The Impact of a Raffle Fundraiser
Think you know all the ins and outs of raffling? May be you need to check out “Impact a Life†college scholarship contributor Dylan Devine’s essay, “The Impact of a Raffle Fundraiser.â€Â
Dylan is a student at Arizona State University. Thðnk you ѕþ muÑÂh Dylan for your wõll-dþnõ essay – ðnd bõѕt þf luÑÂk wÑ–th your Ñ•tudіõѕ!
“Impact a Life†Scholarship contributor: Dylan Devine
Yþu ÑÂðn hõlÑ€ Dylan Devine’s pursuit þf a scholarship award bу ÑÂlÑ–ÑÂkÑ–ng the “sharing Ñ–Ñ• ÑÂðrÑ–ng†buttþnÑ• bõlþw.
Fundraising is important to a lot of non-profit organizations that have a huge impact on the lives of many. Recently I was able to participate in hosting a fundraiser for the Illinois Special Olympics. Conscious Cup, the local coffee shop I work at hosted an after hours fundraising event along with other local businesses such as Crystal Lake Brewing.
We had participants in the Special Olympics speak on how much this non-profit group has done for them. To help with donations we created a special coffee blend and donated the proceeds to the Illinois Special Olympics. Also at this event were gift basket raffles including products and gift certificates from participating local businesses. Using this kind of setting for raffles maximizes the benefits for several reasons. First, people get to meet the organization they are helping to support.
Being able to sympathize and meet the people you are helping takes away some of the fear in people’s minds when making a donation. They can see the community that they are affecting in a positive way with their money, which means that they are more willing to spend money on raffle tickets, especially with the worthwhile prizes provided by a local business. By allowing local businesses to participate you can both cut down on costs and provide more desirable prizes, such as a coffee blend, or local restaurant gift certificates, alcoholic beverages, etc.
This is because the local businesses are willing to donate because they have an added benefit of free advertising and a federal tax deduction. And because these are all donations, it costs nothing for the fundraiser itself. With this focus on local business, you will also have an impact in the surrounding community that the fundraiser was held. Scaling for larger fundraisers helps increase the benefits of this system. The first place I think of hosting a large fundraiser is at a convention. Conventions host a huge number of small businesses that are already bringing inventory with them.
Why not give them an option to donate into a co-op raffle fundraiser? With this method, donations get split up into baskets or single prizes and are raffled off at the end of the convention. Gen Con for example, is an all things gaming convention held in Indianapolis annually. In 2016 there were 518 exhibitors selling and over 61,000 unique visitors to the convention. The same principles apply from the event at my local coffee shop. All attendees have a shared interest in gaming, so prizes such as new board and card games appeal to all. The Exhibitors get free advertising and a federal tax deduction. The fundraiser would have to spend very little in the process of hosting. Everyone wins.
Using the principles demonstrated at a small scale in my home town and scaling them up to events drawing tens of thousands of people would create the biggest impact on the lives of everyone involved. Not only does the community benefit the fundraiser by donating but fundraiser benefits the community by supporting local business as well. This mutual relationship should be the goal of any non-profit, maximizing their impact on the world.