“It’s the Thrill” – Why Raffles greatly benefit Charity Fundraising

Just this morning, while stopping for my morning coffee, I saw an older gentleman in the convenience store near my home purchasing “Scratch Off” Lottery Tickets.  Since I have had several conversations with him about his golf game in the past, I asked him about his success in winning the lottery.  He told me that he was won $2,500 twice in his life, but lets make this clear, he is in his mid 70’s!  I then asked jokingly “How much do you believe you have spent buying tickets” in which he chuckled and replied, “Oh my George, 1,000 times that.”  I asked him…with such low success, why do you buy lottery tickets and he replied “It’s the thrill.”  His comment about “the thrill” caused me to pause for a second and immediately decide to write my next blog with this as the subject.

Today, Charities all across North America are planning their next fundraising event.  Hopefully, they are also studying their previous fundraiser in order to determine how to improve their financial success.  Many charities are not taking full advantage of all who attend by adding several fun and exciting Raffles and/or Games.

With this in mind, let’s discuss why Raffles and Games are an incredible success 100% of the time.  As you know, all charities are scouring the countryside looking for donations.  Either with Gift Baskets or Gift Certificates, all charities are looking to get items donated.  Often, they receive items which are “Less than” exciting but anything donated is great – right?  Right!!! However the answer has a twist, and I want to warn you as to the answer:

Commonly, charities not utilizing Raffles and Games will place every single item they were donated on a Silent Auction Table.  The table becomes cluttered with Gift Certificates and Gift Baskets causing the great items to be buried in the “run of the mill” donated items. 

Across North America people are only bidding from 1/8 to 1/2 of Retail cost on donated products.  I have discussed in earlier Blogs why this is occurring and why it is bad for all parties.  Understand that “EVERYONE” is looking for a deal.  Gift Certificates are bringing only about 1/2 of face value.  Everyone wants to say “Look at this deal I just got – a $50.00 Gift Certificate for only $25.00.”  The charity can say “Well we made $25.00 at least and it didn’t cost us anything.”  But does that help the donor?  No.  Actually it hurts them because it drives down the marketability of the item and it means their services or item is worth far less.  Plus let’s be honest with ourselves, $25.00 is not a whole lot of profit including the time it took to get the item, the set up, etc.

But what if you utilized the “Non-Exciting” donated items such as Gift Baskets, Gift Certificates and Kitchenware (such as coffee makers, bread makers, toasters etc.) in a way that would bring ten (10) times the retail guaranteed – would you do it?  I hope you answered with a resounding “YES”!!!!  The answer is – Raffles.

I am going to tell you about two recent events that I was a part of which had opposing results:

#1 – Bad idea

I attended an event in which the charity placed around twenty (20) Gift Certificates on a board and asked their guests to pay the face value.  Very few sold leaving the charity with gift certificates instead of profit.

#2 – Good idea

Another of our clients utilized all of their donations in a raffle at a very small event with only 150 attending.  If you added up the value of all the Gift Certificates they had in the raffle, it only totaled $135.00.   That was the total retail value – but if we use the math and every single gift certificate would have received a bid – they would have made only $70.00.

We gave them one of our many “Tried and True” raffle ideas which ended with $900.00 in ticket sales!!!  $900.00 dollars for $135.00 worth of Gift Certificates.  Plus they also raffled off a Charity Charm Bracelet that we provided to them with a Cost to Non Profit of $80.00, it brought them $500.00 – 6 times the cost!!!

This client was overwhelmed and thanked us over and over again.

Why does this happen?  Because people like to win – remember, “It’s the Thrill.”  People would rather give you a $10 bill for a raffle ticket then they will to put a $10 bid on a bid sheet.  It’s the truth.

What else does a raffle do for you the Charity?  Raffles make the event “Fun” – they put the “Fun” back in Fundraising.  Raffles make your event memorable with people saying, “Wow they were giving out prizes constantly.”  These people will tell everyone about how much fun your event was, helping you sell more tickets the following year. 

When businesses donate, do you think they want to hear after your event that the item they donated only brought in 1/2 of their asking price?  No way.  But, think about this, when they ask (which they always do) if their item helped and how much it brought?  You can proudly say it helped you raise 10 times the retail price!!!  And if you know just how much the raffle made you can disclose that as well?  Raffles guard against unsuccessful sales.

It just makes sense!!!  People love to win and people love to have a fun time.  Use your time, effort and the donated items in the best possible way – start utilizing Raffles to greatly improve the success at your next event.  Your success is not only in the money profited, but it can also be measured in your guest’s enjoyment.

If you would like to learn about how raffles will greatly influence your next charity fundraising events bottom line or if you would like fantastic, rock solid raffle ideas contact BW Unlimited Charity Fundraising today at www.BWUnlimited.com.  We would love to help.

BW Unlimited Charity Fundraising is a Leader in Charity Fundraising across North America in a “One Stop Setting.”  While assisting charities all across North America, the Fundraising Experts at BW Unlimited Charity Fundraising study successful fundraising trends in order to help their charity client’s success.  BW Unlimited Charity Fundraising is known all across North America as the absolute best provider of “No Risk Auction Items” with a 100% guarantee of success as well as being known for only offering Authentic Autographed items.  If you would like more information on how BW Unlimited Charity Fundraising can help you and your charity, contact us today at www.BWUnlimited.com.