Start A Raffle
A person records a social media post to advertise their raffle.

How to Advertise a Raffle

You’ve got great prizes lined up and are ready to host a raffle that will help your organization meet its fundraising goals. But how do you get the word out? How do you make sure people actually know to buy tickets? 

Knowing how to advertise a raffle can be the difference between a fundraiser’s success and failure, but fortunately, some tools make spreading the word easy.

Key Takeaways

  • Define your audience and their interests to tailor your raffle appeal. 
  • Choose the right platforms for communication, focusing on where your audience spends their time.
  • Use high-quality photos to showcase prizes effectively. 
  • Maintain consistent outreach by posting early and sending reminders. 
  • Utilize multiple advertising tools for a broader reach.

Why Advertising Is So Important When Hosting a Raffle

With a low cost of entry and easy-to-understand rules, raffles are popular fundraising tools for non-profits, charities, and religious organizations precisely because people love supporting good causes. 

The challenge is making sure they know your raffle is taking place without spending so much on advertising that you cut into the much-needed profits your organization actually makes from hosting a raffle.

Fortunately, there are lots of ways to affordably and effectively get the word out about your raffle:

  • Traditional methods like physical posters around your community
  • Social media posts on Facebook or Instagram that connect directly with your followers
  • Emails sent out to people in your community or within your organization that link directly to your raffle page
Two people see an advertisement for a raffle on social media while eating breakfast.

Raffle Advertising Ideas

While larger organizations hosting bigger raffles may want to use traditional advertising methods like TV or radio advertising to drive ticket sales, that may be too expensive for some organizations. Here, we’ll take a look at some more cost-effective options and how to use them most effectively to raise awareness and drive ticket sales.

Raffle Flyers

Printing raffle flyers is still a highly effective way to get the word out about your raffle, especially for smaller organizations rooted in specific communities. Posting raffle flyers in community centers, schools, or even around your neighborhood gets the word out. 

If you are going to print physical raffle flyers, you can copy the QR code provided by Raffle Rocket so that anyone who sees it can go directly to your raffle’s page and purchase tickets.

Social Media Posts

Even if your organization doesn’t have a huge social media following, it’s still a great and inexpensive way to engage with a raffle advertisement. Whether you’re posting to Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn, sharing information about your raffle on social media is a highly effective way of connecting with potential ticket buyers.

When you host an online raffle on a platform like Raffle Rocket, you’ll be provided with a unique URL link, and all you need to do is copy and paste it into your social media posts so that your followers can click on it, preview prizes, and purchase tickets.

  • Encourage as many people as possible to share your link: You want to get your raffle in front of as many eyeballs as possible, so ask people within your organization to share your posts or create their own. This will get the word out beyond the people who directly follow your organization.
  • Showcase prizes: You’ll be able to include a few photos on any social media post, so give people a preview of what they might win by sharing photos of prizes for non-cash prize raffles. This gets potential ticket-buyers excited and encourages purchases.
  • Don’t overcomplicate posts: Try to keep your messaging simple in social media posts. You’re hosting a raffle, the prizes are amazing, and here’s why people should buy tickets. That’s all most people need to know to buy a few tickets.

Direct Emailing

In many cases, the people who have supported your organization in the past are going to be among the most likely to purchase tickets for your raffle. When we talk about how to advertise a raffle, it can be beneficial to directly contact people you know are supportive of your cause.

Emailing them directly with information about your raffle and a link to your URL is a great solution for how to advertise raffle tickets, as it ensures your most loyal supporters are contacted.

Raffle Rocket makes doing this easy, as returning administrators can send emails directly to supporters from their previous raffles. First-time admins won’t have this function available, but they can still copy and paste a sample email they create and send it from their own inbox.

Live Display at Your Event

If you’re hosting an event, that can actually be a wonderful opportunity to advertise a raffle. The people attending your event are already predisposed to supporting your cause, so make sure your raffle is visible with live displays throughout the venue. 

Whether that’s on iPads being carried by volunteers or strategically-placed screens, include a QR code provided by Raffle Rocket so that people can go directly to your raffle’s landing page and purchase tickets.

How to Advertise a Raffle: Step-by-Step Guide

How to Advertise Raffle Prizes

  1. Define Your Audience: It’s important to consider who you’re trying to connect with and where they’re most likely to be found. What are their interests? What sort of prizes will appeal to them most? If you’re posting on social media, include photos of the raffle prizes that will get your supporters most excited.
  2. Choose the Right Tools: You’ll be able to display your raffle prizes on your Raffle Rocket page prominently, but how are you going to get people there in the first place? If your supporters are older, posting on TikTok or Instagram may be less effective than emailing them directly or posting on Facebook. 
  3. Have Great Photos: Even highly appealing prizes need amazing photos to get people excited to buy tickets. Make sure your images are clear, high-resolution, and show off your prizes in the best possible light.
  4. Reach Out Consistently: Start posting about your raffle prizes early and keep it going. Send an email a day or two before your raffle starts to let people know what’s available as a prize. You don’t want to overwhelm people with communications, but you do want to stay consistent.
  5. Use Multiple Tools: You don’t need to choose only one tool to advertise your raffle. You’ve got multiple options available, so why not use them all?

How to Advertise Raffle Tickets

  1. Lead with Links: Don’t just tell people you have raffle tickets available; lead them to the place where they can make purchases. Always include your URL or QR code so people can buy tickets while your raffle is top of mind.
  2. Push Your Prizes: There’s no greater raffle advertising tool than showing off the great prizes people can win, so make sure that any ad that’s encouraging people to buy tickets shows them what they can win if they do.
  3. Contact Supporters Directly: The people who have supported your organization in the past are often the most likely to do so again, so send them emails and let them know where they can buy tickets.
  4. Stay Consistent: You can contact people more than once about buying tickets. In some cases, like a 50/50 draw, contacting supporters and letting them know how big the prize has grown as your raffle progresses can be a powerful driver of sales.

How Raffle Rocket Helps Make Raffle Advertising Easier

However you choose to advertise your raffle, using Raffle Rocket’s online platform gives you a head start and the best chance of connecting with the right audience. It does so in a number of key ways:

  • Providing a QR code that can be used on physical raffle flyers or on live displays at your event. This unique code can be easily scanned on phones and sends them directly to your raffle’s landing page, where they can preview prizes or purchase tickets.
  • A unique link that can be included in social media posts or emails, making it easy for followers to get all the information they need about your raffle and buy as many tickets as they’d like
  • Email capabilities including the ability for returning administrators to send emails out directly to supporters from previous raffles. First-time admins can also craft promotional emails with Raffle Rocket and send them out from their own account.

Create a Raffle Your Community Is Excited to Support

Raffles are fantastic ways for organizations to amplify their fundraising goals. Using Raffle Rocket’s dynamic online platform makes it easy to find solutions for advertising a raffle, whether you’re looking to connect with a small community or reach a larger audience.

Simplify your next raffle with Raffle Rocket.

FAQ

How do you create a buzz around your raffle?

Create buzz around your raffle by promoting it consistently on social media, partnering with local businesses or influencers, using email reminders, and teasing prizes before the draw to build anticipation.

How do I encourage customers to buy a ticket?

Encourage customers to buy a raffle ticket by clearly explaining the cause or benefit, highlighting the value of the prizes, offering early-bird incentives, and making the ticket purchase process quick and simple.

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