What is a raffle?

The simplest definition of a raffle is a contest in which participants purchase a ticket or “chance” at winning a prize. Each ticket normally has two parts. The person buying the ticket keeps one half and the other half, which has the purchaser’s contact information, goes into a pool with all the other tickets.

Most raffles involve an organization selling a great number of tickets, each ticket at the same price. For example, a raffle ticket may be priced at $1 all the way up to $100. Sometimes an organization will offer a discount if people buy more than one ticket.

Prizes for a raffle can be travel, televisions, iPods, personal gift items or even cars and boats. The more valuable the prize, the higher the ticket price will be.

It is important to set all of the raffle rules in advance such as drawing date, whether the person needs to be present to win and so forth. At a pre-determined date, the winners are drawn from a container which has a copy of every raffle ticket. Winners are contacted and prizes are distributed.

In most cases raffles are conducted by charitable organizations and the net proceeds from the raffle must be devoted to a charitable or public service activity or endeavor. Laws vary from location to location (country, state/province, and city) but in most cases if the raffle does not benefit a charitable cause it is considered a lottery or gambling. Then different regulations are attached to the the program.