Raffle Rules

Fifibowyer

I have organised a raffle for a charity I’m a trustee of.  I have the licenses required, and tickets are on sale.  Having been out trying to push tickets, I am now concerned that I won’t get the volume of ticket sales to justify the draw and cover the costs.  I can’t find what the rules are around this.  Can I not go the draw and offer those who’ve bought their money back, do I simply draw less prizes?  What proportion of tickets to prizes would be acceptable?  

DullGreyGuy

Have you given anyone terms of the raffle? Ideally terms should exist, people should be aware of where they are and those terms should give the organisers the right to cancel the raffle at their discretion and refund tickets in full. 

Certainly MumsNet has several posts from people annoyed for having entered into a raffle and it be refunded rather than concluding and so even if your terms allow it it may still generate bad will. 

Were you planning on using the ticket sales to fund the prizes? Have you looked at other options for sourcing the prizes?

I used to go to an annual dinner sponsored by a brand, they did a raffle each time with prizes donated by some of the attendees and some other brands. All the cash raised was donated to a charity. I was always really embarrassed with the numbers... sure it was a decent sum raised but the values achieved were tiny compared to the retail value of the prizes. There was a hotel stay which, depending on exact dates, would have cost you £8,000 and the raffle raised about £1,000 on that one. Sure it doesn't cost the hotel £8,000, sure they'll hope for food/drinks sales etc but feels it probably a cash gift rather than a prize could have been more and cost the hotel less. 

Grumpy_chap

Fifibowyer said:

I have organised a raffle for a charity I’m a trustee of.  I have the licenses required, and tickets are on sale.  Having been out trying to push tickets, I am now concerned that I won’t get the volume of ticket sales to justify the draw and cover the costs.  I can’t find what the rules are around this.  Can I not go the draw and offer those who’ve bought their money back, do I simply draw less prizes?  What proportion of tickets to prizes would be acceptable?  

What have you stated when selling the tickets?
If the tickets say £10 each, win a brand new Tesla, that creates a very firm expectation.
If the tickets say £1 each, support the local charity, win fabulous prizes, that gives you more leeway.

martindow

A bit off topic, but how difficult or expensive was it to get a licence?  I assume this is to comply with gambling legislation.

Bookworm105

martindow said:

A bit off topic, but how difficult or expensive was it to get a licence?  I assume this is to comply with gambling legislation.

as easy as reading the relevant guidance and filling out the form - if applicable 
Types of lottery you can run without a licence

Savvy_Sue

Fifibowyer said:

I have organised a raffle for a charity I’m a trustee of.  I have the licenses required, and tickets are on sale.  Having been out trying to push tickets, I am now concerned that I won’t get the volume of ticket sales to justify the draw and cover the costs.  I can’t find what the rules are around this.  Can I not go the draw and offer those who’ve bought their money back, do I simply draw less prizes?  What proportion of tickets to prizes would be acceptable?  

Clearly you've started some pre-selling, but is there also an 'Event' at which they will be sold, and at which the raffle will be drawn? Only I'd say never underestimate the amount people are willing to spend on raffle tickets at such events ... On a smaller scale, I know, but raffle and tombola are the two stalls which will do better than anything else at a school fair ...