Below are a few new and successful raffle ideas shared by RMEF staff and volunteers.
County Raffle
Print a map of your state with the county boundaries included and each county individually labeled. Sell each county for a price that makes sense for the number of counties in your state. Attendees then buy a county and write their name on that county. A county name is then drawn to determine the winner.
As an example, Michigan has 83 counties, and each of the five Great Lakes is also sold. This raffle generates $1,760, with a prize cost ranging from $500-$600, so the raffle nets $1,100-$1,200.
Kill It, Chill It, Grill It
As the name of the raffle infers, each prize for this raffle is used to “kill it, chill it or grill it.” A firearm, cooler and cooking appliance make up the three prizes. This raffle can be set up to be winner-take-all or for three separate winners.
Most chapters sell tickets for $20 each and have up to a $800 in merchandise expense (if the prizes are not underwritten or donated).
Potential donors for this raffle include appliance companies and hardware stores. If you find an underwriter, name the donor as the presenting sponsor.
For Example: “Kill it, Chill it Grill it Raffle, Sponsored by Troy’s Appliance“
Pick Your Poison Raffle
For this raffle, you will need at least 50 poker chips which you can lay out on a table or place them in a bag to be drawn blindly by the attendee. One side of each poker chip has a number with each chip labeled 1-50. An attendee then selects a chip and the number on the chip is the amount they pay for that ticket.
For example, if they turn over the number 23, they pay $23 for that ticket.
Below is an outline with the number of chips and expected revenue, along with suggested costs of prizes.
50 Chips=$1,275 / Suggested Prize Expense: $400-$500
60 Chips=$1,830 / Suggested Prize Expense: $500-$800
75 Chips=$2,850 / Suggested Prize Expense: $700-$1100
100 Chips=$5,050 / Suggested Prize Expense: $1,500-$1,900
IMPORTANT: Please consult with your regional director about the raffle laws in your state before implementing any of the above raffles.
WE NEED YOUR IDEAS
If you would like to submit your raffle ideas for an upcoming volunteer newsletter, email a description of your raffle to jwold@rmef.org.