Educational Fundraising Success

Selling Raffle Tickets to support your local school is perhaps the simplest way to help earn more money for education. You need not organise food, drink, and entertainment, as you must for some charitable events, and no one need sort and delivery boxes of biscuits, candies, or other popular fundraising sales items. I might point out that such fundraisers also mean that a large percentage of your money goes to the organisation that sells the biscuits and candies to your school, whereas all prize draw profits stay at the academic institution.

The key to successful school prize draws is to motivate the salespeople: that is to say, your children. Small children may not be able to visualize the outcome of a successful draw. Perhaps they don’t understand why you need the money, or the long-term benefits they will receive. But they can certainly visualize winning a prize on their own.

You may choose to offer a large prize to the top salesperson, but an even better way to motivate them is to instead set up a second raffle for the kids, but they cannot buy tickets to this draw. Instead, they must earn those tickets. For instance, for every ten pounds of money they raise, they earn one ticket for a prize draw to win something they really want: such as an iPod or a new bicycle. Take a survey and determine what prize will best motivate them, and then watch them start selling!

Here’s a new tip for earning more money: the “fill in service.” If supporters buy a large amount of tickets, your students can fill in their names and contact information on the tickets for them. Make it a number worth your time: say, twenty-five pounds. You’ll be surprise how many people will buy more tickets to earn this free service!

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At a local fair last weekend, a pair of young boys approached me as I was talking to a fellow I knew from my gym.

“Buy a raffle ticket?” the bigger one said, waving a single ticket in my face.

“Um…” I replied.

“What’s it for?” my friend asked.

“For our school.”

But what would that ticket do for his school? The little chap couldn’t say. He didn’t know anything about the cause for which he was raising money. All he knew was the name of his school, but he couldn’t say whether they needed to raise funds for a new gym floor, to send the band to a competition or (as is the case with some schools) to purchase base essentials like paper and pencils!

“You can win $500!” the kid continued. “And the ticket is only $1!”

“But how many tickets do you think you’ll sell?” I asked. “How many did they print?”

The child didn’t know. And while $500 is a fair sum, the odds of winning depend only the number of tickets sold. For a cash raffle with a prize of $500, they would need to print at least 1000 raffle tickets and sell them all to make an appreciable profit. A “50-50″ cash raffle is the standard, although, by selling enough tickets, one could offer a large prize and still keep an even larger profit. In the case of a $500 50-50 cash raffle, that $1 ticket has a 1 in 1000 chance of winning.

But I couldn’t calculate the odds. I simply wasn’t given enough information to be moved by the child’s pitch, and these boys were old enough that there were no adults kept handily about to answer my questions. (Meaning, of course, that they were old enough that I wasn’t moved by the cuteness factor of their pitch, either.)

This underscores the need to prepare your sales team, whether they are seasoned professionals or 10 years old. Make a list of all the questions someone might conceivably ask about your raffle before you start selling booklets, and coach your crew to memorize the answers.

Needless to say, those kids didn’t sell me a raffle ticket that day.

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With Valentine’s Day approaching, it’s time to consider the sweetest prizes money can buy (or your supporters can donate). Standby favourites include:

• Chocolates
• Flowers
• Spa day
• Holiday getaway
• Massages

For an orthodox approach to Valentine’s themed fundraising, pair these prizes with a romantic raffle ticket, which you can print online and receive in just a few days.

How about an unorthodox approach? The prizes above work well for most groups, but perhaps you wish to try something a little different. Consider ways in which you could make your supporters’ lives more comfortable, or provide them an extra avenue for romance. Busy, two-parent families, for instance, might have difficultly redeeming those massages or sensual holiday getaways, for lack of time or childcare!

What can you do for them? What about:

• Gift Certificate for free childcare
• Catered dinner in their home
• Free house cleaning

Consider the reality of your supporters’ lives? What is most likely to make them feel loved and happy? If you can’t guess, why not ask? You may be surprised to find what people are willing to pay for.

Once you’ve settled on the perfect Valentine’s themed prizes, select a romantic, Valentine themed Raffle Ticket. Printing your tickets online helps save time and money so you can start selling your tickets more quickly.

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Back in March, I reported on the human egg raffle, wherein one lucky UK couple won a human egg, along with IVF services, to be provided in the US (as UK law prohibited such a prize draw). Controversial or not, apparently, the Bridge Center were not the only organisation to realize how profitable such a raffle might be.

From the States, a similar circumstance, without the donated human genetic material. Dr. Mark Trolice, an infertility specialist, started the charity Fertile Dreams to help those who, like his own wife, have difficulty conceiving. Every year, they sell raffle tickets to raise funds for the organisation, with the grand prize being a full round of in vitro fertilization treatment. The group also encourages infertile couples to consider adoption, as Dr. Trolice and his wife have, completing their family with 5 children!

Last year’s raffle winners, Niki and Fred Trusty, won big. They had already decided, after many years of failing to conceive, to give IVF a try, and attended Fertile Dreams’ annual conference, Paths to Parenthood. Hearing of the prize draw, Fred calculated the odds and the couple decided to take a chance—20 chances, actually. The purchased 20 Raffle Tickets, spending $500 (about £320) and won the treatment. Doctors harvested 18 of Niki’s eggs, one of which eventually became her son, Harrison, now 6 months old. She calls him her miracle baby.

Planning your own prize draw? No, you can’t raffle off your own children, but you can think about what your group has to offer, and what your supporters likely desire. Like the Trusty’s investment, the price of your Raffle Ticket may seem small compared to the value of winning that top prize!

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You can turn your prize draw into a complicated and multi-layered affair, or you can keep it simple. If you fancy an easy, breezy fundraiser that fills your coffers without filling your time, it’s time to get back to the basics. What do you need to hold a successful prize draw? Interesting prizes, effective Raffle Tickets, supporters to buy them, and a distribution method to sell them.

• Prizes: You know your supporters best. They may be willing to take a 50 p chance on a small prize: a new football, for instance, or a skein of yarn, or a gift certificate to a popular independent book shop. Perhaps they will pay money to gamble on the possibility of a free lunch with someone in your organisation, or a lesson on something your administration may teach.
• Raffle Tickets: So easy to print online! You choose the perfect design, enter your event details into a ticket template, and click on a few buttons. Your Raffle Tickets are professionally printed, with perforated stubs, lines to collect customer information, individual numbering, and other security features.
• Supporters: Get the word out, in your print or email newsletter, on websites and web forums, at local meetings and other brick-and-mortar events, through local media, and with printed Posters or Fliers. Don’t forget phone trees, word of mouth, and door to door sales.
• Distribution: Take advantage of one of many online sites that sell Raffle Tickets for you. If you already have a sales team, offer them extra prizes and let them do their job. Or, incentivise small children with appropriate rewards and let them sell. Sell Raffle Tickets on your own website, at meetings, or at summer festivals. Wherever people are, that’s where you should be selling Raffle Tickets.

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Ready to end the school year with a bit of excitement? Encourage your students to become team players, raise money, and build life skills with a massive prize draw before the summer holiday!

Selling Raffle Tickets helps children learn important skills: presenting themselves in front of adults, the power of persuasion, accounting for money, and more. Encourage each child to reach an appropriate sales goal. Prepare them in advance with scripts explaining who they are, what their school stands for, and what programs the money will support.

You may choose to have two levels of Raffle Tickets: a larger prize with more expensive ticket for adults, and a lower level that most children will be able to purchase with pocket money. For instance, for twenty-five or fifty pence, you could raffle off lunch with a favourite teacher or administrator, or some other coveted prize. Do your students like to make announcements over the PA? Eat pizza and ice cream at lunch? Leave class for some undirected computer time? Offer the prize that will motivate the children.

Offer prizes for those children who sell the most Raffle Tickets to grown-ups. Turn your prize draw into a math lesson: let them keep track of earnings, perhaps with a large graph shaped like a thermometer. Announce the winners in a public assembly and let their peers cheer on their accomplishment.

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I’ve said it before: Kids make the best sales team.

If you’re selling Raffle Tickets, there’s nothing like a pack of adorable moppets prowling the city centre, offering chances at your upcoming prize draw for 50 p. They are simply irresistible to a certain clientele, especially when they’ve memorized their speech about how all contributions will go to build the new youth center, where children like them will receive homework help, athletic training, and encouragement to stay in school and stay off drugs.

It’s true that many children have short attention spans. If you have a number of them at your disposal, you’ll want to keep them motivated. Let them understand how important their work is. Be sure they know how they are helping, who they are helping, and how much you appreciate their help. And then, offer them a reward. Perhaps it’s a reward for the entire group, or for those who meet their sales quota, or only for your top sellers. Any way you arrange, be sure they understand what’s at stake.

Rewards need not set you back any more than a few quid. Most children will willingly work for:

• A slice of pizza
• Some ice cream
• A couple song downloads
• The chance to be part of a group
• Small toys like collectible trading cards
• Posters of pop stars or actors
• Funky pencils
• T-shirts

Or better yet, ask them what small prize would keep them on track!

If possible, ask for their input when choosing the design. Indeed, if you are not terribly computer literate, that tyke who’s always glued to the screen may be very helpful as you print your own Raffle Tickets online. However you can get them involved, do so.

If children are a part of your charity effort, include them and watch their influence help your organisation take flight!

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Who can resist children’s charities?

Even the toughest among us cannot help but turn our heads when the cause is to support a children’s hospital or underprivileged youth. So make the most of your advantage! If you’re raising funds for the folks who have the most fun, let your Raffle Tickets reflect that. Choose a design with a strong sense of fun.

Something Sweet: If your kids are the most adorable things you know, shovel on the sugar with some candy-coated fundraising. Just find the images that appeals to your sweet tooth. Making money has never been so delicious!

Something Savory: They may have trouble eating it without taking a meat sauce bath, but that just adds to the fun. Smarten up your charity efforts with a Spaghetti-themed Raffle Ticket, or search for other food-related fun!

Something Sporty: For your active would-be footballers, try something from the athletic collection. Football is just the beginning! Raffle Tickets reflect a wide variety of interests. Whatever your game, you’ll find something to liven up the fund drive.

Children remind us that the world was meant to be enjoyed. When the stress and strain of fundraising starts to bring you down, perk yourself up with some seriously fun designs for your next prize draw. Make it a raffle to remember with unforgettable Raffle Tickets.

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Are you ready?

You want to make a mint, and a successful raffle will put you on the path to success. You’ve chosen the perfect design: perhaps elegant, perhaps playful. Either way, you know printing the right image will catch the eye of your target audience. Striking tickets sell more.

Of course, you haven’t neglected to proofread your tickets before printing!

You may have chosen to have them stapled into booklets, which will make your sales team’s lives that much easier. Everything stays neat and orderly with this feature. When you print your own raffle tickets, raffle ticket books are only one of the many benefits.

Do you have a professional sales team? They’ll have so much more to be enthusiastic about when they see the lovely design you’ve chosen to represent your organization and your cause. This helps you sell more.

If you haven’t a professional sales team, who will sell your tickets for you? May I suggest the most adorable of all salespeople? I refer, of course, to small children. Who can resist the allure of a child who’s painstakingly memorized a sales pitch in aid of a great cause?

Target your audience. Where will you sell? In the City Centre? At arts events? Door to door? Who are your patrons. Determine where they are and bring your raffle to them!

Whoever you are, whatever your cause, if you’ve found worthy prizes, printed your own custom tickets, and taken the time to sell them, you’re well on your way to financial success!

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