Raffles are a great way for nonprofits to bring in new donors, build a larger social media following, and connect with current supporters. However, there are many things to consider when launching a raffle and determining how to make your tickets.

You need to have a good idea of the prize youll be offering and how you plan to sell your tickets. This can be done by planning your fundraising campaign ahead of time, creating Facebook posts and email marketing to promote the event to your audience. You can also contact potential community partners to promote the raffle and offer them the opportunity to win a prize.

One thing to keep in mind is that you CANNOT use your regular mailing system to send raffle tickets out to people this violates postal law and can get your bulk mail permit revoked. So be sure to promote your raffle in other ways, such as on your website and through email newsletters, rather than by sending out mass mailers to potential donors.

Once youve decided what the prize will be and who is going to be selling your tickets you need to figure out how many you need to sell in order to raise your desired amount of money. Depending on the value of your prize this will determine what type and class of ticket you need to make.

You can choose a basic template or create your own unique design. Ensure you have a clear and easy to read message about your cause on the ticket as well as the terms and conditions of your raffle.

Lastly, be sure to include the date that all ticket stubs and donations need to be turned in by. This will help volunteers keep track of all that they have sold and allow you to keep an eye on where your ticket sales are at.

Once youve created your tickets you can define how the purchase process works through a form in the /management/raffles module on the left hand black navigation. Within this you can define what information you want to capture about the purchaser, including their name, address and tax receipt, as well as creating a link for ticket packages. You can also select whether you want to re-direct purchasers to a confirmation page or have them automatically sent a copy of their ticket and tax receipt. You can also download two reports for your raffle through the main /management/raffles module. The Tickets report will download an itemised list of all tickets purchased and the Purchases report will provide a summary of all the totals for your entire raffle. These reports can then be printed off or exported as spreadsheets for your records. You can then use this data to refine your raffle next year based on what has worked and not worked the previous year.