A Successful Raffle Fundraising Campaign by Elise Coleman
A Successful Raffle Fundraising Campaign by Elise Coleman
Scholarships are an important financial necessity. Not receiving a scholarship can be the determining factor if a student attends college or not. It was exciting when my mom’s women’s club announced that they were going to provide scholarships to the area high schools. The scholarships awarded will help the high school students pay for college expenses. At some point, a shortfall occurred in their college scholarship fund. So the club held a fundraising raffle to cover the college scholarship shortfall. I was told that the fundraiser was a success for the club, and as it turned out, there was an unexpected surprise for me and my family regarding the raffle results.
At the women’s club monthly meeting, the idea was tossed around about how to raise money to cover the shortfall for the area high school scholarships. The club members searched for something that would generate a profit. The idea suggested was a raffle. A club member then mentioned she would donate a 36 inch high definition television still in the box that could be used as the raffle item. The vote was unanimous to do the raffle. With the raffle item in place, the club then decided that each club member would sell a minimum of 20 tickets.
With the high definition television as the raffle item, I was told that tickets were fairly easy to sell. It was decided to sell the ticket prices at the low price of $2 each. The fundraising event lasted for a month during the month of December. While we were enjoying our annual Christmas day dinner, my mom’s parents verbally committed to buy a ticket. Their television had recently stopped working, and they were borrowing an extra television that my parents loaned them. In the end, they didn’t pay for the ticket after the commitment. My mom paid for their ticket and additionally purchased a ticket for herself. My mom and I thought that if my grandparents won the raffle that would make a great Christmas present.
On the day of the raffle drawing, my mom was unable to attend. She knew however that her parents would be present at the drawing since it was held at their church. She called them to check on the outcome. Her brother answered the phone and said that their dad had won a television. My mom was so excited because she had sold and paid for the winning raffle ticket. The ticket did make a great Christmas present for my grandparents.
As it turned out, the raffle was a financial success. There are seven local high schools that benefitted from the women’s club scholarships. Additionally, the club was able to raise enough revenue from the raffle to cover the scholarship shortfall, and I was pleasantly surprised to learn that I was one of the recipients of the high school scholarships. I was eligible due to my past involvement with the youth club which is also sponsored by my mom’s women’s club. I was unaware of the opportunity which made me really grateful to receive it.
The raffle benefited so many people’s lives. It was designed to cover the shortfall, but it also enhanced the lives of the students with scholarships and my grandparents with a new television.
Help Elise Coleman's pursuit of a scholarship award by clicking the “sharing is caring” buttons – click on this link:
https://www.raffleticket.com/blog/a-successful-raffle-fundraising-campaign/
Contributed by Elise Coleman
October 8, 2015