Raffle FAQ
Raffle Eligibility
All registered charities, non-profits, or religious organizations are eligible to run a raffle. Rules and regulations vary from provinces and states, so check with your local jurisdiction’s gaming regulator for eligibility.
Raffle Rocket is available for use exclusively for charitable organizations, non-profits and faith based organizations that are eligible to run raffles in their jurisdiction (State or Province). The system will ask for your charitable registration number or incorporation details, it will ask for a copy of your raffle license, and once done, our team will validate that you are able to use our system and approve you to proceed with the raffle.
Check with your local jurisdiction’s gaming authority to find out in full detail. The easiest way is to Google Search the following: [Name of your State/Province] + [Raffle Eligibility].
Your organization is responsible to get the license and follow all raffle rules in your jurisdiction. Raffle Rocket provides the online marketplace, and where certified, the draw capabilities which help charities to reach more buyers.
Right now, Raffle Rocket is supported in the following countries: Canada, United States, and Australia.
Getting Started
A raffle is a means of fundraising money by selling numbered tickets in exchange for a chance at winning one or more prizes.
Raffles are a great way to raise funds for a charity, non-profit, or church. Being one of the most popular methods of fundraising, raffles generate plenty of excitement among participants.
You will need to apply for a raffle license unless your state or province allows raffles without one. Check with your local jurisdiction’s gaming authority to find out in full detail. If you have, or are in the process of receiving a license, start building your raffle here.
It can take up to 2 business days so be sure to give yourself enough time! If you have a raffle license, prizes, and ticket details organized, you can complete the Raffle Rocket setup easily in 15 – 30 minutes. Once that is done, you will “request approval” which is the step where our team reviews your eligibility and ensures it’s a legal raffle. Our review process will happen Monday-Friday during standard business hours. We will usually be approving in less than a day, but could be up to 2 business days in some cases. Once approved, you can go live at any point and start selling tickets!
We permit raffles of up to $2,000,000 in total ticket value.
If you want to ensure select groups of people participate in your raffle, it would be best to keep your event private and only promote among your target audience. If you want to open your event to a wider audience, a public raffle will be visible on Raffle Rocket’s website for greater exposure. That, combined with your social marketing efforts can lead to a highly successful event!
Raffle Rocket has been certified by Gaming Labs International (GLI) which is required in order to become a certified ERS system across provinces and states. We are also fully certified by Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC) to allow fully certified raffles in the province of Alberta.
We have plans to apply for certification in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba very soon. For jurisdictions where Raffle Rocket is not certified, you can still use our platform, but the draw needs to be done offline. For more on this, see the question below: What does an offline draw mean?
We offer our platform as a means to sell tickets, collect payment and inform purchasers/winners of the results. We do not offer an RNG draw as that does not comply with charitable gaming laws in most jurisdictions. Instead, we act as an online store for your raffle tickets. Organizers should maintain physical tickets as sales come in, and complete the draw out of a drum the traditional way.
We recognize it’s not ideal, but we know with proper promotions, you will sell many more tickets than a typical offline raffle! Learn More Here.
Tickets
Raffle Rocket permits up to 2 million tickets per raffle. In general, you cannot sell any more tickets than what has been outlined in your raffle license. Please abide by the rules and regulations of your local jurisdiction’s gaming authority.
Guests who purchase tickets through Raffle Rocket will be emailed their ticket numbers. Check with your local gaming authority to confirm if purchasers require physical copies of tickets. If so, you are responsible for making sure all purchasers receive their tickets.
Raffle Rocket can support up to 10 ticket tiers. Your ticket tiers must match what is outlined on your raffle license.
Prizes
Some of the most popular items are cash prizes, trips, gift baskets, and a 50/50 pot, meaning the winner takes 50% of the total raffle sales and the other 50% goes to the organization running the raffle.
You will need to manually draw your winners once sales end. You can draw a winner using physical tickets, or by using a third-party, certified Random Number Generator (RNG). It is recommended to check with your local gaming authority to see if there any rules on how to complete an offline draw. Once you’ve drawn a winner, you can enter the winning ticket into Raffle Rocket to confirm the winner. Once confirmed, the winner will be informed automatically by email.
Organizers will need to maintain physical tickets as sales come in and complete the draw outside of Raffle Rocket. We recognize it’s not ideal, but we know with proper promotions you will sell many more tickets than a typical offline raffle!
Raffle Rocket permits a raffle to include up to 5 prizes. Please abide by your raffle license when creating your prizes.
Yes, Raffle Rocket supports early bird prizes. There must be a minimum of 1 prize drawn after ticket sales end (non-early-bird prize).
Promotion
Raffle Rocket has a built-in promotions option for returning admins. You will be able to email raffle purchasers from your past events and notify them of your current raffle. You can build out a team of ticket sellers by giving each person a custom sales link. We also make it easy to share your raffle with a custom, exportable QR code, and a personalized URL linking to your raffle page. Click here for more details
Raffle Rocket allows you to create multiple custom sales links. Your team members would receive their own link and sales from those links are tracked on your raffle’s Overview page.
Fees and Payment Collection
Our pricing is completely transparent, see below for details:
- Raffle Rocket’s platform fee: 4% of total ticket sales.
- Stripe’s payment processing fee: 2.9% of total ticket sales + $0.30 per transaction.
- Applicable sales tax: rates are based on your province or state. Note that sales tax will only be applied on the Raffle Rocket platform fee.
We allow you to sell in CAD, USD, and AUD.
Stripe has a 7-day delay on payments. Once you make your first ticket sale, 7 days will pass and that payment will be dispersed (along with any other payments made on the same date). After the initial 7-day delay, payments are dispersed daily for all sales.
You will be required to connect your organization’s Stripe account to your raffle. All raffle sales will then disperse to that account. No payment information is collected or stored on Raffle Rocket’s servers. Everything is handled and processed through Stripe which is a PCI-compliant payment processor.
Unlike other raffle systems, we have zero hidden fee’s. All of our pricing is completely transparent and available on our website’s Pricing page.
Stripe Connect will allow your participants to pay using the following methods:
- All major credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express)
- Canadian pre-authorized debit cards
- ACH Direct Debit
- Apple Pay
- Google Pay
Payment methods may vary depending on your location and the default currency set on your Stripe account.
Guest Experience
To purchase raffle tickets, you must be physically located in the province or state where the raffle is being held. If you are in the same location as the raffle but receive an error message stating otherwise, the location of your IP address may be the cause.
A few common reasons for this could be:
- Using a VPN: if you use a VPN, your IP address can appear from a location other than the one you are physically in. Try turning off the VPN before attempting to repurchase raffle tickets.
- Accessing from a Proxy Server: many companies use proxy servers as a way to filter content and protect employees while accessing the internet. If you are accessing the raffle from a device that is connected to your company’s internet, Raffle Rocket could be getting blocked. If you are on a mobile device, try turning off Wi-Fi and using cellular data before attempting to repurchase raffle tickets. If you are on a desktop, you will need to use a different device that can use cellular data or one that isn’t connected to your company’s internet.
- ISP Network Configuration: ISPs may have network infrastructure that assigns IP addresses from different geographic locations for technical or routing reasons. To prevent this from happening, enable Location Services on your device. To do this while using Google Chrome Browsers, Microsoft Edge Browsers, and iOS or Android Browsers, please refer to the steps below:
Enable Location Services on Google Chrome Browsers:
- At the top left of your browser’s web address, click on the Padlock icon
- Near the bottom, select Site Settings
- Under Permissions, make sure Location is set to Allow
Enable Location Services on Microsoft Edge Browsers:
- At the top right of your browser, and next to your Profile icon, click on the three horizontal dots
- Near the bottom, select Settings option
- From the side menu, select Cookies and site permissions
- Under All permissions, make sure Location is set to Allow
Enable Location Services on iOS Browsers:
- At the top left of your browser’s web address, tap on the AA icon
- From the dropdown menu, tap on Website Settings
- Located near the bottom, tap on Location
- From the list of options, tap on Allow