by ticketprinting on April 23, 2011
Having organised your school prize draw and sold most of your tickets, it’s time to turn your attention to the big event: the actual draw, where you will choose the winning raffle ticket and pass out the prizes. Make it exciting, draw a crowd, and keep selling raffle tickets right up until the moment you choose the winner.
Whether you’re holding the draw at a school dance, a reception, or a fundraising carnival, you can increase attendance with a celebrity appearance. Perhaps someone on your staff knows a true celebrity who can be persuaded to show up, but if not, consider that you do know someone whose presence will encourage others to attend: this might be a local sportscaster, a popular teacher, or even a popular older student.
Advertise the big event with posters and flyers. Print out invitation and event tickets to help your students and their friends feel special. Spread the word in any way you can. Use your social networks, website, and any other online forum where you can advertise the event.
Whatever the event, be sure to have students circulating with the remaining raffle tickets so you can keep selling right up to the last minute. Then, make a production of it! Use a microphone and an emcee. Gather a crowd. Find a drummer and get a drum roll. Draw out the moment: announce the number of tickets sold, the amount of money raised, and explain how this money will help your school. Then, have your celebrity draw the lucky winners and announce them. While the crowd cheers and the winners mount the stage, you can relax, knowing you’ve held a successful school fundraiser.
by ticketprinting on March 28, 2011
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!
by ticketprinting on March 22, 2011
Ready to print your own raffle tickets? If you’re uncertain, the advent of filling out your raffle ticket template is the perfect opportunity to determine whether or not you have taken care of the necessary details. An online ticket template, which prompts you to fill in all the required details, can help you identify any missing information.
Finding the prizes is your first step. Since you must identify the three largest prizes in your draw directly on the raffle ticket, it’s best to take care of this issue prior to considering the other details. What can you offer? The more attractive the prize, the more raffle tickets you can sell.
You must also identify the time and place of the actual prize draw. Don’t have this information? Figure it out immediately! If you do not already have a venue in mind, perhaps you can make a deal with someone who does have a space (such as a the owner of your local pub) and would appreciate the extra business your crown might draw. Choose a time and place.
How about prices? Typically, you’ll want to sell your raffle tickets for one or two pounds. Work out the sums: how many tickets will you need to sell at various prices to reach your sales goal.
Finally, if your raffle is to require a licence, go get it! This information must be printed on the body of the ticket, so you’ll need the licence number prior to ticket printing.
Review the information. If you’ve filled in all the blanks and it all makes sense, then you’re ready to print your own raffle tickets online and start selling!
by ticketprinting on March 14, 2011
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.
by ticketprinting on March 13, 2011
Fundraising is always a gamble, but learning more about the successes and failures of those who have come before you can help ensure that you choose the correct path for your own financial accomplishments. Do you know others who have printed their own raffle tickets online, or organized their own prize draws? If so, have you not learned something from their experience? If not, would it not be helpful to find out how others have succeeded?
Coming soon, UK Ticket Printing will devote this space to sharing the stories of our customer’s successes (and failures!) for all to learn from. We’ll profile the best and worst prize draws you’ve ever seen, learn what to print on a raffle ticket, and see top fundraisers in action.
Have you a story you’d like to share? We’ll be contacting potential customers for future features, but if you have something to say right now, why not let us know through this blog? We’ll write an article about your group and your raffle, sharing links to your websites and pages for your upcoming activities, plus pictures of your event, your prizes, or your logo. There may even be some extra incentives for your future draws involved.
Keep checking this space for more top idea and the freshest thoughts on local and regional trends to make your upcoming activities more profitable than ever!
by ticketprinting on February 28, 2011
It may seem like a distant dream on a dreary day, but spring shall soon arrive, and with it, sunshine, flowers, and a mass migration to the out-of-doors. Your supporters have been holed up all winter. Why not provide them with a little taste of fresh greenery?
Printing colorful, vernal Raffle Tickets for your next fundraiser is the perfect way to welcome Persephone back from the Underworld while increasing your funds! Spread the joy of spring with the lush images of new life. Pictured above, one of UK Ticket Printing’s Nature Series, the Green Leaves Raffle Ticket, along with one of two Spring Fling designs. Both work wonders in providing some much-needed light after a gloomy season.
Consider giving your prize draw a festive name that summons the idea of new life and new possibility. Ensure your sales team maintains a sunny outlook as they go about selling tickets. Be sure to remind potential supporters that the weather is about to turn, the season will change, and that now is the time to support new ventures and nurture fresh shoots.
Your spring renewal starts with luscious, green Raffle Ticket designs, a splendid way to capitalize on the human heart’s hope for the new dawn of a new day.
by ticketprinting on January 28, 2011
How does a savvy raffle organiser make the most of her supporters’ interests? By asking about her supporters’ interests before she prints her Raffle Tickets!
Today’s tip? Send out a survey!
If you have the money and a base that does not spend much time online, you can do this with a paper survey mailed with a stamped envelope. Otherwise, save time and money by using one of myriad online quiz-making applications. Then ask exactly what you need to know:
- Most coveted prizes
- General interests (this helps determine smaller prizes)
- Number of tickets supporter might want
- Prize range they consider reasonable
- Most convenient time of year for a prize draw
- Appropriate number of prize draws a year
Most people enjoy filling out quizzes and surveys on the Internet. It provides a stronger link to your organisation, demonstrating that you see your donors as individuals, not just financial amounts, and that you are interested in their opinions and feedback.
Of course, your prize draw will be far more successful if you are selling Raffle Tickets for items people wish to win, at prices they can afford, at times and in places convenient to them for purchasing Raffle Tickets!
Want to improve your next fundraising prize draw? Don’t ask my opinion! Ask the opinions of those to whom you hope to sell Raffle Tickets! Seek our your supporters, determine what they want, and enjoy more success by giving it to them.
by ticketprinting on January 14, 2011
You may recall, some weeks back, a post about a prize draw where raffle tickets could not be purchased, but rather were rewarded for each instance of an online activity benefiting the sponsoring organisation. Recently, I participated in such a raffle, earning four virtual raffle tickets.
The prize? A free professional massage!
Yes, I wanted to win this very badly.
One of the nice things about this sort of draw is that the odds are very, very good. I was able to increase my odds by taking action to receive the maximum number of raffle tickets. And my efforts paid off. For the second time since I became your fabulous ticket girl, I won!
If only I had scheduled my massage a few days earlier. Little did I know that the therapist would cancel on me at the last minute, having contracted a disease that left him unable to stand for any period of time 
However, the sponsoring organisation made a complete success of their raffle, garnering a great deal of free publicity. In this case, every raffle ticket represented, essentially, a free advertisement, written by customers, extolling their virtues! This type of prize draw is a winning situation for everyone!
by ticketprinting on January 8, 2011
Time is of the essence.
Your fundraising needs may be extensive, and your schedule is important, but you must keep in mind the needs of your donors as well. If you intend to sell Raffle Tickets for multiple prize draws in 2011, it is in your best interest to stagger them out.
Our experienced correspondents note that constant requests for money, particularly in a sluggish economy, can be irksome for your supporters. You may need it quiet badly, but remember that your fans are also experiencing the economic downturn. If they are good enough to give money a few times a year, the last thing you want to do is alienate them with repeated solicitations that seem endless.
Instead, schedule your prize draws so that you are selling Raffle Tickets at particular times when you are most likely to have success. A big raffle at the end of the year is a good idea, as is one that corresponds with a large event you hold annually. If you hold too many raffle, however, you may trigger a compassionate burnout, where followers begin to resent your request. Rather than continual, small draws, combine your funds or your prizes to hold a few larger draws at fortuitous times throughout the year.
by ticketprinting on December 6, 2010
Item 3 in our countdown to Christmas tips and hints for prize draw sales success is a combination of factors that can work on their own, or, when joined together, become a dynamic powerhouse for selling event tickets.
First, consider a large shop or department store where you know there will be increased foot traffic this month. If you represent a charitable organisation, or one that works for children, perhaps the owner will allow you to set up a table outside. This lets you bring your Raffle Tickets to your supporters, rather than forcing them to find you.
Second, man the booth carefully. If possible, have children or teenagers at the table, selling the tickets for you. Their pathos will improve sales. If your group represents a sport team, a band, a scouting group, or any club in which members can be identified by uniforms, make sure everyone wears their uniform!
Finally, if you can manage it, bring the prizes to the table. Set them up in an appealing arrangement. This raises interest levels in your prize draw and encourages people to purchase Raffle Tickets upon falling in love with your prizes!
