Raffle - ticket price question

[scrapquitler]

I think pricing the tickets lower will net you more money in the end. People are a lot more likely to throw a few $ or $5 in for a raffle than $25 or $50. Offering a discount for buying more tickets is always good ($1. per ticket or $5 for 6 tickets, something like that)

And when you do this raffle, please make sure that you follow whatever state laws pertain to raffles in your area (In CT it is very strict, you need to get a permit for a raffle, you need to submit numbered tickets, account for all tickets, etc etc).

 

[pospisil]

I personally would have absolutely no interest in winning football tickets, however, if the tickets were $1, or 6 for $5, I'd buy $5 worth just to support the cause, or my friend who was selling them.

 

[merekc]

We have participated in raffles with sports teams. In your situation, we would split the items out into different prizes. Tickets, gift card, etc. So people would have better odds of winning for their donation. Around here the tickets would sell for $1-2. Someone recently had a raffle that included a car and their tickets were $10 each. I'm sure they probably asked their participants to sell so many or buy them. (something that goes over better with a team fundraiser than with a school).

I've seen where incentives are offered to the players/families selling the tickets to increase participation such as for every 10 tickets you sell your name gets entered in a drawing for a $20 bill.

I would think you are much better off trying to sell more tickets at cheaper rates than the high priced ticket. I wouldn't buy one for $50 not due to my finances or the economy but because I'm too cheap!

Unless I missed it, you didn't specify what type of group you are selling these for. That could possibly change things. If you are talking about doing this for a school or sport fundraiser where the participants will be average joes, I think you need to come down. If you are doing it for a well-known charity that gets support from the well-to-do and corporations then that might change people's answers.

 

[jen0610]

We have participated in raffles with sports teams. In your situation, we would split the items out into different prizes. Tickets, gift card, etc. So people would have better odds of winning for their donation. Around here the tickets would sell for $1-2. Someone recently had a raffle that included a car and their tickets were $10 each. I'm sure they probably asked their participants to sell so many or buy them. (something that goes over better with a team fundraiser than with a school).

I've seen where incentives are offered to the players/families selling the tickets to increase participation such as for every 10 tickets you sell your name gets entered in a drawing for a $20 bill.

I would think you are much better off trying to sell more tickets at cheaper rates than the high priced ticket. I wouldn't buy one for $50 not due to my finances or the economy but because I'm too cheap!

Unless I missed it, you didn't specify what type of group you are selling these for. That could possibly change things. If you are talking about doing this for a school or sport fundraiser where the participants will be average joes, I think you need to come down. If you are doing it for a well-known charity that gets support from the well-to-do and corporations then that might change people's answers.

It's for the support of the high school instramental music department.

The thought is we would put together this really BIG basket. We would start selling the tickets during all the home fall sport games. We would sell tickets at our 2 fall music concerts, as well as our marching invatational and at our booth at the craft bazarr. We already do very small raffles at many of these. At football games we have the guess how many are in the jar that the kids love. It's a buck a guess. We already do multipule raffle packages at the craft bazarr - Vera Bradly packages, family night out packages, date night packages - with the packages being valued at 50.00 to 100.00 bucks. For those, they do these for the pricing of 1-$1, 6-$5, 13-$10, and 28-$20. Their line of think is, this is a much bigger package, so it should cost more to get in on the drawing.

I was able to pull up a seating chart for Lucas Oil staduim. From what information the guy told us about his seats, I believe his tickets are in the 111 section, as he said the seats are in the lowest section real close to the 30 yard line and just to the side of the visitors bench . Because the regular season is over, I can't pull up and see that that pricing is for non-season ticket holders is, but for the playoff, this wild card game those tickets are running 260.00 a ticket. That tells me these are some pretty darn good seats. But I don't think their pricing is in line, even being pretty darn good seats.

Believe me, I am not in support of charging what was suggested. I know I wouldn't have an issue buying a ticket or 2 at $10.00 a pop and would more than likely buy one for $20.00, but that is my cut off price point for charging to much.

We are seriously dealing with some board members that are not in touch with what is and isn't going to fly with the average Joe. These are the same people who were of the opition that we should never have lower our standards on the end of the year marching band banquet and should have rent out a banquet hall and charged $25-35 per person to attend.

Four of us are trying to reason with this knit little group. But because we are newbies, they just want to pat us on our heads and tell us we will learn how the systems best works.

 

[okeydokey]

Your cut off point and mine are very different. I wouldn't pay more than a dollar for any raffle ticket. I think most people would not.

 

[tvguy]

I personally would have absolutely no interest in winning football tickets, however, if the tickets were $1, or 6 for $5, I'd buy $5 worth just to support the cause, or my friend who was selling them.

Exactly. I wouldn't mind a $5 or even $10 donation with the added bonus of a chance to win something. To my way of thinking, you are limiting yourself by raffling off such a specific item because there are some folks who have no interest in football. A $600 cash prize might be more atttractive.

I just know our most successful raffles in Little League were where we had a wide mix of smaller prizes, and low ticket prices, normally $1. And my favorite part of the raffle was when it was all over, and all the winning tickets drawn, and prizes handed out, seeing all the prize trading going on.
The 6'6" bearded 290 pound electrian trading the basket of Mary Kay cosmetics he had just won.........to the 5'0" 90 pound mom of 4 who had just won a deep sea fishing trip.

 

[goofy!]

One thing to think about when setting your ticket price...

Are you a qualified organization, licensed to run a raffle in your state?

I sit on the board of directors of two 501c3 organizations. In our state, you have to jump through hoops to get a raffle license. IE, you have to be a charitable organization for 5 years, you have to have a games manager that has gone through training with the state, you have to provide copies of the raffle tickets that will be used, etc, etc, etc.

I know many organizations run small raffles without the state gaming dept really caring. However, if an organization is running a high end raffle, with tickets priced at more than the $1 - $10 range, that organization runs a much higher risk of having the gaming commission breathing down their necks and checking that the organization has followed all the state gaming rules.

All states are different in how they regulate gaming, so I would take into consideration what your state's regulations are in regards to raffles in how you price your tickets. If you want to have a high end raffle, you probably should make sure that you have all your ducks in a row that you can legally hold a raffle.

 

[KATHINOWA]

i am in the process of running a fundraiser for our elementary school. our grand prize is 4 one-day tickets to disney, $50 disney gift card, round-trip transportation to the local airport, an autographed photomat by the characters (from disney cruise) and a large mickey and minnie plush. the value of this basket is approx $600 and we are selling the tickets for $5.

when i read your basket description i thought the value would have been higher so i would have gone for $10 per ticket with no limit. but for $600 value i wouldn't pay the $10.

good luck with your fundraiser.