30 Exciting Raffle Ideas–Unique Types, Prizes & Gift Baskets

A raffle is a great way to make events engaging and raise funds. Raffle ideas could help spice up your event and encourage group participation. 

The good thing is that you can sneak in these raffle ideas at all sorts of events, whether private or public.

This guide will cover how you can set up, run, and optimize raffle events. 

Let’s get started with the amazing raffle ideas we have in store for you. 

A. How to set up a raffle?

The raffle can be for many purposes. They’re great for fundraising, promotion, and community events. 

When you know what your raffle is going to be for, then you can go ahead with these important steps: 

• Check legal requirements: Laws for hosting raffle events vary by location. You’ll need to research your state or country's regulations before proceeding. For instance, in the U.S., nonprofit raffles require registration in some states (source).
• Choose the type of raffle:
  
  • Traditional paper ticket raffle
  • Online raffle using digital platforms such as Ticket Generator 
• Select prizes: Choose appealing prizes based on your audience demographics. Make sure you research this otherwise, you’ll struggle selling raffle tickets. We’ll cover this in detail later in the article 
• Print raffle tickets: Create raffle tickets that are numbered and have scannable QR codes. 
• Set pricing: Now it’s time to set the ticket price after thorough competition research. Common price structures include:
  
  • USD 1, USD 5, or USD 10 per ticket for local fundraisers
  • Bundle deals such as "5 tickets for USD 20" to encourage more sales
• Decide the sales method:
  
  • Physical sales at events, offices, or community spaces
  • Online sales (Try Ticket Generator for this)
• Promote the raffle: Leverage social media, email newsletters, and word-of-mouth to maximize ticket sales. We’ll discuss raffle marketing later in the article 

B. How to run a fun raffle?

Printing and distributing raffle tickets is not rocket science. 

However, running an engaging raffle event requires a few tips and tricks:

1. Create FOMO

Use limited-time offers to drive ticket purchases. You can also create the fear of missing out with limited edition prizes. 

2. Engage participants

The time between the raffle ticket purchase and prize distribution needs to be interesting too. You must invest in an event host who can engage the audience before prizes are revealed.

3. Offer bonus incentives

Provide additional entries for referrals or bulk purchases. This will help you get more participants in your raffle. And as you know, the more the merrier! 

4. Use a themed approach

Think along the lines of a  "mystery prize raffle" where participants don’t know the exact item until they win. Alternatively, you can also keep the theme relevant to the time around which the raffle is happening. For example, “Christmas-themed raffle”, 

5. Encourage audience participation

Allow attendees to vote on raffle prizes that should be awarded first. You can also call the audience members to pull out the winning raffle tickets from the bowl. This helps build trust and engage your audience.

C. What is the best way to do a raffle?

In today’s day and age, there are many ways to execute a smooth raffle. 

Choosing between a traditional paper raffle and a digital raffle is completely your choice. 

Refer to this comparison to make the best choice for your event. 

However, as far as raffle ideas are concerned, you should try a hybrid approach. 

You can start selling your raffle tickets online using an event registration webpage. 

Through this webpage, you can start selling raffle tickets and collecting payments prior to the event. 

This gives you more wiggle room with your budget. You’ll get a fair idea of how many people you can expect along with some capital to spend on other event needs. 

However, people do like tangible tickets for raffles. For this, you can print raffle tickets and hand them to the people who bought tickets online.

D. What is the best thing to raffle?

Our raffle ideas aren’t just limited to how you can organize the best raffle, but also what to give as prizes. 

Based on popular demand, we know that these are some of the most attractive prizes you can give in a raffle. 

1. Electronics: Smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, and home appliances are a crowd favorite
2. Travel packages: Give away all-inclusive trips or weekend getaways to winners and their plus-one
3. Gift cards: Amazon gift cards, local restaurant vouchers, and gift cards from popular brands such as Zara 
4. Exclusive experiences: Meet-and-greets with local celebrities or private yacht dinner 
5. Cash prizes: This is unarguably the simplest and always a crowd favorite. If you don’t have time to put together a prize, go for this! 

E. Raffle ideas—There are many different types! 

Yes, a raffle is not one big type of event. There are in fact many ways to do it. Let’s learn about a few of those so that you never run out of raffle ideas.

1. Classic raffle     

Let us get this out of the window so that you know other types of raffles differ. A traditional raffle is where participants buy a ticket with a unique number. The winning ticket is drawn randomly.

2. 50/50 raffle 

Here half of the total money collected goes to the winner, and the other half to the fundraiser. This is popular at sports events and charity events. 

3. Cash raffle 

In this raffle, there’s no assortment of prizes. Participants enter for a chance to win a cash prize. This allows there to be multiple winners. 

4. Online raffle 

Here raffle tickets are virtually sold and distributed. The winner can be selected using any random number generator.

5. Reverse raffle 

This type of raffle comes with a lot of patience and suspense. Instead of drawing a winner first, all tickets are drawn until the last one remains. The last ticket wins the grand prize. 

To ensure that everyone stays till the end,  smaller prizes are given for earlier drawn tickets.

6. Chinese raffle

This is a type of silent auction-style raffle. Participants buy tickets and place them in boxes next to different prizes. For each prize, the tickets are drawn separately and a winner is revealed. 

7. Calendar raffle 

For long-term fundraising, this long-drawn calendar raffle comes in handy. In there, raffle tickets are bought once but a different winner is drawn daily, weekly, or monthly.

8. Basket raffle 

In this raffle, the prize combines many desirable gifts in a basket. These often have a theme such as “spa basket”. 

F. What are good raffle basket ideas?

These are some raffle ideas that will help you put together raffle baskets that are crowd-pleasers. 

1. Movie night basket comprising popcorn, candy, soda, a streaming gift card, and a cozy blanket
2. Game night basket which has board games, card games, snacks, and a gift card
3. Music lover’s basket comprising of headphones, concert tickets, and vinyl records
4. Tech gadget basket containing a Bluetooth speaker, power bank, and phone accessories
5. Coffee lover’s basket which has specialty coffees, mugs, syrups, and a French press
6. Chocolate lovers basket comprising of gourmet chocolates, hot cocoa mix, and truffles
7. Spa day basket containing bath bombs, candles, lotions, and face masks
8. Fitness basket comprising of protein powders, yoga mat, resistance bands, and a shaker
9. Meditation and wellness basket that has a guided journal and a fully-paid wellness retreat
10. Gourmet food basket comprising assorted wines, gourmet cheeses, and crackers
11. Men’s basket comprising whiskey, cigars, a poker set, and bar accessories
12. Beauty basket comprising of skincare products, makeup, nail polish, and a salon gift card 

G. Raffle ideas for tickets 

A high-quality raffle ticket has unique serial numbers, QR codes, and branding elements. 

Think of it this way, it is the first touch-point for participants at the raffle. 

You can get all of these features and then some more with Ticket Generator. 

Not just this, you can also set up your own event ticketing webpage without any extra cost. This will allow you to host online raffles as well. 

Why don’t you get started with your ready-to-use raffle ticket templates right now? 

Set Up Event Ticketing and Distribution in Minutes! START NOW FOR FREE

H. How to pick a winner for a raffle?

We’ve got some raffle ideas to help you pick the winner as well! 

You can go for the simple old-fashioned manual ticket draw. Here, you pull winning raffle tickets from a container in front of all participants. 

For online raffles or even offline live-streamed raffles, you can use a random number generator. 

I. FAQ

1. Can I sell raffle tickets online?

Yes, Ticket Generator allows you to create and send online raffle ticket sales.You can collect payments if you set up a webpage using the platform. There is no additional platform fees for the revenue you generate. 

2. How do I promote my raffle effectively? 

Use social media, email campaigns, and influencer partnerships to reach a wider audience. However, word of mouth goes a long way so make sure you have bundle-ticket offers or an amazing prize that helps spread the word. 

J. Got the raffle ideas you were looking for?  

Running a raffle requires a bit of planning and a lot of strategic prize selection. 

Promotion takes care of itself if you do the rest right. 

With these raffle ideas, you’ll be able to plan better and more attractive raffles. 

 Start implementing these strategies today and organize a raffle that turns heads. 

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