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Raffles and Other Moneymakers One of my friends is an expert at supplying organizations with just the right auction and raffle merchandise. He may be the only person I know who can create the perfect “auction in a box” for an organization seeking a low-cost alternative to soliciting auction and raffle items. He had just attended an event where attendees paid a high fee for admission, which included dinner and a single raffle ticket that would be drawn at the event. The grand prize was a well-appointed sport utility vehicle (SUV). Attendees were limited to 600. There was only one fundraising activity, which was a “reverse raffle” for the fancy SUV. In a reverse raffle, all tickets are drawn, one by one, until the last ticket drawn wins the grand prize. He was aghast at seeing 600 people assembled in one place who would not be presented with a single additional fundraising opportunity on which to spend money. After all, these 600 people had already paid $350 per person for admission, some making that payment months in advance. They knew the price of admission included a chance on the SUV and a few other prizes that would come at points in the reverse raffle. Surely, he said, some of the people just might have had a few extra dollars they could have donated through a bucket raffle, roving raffle, rubber-duck game, or any one of hundreds of other possible fundraising activities. Why would he care? Because like most people who go to fundraising events, he goes to support what he believes to be a worthy cause. Unlike many others, however, he sees fundraising through the eyes of a professional . Consider what happened as the reverse raffle wound down. There were 600 tickets to be drawn— and that’s a lot of drawing. This can be boring, and it was. Sure, there were a few prizes given out along the way, such as for the first, fiftieth, one hundredth, and 17 184 ParT 3: CondUCTing The FUndraising Raffles raffles are games of chance played with tickets, markers, or some other means to identify a winner who is chosen when the person’s ticket is drawn at random. Basic requirements of a raffle are that the winning tickets be drawn in a fashion that is reasonably acknowledged as random and that every ticket in a raffle have an equal chance of being drawn. Potential for High Net Revenue raffle tickets are priced at a fraction of the perceived value of the prize or prizes. When setting the price of tickets, planners should estimate (or set) the total number of tickets to be sold and adjust the ticket price accordingly given the actual cost to the organization of the prize(s) and the perceived value of the prize(s). thus, the actual cost of the prize(s) and number of tickets that will be sold are the prime considerations in setting ticket price and estimating net revenue. in some instances, it may work best to offer tickets for a very low price to encourage sale of large numbers of tickets and ease of purchase by people regardless of income levels. in other instances, a smaller number of tickets can be sold but at a higher price each. Both options, and everything in between, have a place. to some extent the demographics of attendees may dictate which option to choose. if demographics of attendees are unknown or highly varied, it may be best to hold several raffles and vary the raffle options available. of all fundraising activities that can be added to an auction event, raffles offer the potential for the greatest percentage net return on investment in prizes. in addition, raffles can be conducted quickly or “in the background.” if prizes have been donated at zero cost to the organization, raffles also may offer the highest differential between the perceived value and total revenue received. the reason for such a high net return on raffles is that the potential number of tickets that can be sold on any raffle item is limited only by the number of tickets made available , the prowess of ticket sellers, and the willingness of people to buy tickets. Generally, people can two hundredth ticket drawn, and so on, but most tickets drawn resulted in no prize for the bearer. Once a person’s ticket was drawn, there was little reason to remain at the event; thus, the room began to clear out early in the...

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