Did you know that you can use a small raffle to circumvent alcohol licensing laws throughout the United Kingdom? While both the sale of intoxicating libations and the sale of Raffle Tickets are heavily overseen throughout the country, when done correctly, you can combine these two delightful concepts into an event in which you make money through alcohol sales (in a roundabout way) and your guests get to put a few drinks in them, for a good cause.

Recall, of course, that you do not require government oversight for a small prize draw held in a confined location amongst a particular group of people: those who patronise a particular shop or pub on a certain day, or employees of a small business. You can sell Raffle Tickets to your particular group, at a particular time, in a particular venue, without going through the Gaming Commission. Do be sure to read up on the rules and ascertain whether your prize draw falls into the proper categories before you decide to forgo a visit to the Commission.

As you know, it is illegal to sell alcohol without a licence. It is not, however, illegal to offer alcohol as a prize in a contest! Therefore, you can earn money at a charity event by selling Raffle Tickets and offering drinks as prizes.

Some offer a single drink as a prize, which means you can offer many prizes and draw out the suspense. Or, you could help everyone get their drinks more quickly by using bottles as prizes. In theory, the winner would pour out draughts for each of their friends and the evening’s festivities can get underway with greater haste.

Consider your guests. Would they prefer an evening of drinking to another kind of entertainment? Whether they genuinely want to help your cause, or simply show up for a beer, selling alcohol Raffle Tickets can help turn your dry and dusty event into a rousing success!

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In Humberside some lucky raffle ticket holder went home with a World Cup match ball after attending the North Cave Flower Festival. What a prize! You may not have access to the match ball, but if you want to capitalise on football fever, it’s not too late to print up some raffle tickets and start selling them for your prize draw.

Besides match balls, consider other inexpensive prizes such as:

• Team tee shirts
• England Team fan books
• A selection of flags
• Team pennants

Then, print out a run of raffle tickets and start selling! Be sure to make the rounds of all the pubs and parties where your community are likely to watch the games. If possible, bring some of the prizes with you so people can see what they may win. Come prepared to discuss your cause, explaining where the money will go and how purchasing a raffle ticket will contribute to charity.

Be prepared to wait for a commercial to make your pitch!

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I can’t believe I missed this one! I’m going to resist the urge to weigh in and simply report the news. Apparently, in March, a group raffled off a human egg. This was an enormously controversial move, not only because trafficking in human genetic material is a moral grey area at best, but also because the very terms of the raffle violate UK gaming laws. To circumvent this quandary, the treatment will be provided in America.

I’m not certain how much they were selling individual Raffle Tickets for, but the value of the prize is placed at £13,000. This covers not only the egg from a healthy female donor (the winner can choose a donor who looks like her, or choose based on the donor’s racial background, upbringing, and education) but also the cost of the IVF treatment needed to fertilise the egg with the male genetic material of ones choose and the implantation of the embryo into the uterus.

The company’s idea was to sell Raffle Tickets in order to promote their new service: Baby Profiling. It was a joint venture between a London fertility clinic called Bridge Centre, and and American group, the Genetics and IVF Institute (GIVF) in Fairfax, Virginia.

No matter how you break it down, this prize draw helped the group reach its goals. Not only did they earn money selling Raffle Tickets, they garnered a remarkable amount of publicity, a great deal of it free. Yes, much of the publicity was controversial, but I would argue that those who decry this prize draw are not potential clients to begin with. Their outrage, however, has allowed a greater number of potential clients to become aware of the clinic, as well as the technology.

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If your supporters and customers are interested in environmental causes, natural beauty, or the great outdoors, capitalise on their predilections with a Raffle Ticket that celebrates the splendour of our world. The Nature Series offers you four stunning landscapes on customisable Raffle Tickets, which can be ordered alone, or with their matching Event Kits.

Choose a vibrant Green Leaves theme to summon up the lushness of the forest after a spring shower; the Ocean theme, illustrating with the calm blue of the open water on a clear day; a Desert Raffle Ticket in sere yellow, reminiscent of summer’s heat and the exotic landscapes of Arabia; or the stark, wintry beauty of the snowy high-altitude landscape of the Mountain Event Kit.

When selling Raffle Tickets is your goal, a proper image can give you the proper edge! Select these natural lovelies, or choose from over 500 different designs to speak directly to your consumer audience. Attractive images catch the eye and the heart, helping you make more money.

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You probably already know that your sales numbers are only as good as your sales team, and your team—volunteers or paid staff—are only as good as their commitment to selling. If you wish to sell more Raffle Tickets, you may need to find further methods of motivating your sales team.

In the past, we’ve discussed some common motivators:

• Coffee and doughnuts
• Weekly staff meetings
• Prizes for top sellers
• Penalties for not meeting quotas
• Regular email communication

If you’ve tried all these methods and still wish your team exhibited a bit more enthusiasm, try something new.

Involve them more deeply in the decision process. For instance, choose a selection of Raffle Ticket templates and let your team vote on which design they’d prefer to sell.

Offer recognition. Let the team know that the top seller will receive not only a prize, but also recognition, such as a photo in the organisation’s newsletter, or an award at a large event.

Commemoration. Plaques, certificates, or trophies may help a volunteer sales force stay motivated through a lengthy charity campaign. Display them prominently throughout the duration.

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It may surprise you to learn that the most attractive prize one can offer in a prize draw is a holiday getaway. It surprised me to learn, anyway, as a new telly lasts a lot longer than a trip to Majorca, and a new car can take you on all manner of holidays, but there you have it. If you want to sell more Raffle Tickets, team up with a travel agent, an airline, or a hotel.

Arrange the type of holiday your supporters are most likely to prefer.

• For outdoors types, a camping trip
• For singles, a resort holiday
• For young couples, a romantic spa
• For families, a theme park
• For elders, a group tour

Use your imagination. Who is likely to buy your Raffle Tickets? Where are they likely to want to go?

If your donors are generous, an all-expenses paid trip to an exotic country across the sea might help you earn more money, but even a few nights in a hotel in London will appeal to those who feel stuck in their village and simply need to get away from it all for a little while. Wherever you can send them, they’ll be happy to go.

The more you can include, the better. Remember, a true holiday will require:

• Airfare (or bus fare, or money for petrol)
• Hotel or other lodgings
• Three meals a day
• Some form of entertainment

If you have a choice of locations, think of the extra you can include, such as lift passes for a skiing holiday, theatre tickets in the city, or hour-long massages at an expensive spa.

Then book the trip and start selling more Raffle Tickets.

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…when you print Raffle Tickets

Now is not the time to be coy! UK gaming law requires you to spell it all out, and indeed, printing your own Raffle Tickets with intuitive Raffle Ticket templates makes it easy to get all that information right where it belong: on the body of your Raffle Ticket.

• By Law you must include your registered charity number as well as the organisation under which you’ve received your licence to hold the prize draw. You must also include descriptions of the top three prizes, the cost of the Raffle Tickets, and the time and location of the actual draw. Of course you need to name your charity or organisation.

• In addition you must number your Raffle Tickets individually and provide space on the ticket stub for your supporters to write their names, addresses, and phone numbers or email addresses. If your prize draw is to be help in conjunction with a larger event, or if it is an annual drawing, you should add the name of the event!

Now you’ve included all the information that potential supporters want, as well as everything the government needs. But you needn’t worry about remembering it at all! Just find the design you like online and the ticket template will guide you through, with suggestions as to where each piece of information should go, so you won’t miss a thing.

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I’ve entered so many raffles this week!

Some of them were free raffles, and others cost a pound or so to enter. I could be winning extra borrowing privileges at the Uni library, a 50 pound gift certificate to the Uni book store, a year’s subscription to a newspaper, a Curious George doll, a few different books by unknown authors, or a tiny torch that clips on to your book so you can read in bed without keeping your partner awake with excessive light.

As you may have guessed, I attended a large book festival this week!

While I often write about printing your own Raffle Tickets online to help you raise more money, free raffles have their place in the world. Rather than selling Raffle Tickets for fund raising purposes, completely free raffles help your organisation in another way: they help you to build your mailing list and create free publicity for your group. While potential supporters are filling out the information on your Raffle Ticket, you have an opportunity to pass out literature, discuss your mission, and generally create goodwill around your name.

Once you’ve mined the data from these Raffle Tickets, you can add the names and details to your database. Spreading the word about upcoming events and promotions is easier than ever. Remember, with free raffles, you need not obtain expensive prizes. Small, coveted items work just as well. What do people like? As you can see, an item like a book can draw certain customers to you. Perhaps a tray of meats from a local butcher, or an attractive scarf. If it’s attractive and perhaps a bit frivolous, you will quickly collect plenty of names while drawing in new supporters!

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The best intentioned fundraisers may court disaster if they are unprepared for the human element. You may succeed at bookkeeping, organising, and research, but if you can’t speak to your donors, you will find yourself disappointed again and again.

When you are selling Raffle Tickets, it’s ever so much more important to rehearse a proper pitch to potential customers. While you must of course be able to answer any questions regarding your charity, it’s best to lay all your cards out on the table straightaway.

For instance, rather than approaching strangers and asking, “Would you care to purchase a Raffle Ticket,” it makes more sense to provide the information that will persuade them to trust you and want to help out. Create your own introductory script, such as this one:

“Hi, my name is Ticket Girl and my organisation, Reading Seed, has been working to promote youth literacy since 1999. We send scores of volunteers to work with underprivileged children to ensure that every child in our city can read to standards by grade three! We’re selling Raffle Tickets, with all the proceeds earmarked to purchase supplies, including books for children who have none, small prizes to encourage young readers, and to cover the cost of training new volunteers.”

Speak with cheer and authority, with appropriate friendliness, and remember to smile!

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If you are considering hosting a prize draw to earn more money for your organisation, consider the following:

• Dream Big Certainly, you can decide you need no more than 50 quid, and sell 100 Raffle Tickets for 50 p. each, call it a day and go home. But if you are certain you can sell 100 tickets, why can’t you sell 150 or 200 tickets? The more you sell, the more you earn. More money for your cause!
• Talk Hard Selling Raffle Tickets is not for the faint of heart. It may be simple to approach friends and family, neighbors and coworkers, but if you want to earn more money, you’ll have to approach strangers. You must prepare yourself to discuss your mission and your group with anyone who might contribute.
• Look Pretty Choose a Raffle Ticket template that appeals to you, speaks to your audience, and represents your cause. With hundreds of lovely designs, you can easily find the most appropriate image for your campaign, an illustration that helps you look smashing and draws more attention to your work.

Whether it’s your first prize draw or your fiftieth, you can always hone your technique. Think big, talk hard, and look pretty, and watch the funds add up!

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