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

greyteam1959

For what it's worth I think this raffle has been a big, big fiddle.
Never heard anything so iffy for a long time. !!
But thats my opinion only.

porto_bello

mervyn11 wrote: »

For what it's worth I think this raffle has been a big, big fiddle.
Never heard anything so iffy for a long time. !!

I couldn't possibly comment!

jackyann

Like fiscalfreckles, I have done a lot of these; the draw is always done publicly, with a well-known respected person pulling the tickets out.
I think your main problem was not doing the draw publicly (lesson to be learned) and I have also understood that prizes over £100 or so were best dealt with by formal raffling (or, if donated at the last minute, by a quick auction)

Personally, I would approach your main charity, or the Charities Commission for advice.

I'd also advise that you let sleeping dogs lie (bad publicity for your charity, when most people at the evening won't be aware of the issue) but learn the lesson for the future.

I was brought up in a family who were always volunteering and raising money for worthy causes, and learned, sadly, that no good deed ever goes unpunished!

Savvy_Sue

jackyann wrote: »

Personally, I would approach your main charity, or the Charities Commission for advice.

I have been having similar thoughts: porto, have you asked formally and publicly for a full list of raffle winners, and details of how the draw was made? I honestly don't think that the Gambling Commission has any jurisdiction here, but even if they do, I doubt if they will be interested if you have not established that something dodgy happened.

Likewise, I suspect that the charity's HQ will only be interested if they appear to have suffered a loss as a result of what happened (or didn't happen).

And the Charity Commission are unlikely to intervene unless there has been MAJOR fraud or mismanagement.

jackyann wrote: »

I'd also advise that you let sleeping dogs lie (bad publicity for your charity, when most people at the evening won't be aware of the issue) but learn the lesson for the future.

That bad publicity risk is IMO very real. You certainly don't want a 'he said / she said' row running in the local paper.

However making it clear at a local level that you will not be involved in the future unless there are safeguards to ensure this never happens again may concentrate minds - depends on how much they want your help.

Because it is possible that this was all above board. The winner may have bought a strip of tickets, and may have been picked in a completely transparent way. And they may then not have wanted the publicity, but equally not have felt they could pass up the chance of a holiday, or be planning to pass it on anonymously.

I'm guessing you'll get some kind of answer by the response to asking a number of straight questions, to which you would like straight answers ...

On a much smaller scale, I have just remembered my mortification at the result of a 'guess the name of the bunny' competition many years ago. The bunny was stuffed, and about 3' tall, and I really didn't want it, but of course I had to let DS1 enter and duly gave him the money to do so. We were picking bunny's name by asking an independent person to pull the first name from the hat, and DS1 was ecstatic to find his name chosen. If I'd been there on my own, we'd have picked another name, but he was so happy (on his little brother's behalf) I could not bring myself to do so.

Big Blossom is even now on DS3's bed, although I think she should be at Uni really! :rotfl:

Savvy_Sue

Thinking some more, it's possible someone on the Small Biz & Charity Organisers Board will have something helpful to say, so

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jackyann

Savvy Sue - just the same happened to us and Roary the lion is also still with us........

jexygirl

All sounds a bit - in fact ALOT iffy.
I would ask who drew the tickets and who witnessed. Whilst, as Sue says, it is entirely plausible that the organiser won and was embarassed, it still should have been done publically, as part of the event, with plenty of people witnessing - perhaps the reason the organiser didnt want to publicise their win was exactly this situation arising, and claims that all may not be legit. Which is why it should have been done in public, or the witnesses / ticket drawers should be independant.

You really have to tread carefully, it isn't the charities fault that this is in question, and they can no doubt ill afford bad publicity, similarly I totally understand your moral need to pursue and get answers.
GL
Jex

greyteam1959

Any raffle that I has witnessed over the last 20 years if any of the organisers won a prize they always put it back in the raffle........to draw again.

Horace

I run a monthly raffle at a business club - tickets are sold on the night for £1 (the cloakroom variety of ticket) and they are drawn on the night. What we do is that someone - usually a honoured guest gets to pick the first ticket out of the box (an ice bucket in our case) and that ticket number is read out and the person gets to choose their prize from the table. I always buy tickets - I get someone to witness that I have purchased them because I don't want fingers pointed at me because I sell them. If my number gets drawn I invariably decline, however, if I have to take the prize then I will put it back into the raffle the next month.

Subsequent winning tickets are drawn by the winners who collect their prize and draw the next ticket. If someone is missing from the room then the ticket is drawn again, if someone wins more than one prize they invariably ask for the ticket to be drawn again.

The draw is always made publicly and the person collects the prize there and then, if you snooze you lose. Maybe you should make it a ruling at your events where tickets are sold and drawn on the night that the raffle is drawn publicly that way it prevents situations such as this which could be deemed unfair play.

The only time that a promoter cannot win is if the tickets are printed and the raffle is registered with the gaming and lotteries commission and then the small print will say that the promoters are not allowed to enter.

porto_bello

Many thanks everyone's input here.

I agree - indeed, it's obvious - that this raffle was not undertaken in a way that it should have been. However, I can't undo what has been done.

It would seem that what occurred was not expressly 'illegal' as such. However, the 'allocation' of prizes and the attempts to hide the identity of the main prize 'winner', by the organiser ... who as it turns out, was the main prize winner... has left a bitter taste in a number of mouths.

I certainly wouldn't want to damage the charity (who had no input into the raffle). They have informed them that there are widespread concerns that the raffle was not undertaken in a way that was in their best interests. I guess it's up to them whether they want to rock the boat.

Again thanks for your thoughts on this.