How to Pick a Prize
Most raffles don't underperform because of bad marketing — they underperform because of a prize mismatch. Get these three things right and the rest of the campaign almost runs itself.
1. Pick a prize almost everyone will like
The single biggest mistake new organizers make is picking a prize they personally love. A fishing charter is amazing — if you're a fisherman. But maybe one in ten of your supporters fishes, so nine out of ten skip your raffle entirely. Compare that to a pair of e-bikes: almost everyone enjoys riding a bike, and even people who wouldn't keep them know a friend or family member who'd love a pair. Broad appeal beats deep appeal every time. When you're brainstorming, ask yourself: "Would my supporter's spouse, neighbor, and adult kids ALL be excited if they won this?" If the answer is yes, you've got a winner.
2. Price the prize for your audience size
Don't start with a car. Big-ticket prizes need big audiences to sell through, and most clubs simply don't have the reach yet. A good rough estimate: you can raise about $2 for every email contact and every social-media follower you have. So if you have 1,000 people on your email list and 1,000 followers on social, you can realistically raise around $4,000 on your first raffle. That means you should aim for a prize valued between $1,500 and $2,000 — high enough to feel exciting, low enough that the math works. Start with raffles in the $1k–$2k prize range, knock one out of the park, then grow from there. Future raffles can scale up with your audience.
3. Price your tickets to match the prize and audience
Once you know your prize value and roughly how many people you're reaching, pricing tickets is simple. A useful rule of thumb is to price each ticket at about 1–2% of the prize value — so a $1,500 prize works well at $20–$25 per ticket, a $5,000 prize at around $50. Then offer a bundle ("3 tickets for $50," "5 for $100") to lift your average order value. Cross-check the math: ticket price × realistic ticket sales should comfortably exceed the prize cost and clear a meaningful amount for your cause. If the numbers don't work, lower the prize value before you launch — not the ticket price after.
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