funds.
In most fundraising techniques, there is always a risk of not making more money than was spent preparing items to sell. Many times we would hold a fundraiser and only make a small amount of money, once we had calculated how much was spent on food or facilities. This was always extremely frustrating, because we had invested so much time and money on a fundraiser that did not even benefit our cause. With raffle tickets, money will be made no matter how much you sell, because people will have purchased tickets whether they take a prize home or not.
Raffling is truly a simple yet genius selling and fundraising technique, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a great way to raise money for any sort of cause or organization.
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Contributed by Madison Eason
November 18, 2015