Can the Promoter of a Raffle Claim a Major Raffle Prize?

porto_bello

Sorry if this has been asked before - I have received conlicting advice and need to be sure whether what has occurred is legal...

I was a member of a team which recently held a fundraising evening for a charity, at a hotel. Most of the money raised was from ticket prices and an auction.

In addition, a raffle was also held on the night. Simple cloakroom tickets were sold at £1 each to paying, attending guests on the night and later that same evening, the winning tickets were drawn for a number of non-cash prizes, which were distributed.

I noted that on the resulting list of prizes and winning tickets, the number of the winner of the star prize (a holiday), was left blank. When I made enquiries, I was quietly informed that the organiser of the raffle had claimed the star prize.

Whether or not the prize was won honestly would be impossible to confirm and is beyond the scope of my question. In the opinion of the rest of the fundraising team, morally it is certainly wrong, but is it legal for the organiser of a fundrasing event, to claim the top prize in their own raffle?

No special terms or conditions were created for the raffle itself, which was an informal affair, being an add-on to the main event.

I would appreciate the advice of someone with hands-on knowledge of the legal position - as I say, I have received conflicting advice.

Many thanks,

peterod1

Whilst irregular as long as the winning ticket was drawn by an independant person then I cannot see anything illegal having taken place. If however the winning ticket was drawn by someone they knew then that is a different story.

porto_bello

Thank you for your reply. The organiser of the event, who claimed the star prize in the raffle would have been known to virtually everyone in attendance, including those who drew the winning tickets, but there is no record of who drew which tickets for which prizes (I've checked), so this would be impossible to verify.

Potentially, the star prize winning ticket could even have been covertly retained for later selection as the 'official' winner, but this would similarly be impossible to prove. However, there is clear evidence of the identity of who claimed the star prize - I need to clarify whether (legally), someone can organise a raffle for the benefit of a charity and then that same raffle organiser can claim the star prize of a holiday, for themselves?

From memory, usually raffles carry a statement along the lines that none of the organisers or their families can take part or claim prizes, but I don't know whether this is a legal requirement and there seem to be different rules covering different types of raffles and lotteries. This was an informal "£1 for a numbered cloakroom ticket" kind of raffle, but presumably it is still covered by some kind of law(s)?

I'd be grateful for anyone's advice who has encountered this kind of situation or has a knowledge of the relevant law(s) covering this.

sb2_2

I dont think its illegal but definitely immoral.

I dont know the circumstances so would be unable to tell if the charity knew about at and if it is against their rules which im sure it is, otherwise company's would use it as free advertising as they would only have to give out the lower prizes.

Its similar to when someone offers an area for a charity to hold an event and then saying later their costs will be taken from the donations.

spixplay

Where was the draw ?

Whenever we do such events the raffle is drawn in front of a large audience a volunteer or dj picks the first ticket and then the winner draws the next one and so on.

We have had one occasion where one of the main people arranging wife's kept winning but after the first time she request they drew again.

It could be genuine but why leave it blank as it opens it up to speculation.

The Doitforcharity.com website may have answers.

dzug1

porto_bello wrote: »

. This was an informal "£1 for a numbered cloakroom ticket" kind of raffle, but presumably it is still covered by some kind of law(s)?

I'm not sure that sort of lottery is legal at all in the circumstances you describe. Unless everyone was a member of the organisation concerned.

But assuming it's legal, I'm not aware of any law that says that the promoters can't take part in a raffle - indeed they often feel obliged to buy heavily to boost sales.

McKneff

Where the tickets only sold on the night to people who attended.

Savvy_Sue

porto_bello wrote: »

This was an informal "£1 for a numbered cloakroom ticket" kind of raffle, but presumably it is still covered by some kind of law(s)?

dzug1 wrote: »

I'm not sure that sort of lottery is legal at all in the circumstances you describe. Unless everyone was a member of the organisation concerned.

McKneff wrote: »

Where the tickets only sold on the night to people who attended.

I'm guessing McKneff either meant 'WERE' not 'Where', or intended to say more.

So, to clarify: IF tickets were only sold on the night / at the event, then the 'simple cloakroom ticket' kind of raffle is entirely legal. No membership is required, all you have to do is be there.

I don't even think there is any legislation covering how the tickets are drawn, who can take part, or how announcements are made.

Usually, of course, the tickets are drawn by the leading light of the event, or a cute child, or the first ticket by one person and then subsequent tickets by the previous winner IYSWIM. Usually, of course, the numbers drawn are announced interminably but clearly and the lucky winner goes up to claim their prize.

The fact that one lucky winner didn't want their name to be identified as a winner certainly seems unusual. Whether it is illegal I'm not sure, because this kind of raffle is not heavily regulated.

What legal advice have you actually been given, and by whom? Really, though, the only legal advice worth tuppence is the kind you pay for.

LittleVoice

The winner of the star prize may have been too embarrassed to claim it when the number was called or may simply have been too busy to check their own ticket numbers at the time. However, if the ticket was fairly drawn I fail to see the moral obligation for the organiser not to receive the prize.

In this case winning the prize would not mean that they themselves would actually take the holiday. They might quietly donate it to someone in need of a break. People do do that sort of thing.

Would it be suggested that, despite buying any number of tickets, an organiser at most could accept the lowest ranking prize? If they are not "morally" allowed to win, then it would be better if they donated the money but did not receive a ticket.

I see no illegality. The identity of the winner should be notified to anyone who asks, whether quietly or not. This has been done when the OP asked.

fiscalfreckles

I don't think there is anything illegal here, if the winner bought a ticket (or tickets) like everyone else, they are as entitled to win as anyone else. If the draw was done publicly, there should be no chance of irregularity.
I have run many similar raffles at school fundraising events, and prizes often are won by committee members or the same, most generous, parents - beacause they buy the most tickets!
We always make sure everything is done openly and fairly, you will always get the odd mutterer but I don't think theres anything wrong here.

porto_bello

Thank you for your thoughts on this. To clarify, the winning tickets were officially sold only on the night, to paying guests. The winners were individually informed, in person, later in the evening.

Winners were not publcly drawn - or at least, nobody that I know witnessed this. The first anybody knew about it was when guests began to be informed that they had won a prize in the raffle.

The identity of the individual who claimed the star prize has never been publicly disclosed. I discovered their identity only 'off the record', only after repeatedly asking for the missing details to be completed, so that we could be sure that all prizes had been distributed, but I kept receiving evasive responses.

Looking around the web, I think my best bet is to approach the gambling commission with a formal enquiry. From your useful responses,this has given me a better idea of what specific points to make within that enquiry.

As you can imagine, lots of unpaid people spent a lot of time and effort making this event work and a number of us feel very uncomfortable by the way the raffle was handled.

Many thanks again. :beer: