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How to Increase Raffle Ticket Sales for Your Non Profit by Amanda Schummer

How to Increase Raffle Ticket Sales for Your Non Profit by Amanda Schummer

 

 For many reasons, raffles are one of the best ways to fundraise to afford the expenses that non-profit organizations are faced with.  In my experience fundraising for non-profits with Habitat for Humanity, Girl Scouts, and others, I have seen many attempts at boosting sales, but none that significantly changed the outcome.  Non-profit organizations should focus on the maximization of sales through the selection of prizes offered as well as new ways to motivate volunteers to sell more.  Everyone likes prizes, not only the buyers of the tickets, but also the sellers, and with motivation behind the sale of tickets, the organization can maximize the accrued funds. 

First, a new idea to maximize profits is to promote the non-profit and educating others while selling the tickets.  People want to feel as if they are not only able to possibly win prizes or money, but also that it will be put to good use if they choose to participate in the fundraiser.  Selling raffle tickets could also help to recruit new members to the organization, if you get people to care they will want to donate and possibly even participate themselves.  Also, non-profit organizations should seek sponsors from business or corporations that will donate as much as the fundraiser makes in raffle sales.  This promotion will make people feel that not only are they donating their own money, but by doing so they are allowing another company to help the organization.  This could be considered a form of band wagon promotion as funds will be provided by patrons seeking to donate and have it matched by the sponsor.  The last idea is to do a ‘vote with your ticket’ type event.  Take a controversial, light hearted social issue and have them vote using tickets.  For example, in a younger crowd, participants could vote for Apple versus Android, or male versus female, which would stir up some competition between participants and ultimately raise more money.  In the end, the numbers would be recorded for fun but all tickets combined to win the prize(s).  The combination of these ideas would definitely increase sales and organizations should seek to use these new fun ways for people to participate in raffles.

Another aspect to address is the prizes offered by non-profits organizations.  There is always a discrepancy between having more prizes available to win, or if the prizes should be larger.  Personally, I believe the door prize should be a mystery but have an estimated value so people know it’s a more expensive item.  Surprises are fun and can add excitement to the drawing, throughout the duration of the raffle, hints could be dropped about the prize and people would become intrigued and buy a couple tickets just in case.  Other prizes for the raffle could be a split of the funds of the raffle, similar to a 50/50 but maybe a smaller percentage due to the offer of numerous prizes or small gift-cards.  As long as participants feel they could possibly gain something useful from a raffle, such as money, they are more likely to participate.  If the raffle is being held at a sporting event or something with a theme, prizes should be picked based on the type of people who will attend.  This is where the non-profit may need to do some research on the target market and match people at a sporting event with prizes such as the opportunity to meet a player after the game.  Overall, one key aspect to aid in the sale of raffle tickets is to ensure the prize captures the interest of the target audience.

Lastly, ticket sellers should be motivated to want to sell as many as they can, and this can be done through rewards.  Sellers can be motivated with small rewards such as a bragger title, or the opportunity to have a stronger voice in the future of the non-profit.  People like to be appreciated and recognized, so volunteers must feel that their hard work will pay off with the end result of a reward.  Friendly competition is healthy and will boost the sale of raffle tickets overall.  Along with bragging rights, small gifts could be given for the effort put forth.

Furthermore, in order to succeed in the sale of raffle tickets, you must first understand both the consumer as well as the seller.  Once both are understood, you can appeal to their human instincts and desires to be rewarded with gifts or prizes.

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Contributed by Amanda Schummer