Raffles: The One Size Fits All Fundraiser
Whу Ñ–Ñ• thõ rðfflõ a Ñ•Ñ–mÑ€lõ, õffõÑÂtÑ–võ, ðnd рþtõntіðllу Ñ€rþfÑ–tðblõ wðу tþ rðіѕõ fundÑ• fþr уþur gþþd ÑÂðuѕõ? Would you like some tips on how to make it a success?
“ImрðÑÂt a LÑ–fõ†scholarship ÑÂþntrÑ–butþr John Hao dõtðіlÑ• õxðÑÂtlу whу and how уþur þrgðnÑ–zðtіþn Ñ•hþuld ÑÂþnÑ•Ñ–dõr ѕõllÑ–ng rðfflõ tÑ–ÑÂkõtÑ• ðѕ a рðrt þf уþur nõxt fundrðіѕõr.
John is pursuing an MS in Biomedical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. Great jþb John, ðnd bõѕt þf luÑÂk wÑ–th уþur Ñ•tudіõѕ!
“Impact a Life†Scholarship contributor: John Hao
Yþu ÑÂðn hõlÑ€ John Hao’s pursuit þf a scholarship award bу ÑÂlÑ–ÑÂkÑ–ng the “sharing Ñ–Ñ• ÑÂðrÑ–ng†buttþnÑ• bõlþw.
Non-profit organizations come in several shapes and sizes, whether they are educational, scientific, religious or charitable. Most, if not half are tax-exempt charities meaning they all essentially take money and profit they make and put it directly into the cause and mission of the organization as opposed to pocketing or sharing profits among employees, shareholders or stockholders. In a nutshell, they are beneficial for whatever mission they may be attempting to accomplish, whether it is a stricken disease such as ALS, a religious movement such as Christianity or other varying charitable and non-profit motives.
We’ve heard and are well aware of the big non-profit organizations such as United Way Worldwide, Feeding America, YMCA, Salvation Army etc. But perhaps the local, lesser known non-profit organizations such as youth groups or your local church are also in prime existence. Raffle fundraisers can be extremely successful since the costs to employ a raffle fundraiser are minimal and the potential to achieve high profit margins are high, meaning low cost and risk with a high reward. If the prizes for the raffle are donated, the only costs that would comply are the printing of the raffle tickets, where your organization, Aâ€â€Z Printing would come into play. Raffles are much more beneficial than large events because you do not have to depend on getting large groups of people together at the same time, such as a dinner or an auction. It is furthermore competent for any sized group, whether it is one person, a handful or hundreds.
In terms of maximizing sales, it is usually a challenging endeavor. The non-profit organizations should first and foremost focus on its members and customers that are already prospects. The importance is their needs to be a tremendously good incentive on the prizes, meaning there must be motivational value behind the ticket and raffles. Furthermore, advertising is essential. One should always employ signage and literature to prove the raffle is legitimate as well as pictures and documentation of all the potential prizes to be won to show proof of the reward that can be gained. Usually this could include classified ads, promotion sales but most likely, the popular route would be to go through means of social media, whether it is Instagram®, Twitter™ or Facebook™. Door to door sales are usually effective in conjunction with social media avocation, along with local shops or storefront flyers. The last important aspect to attract participants of the raffle fundraiser is the pricing and worth of the tickets. You should determine what similar tickets or fundraisers have been sold for and subsequently sell it for less or around the same price with higher reward and prizes.
Prizes for the raffle ticket fundraiser could include the likes of cars, travel, electronic equipment and gift certificates. This is important since you want those participating to take heed into actually donating to the fundraiser in order to perhaps win a large and lucrative prize. Electronic equipment seems to be the most popular in this day in age which means perhaps including big screen, 4K TVs, new-generation iPads and perhaps even Microsoft Surface Pro 4’s™ would surely buy the participation of those involved. Gift certificates to popular chains such as Amazon® or Best Buy® would also be beneficial. If able to afford this high of a prize, cars such as luxury or sports cars in this year’s model would certainly bolster the appeal along with travel of roundtrip airfare or mileage; perhaps a cruise would not be wise since they are not as popular as they once were. But the travel may hold least priority apart from mileage since most participants will be working and may not get vacation time.
The last piece is most imperative in regards to keeping members and volunteers motivated. They are what drives the success and spreading of the raffle fundraiser. First and foremost, the volunteers need to understand it is for a good cause and their happiness is also of utmost importance. The higher the contentment of the volunteer, the more productive they can be. Rewarding volunteers with free meals and perhaps slight, material things and recognizing their accomplishments will certainly pave way for a successful raffle fundraising campaign.