Raffle-Tickets.us Blog

So that $5 raffle ticket really paid off and you’ve won a really valuable raffle prize—money, a car, a house. Congratulations! However, be aware that that raffle prize can bite you in the rear come tax time if you haven’t accounted for it. Believe it or not, raffle prizes are taxable, and when the prize is a big one, the amount you owe can come as quite a surprise.

Now we certainly don’t mean to rain on your parade. We want you to enjoy that prize to the fullest! But the best way to do that is by being fully aware of all the financial implications from the start. Otherwise that parade is likely to end in a thunderstorm come April. Money and prizes won through raffles count as gambling proceeds and must be reported on Form 1040. Of course, sometimes organizations will pay the taxes due as part of a prize, in which case, you’re in luck!

I just recently heard of Pennsylvania Lottery’s Millionaire Raffle.  This year was the tenth year in a row that they have held this raffle, and they just made four new people millionaires!  They had a total of $5,089,200 in cash prizes, so there were other cash prizes as well.  I believe that other than the other million dollar prizes that there were also a hundred thousand dollar prizes, a thousand dollar prizes, and hundred dollar prizes.  There is no better raffle prize than money, that’s for sure.

As far as I know or have heard of, Pennsylvania is the only state that holds a raffle like this.  All of their proceeds go to funding programs that benefit older residents of the state.  That is amazing.  I love that all of that money goes to a great cause that feeds back into bettering their state.  This is a fad that should definitely catch on around the country.

Can you imagine if every state in the United States held a raffle like this?  It would not only involve communities in their state’s welfare, but the money given as prizes would better other people’s lives as well.  It is such a progressive and productive idea.  I would definitely spend money on buying  raffle ticket that supports our state.  Now if only I can get them to buy my raffle tickets .

The is this amazing raffle that goes on every year in the area where I live.  It is thrown by a hospital to raise money for their children cancer ward.  It is amazing how many people participate in this raffle and the prize is incredible.  They buy a dream house in a highly desirable neighborhood and raffle it off for $100 a ticket.  It is quite the hot ticket item around here.

My husband and I enter the raffle every year.  Not only are we happy to do it because it goes to a wonderful cause, it is also a fantastic prize to win.  I mean, who doesn’t want to win a dream house?!  It is much bigger than anyone would ever need, but it is extremely beautiful and desirable.

If any other organizations out there can afford to do a raffle like this, I would highly recommend it.  It will get a lot publicity for your organization and you will have no trouble selling raffle tickets.  People always want to support a good cause, especially when the money they donate is qualifying them to win a prize of a lifetime.

A big prize like a car requires a big raffle.  If you are looking to raise a whole lot of money for your organization, choosing a car as your raffling prize is definitely the way to go.  There are a few things you have to consider though when you are throwing a car raffle.  They are not the easiest raffles to put together.

Most organizations offer a cash prize in place of the car if the winner decides he/she does not want the car.  Also, it’s a good idea to offer a few smaller cash prizes to help you sell more tickets for your organization.  What you don’t want to come across as is one of those car raffles that they hold in almost every mall in America.  You are not out to steal people’s addresses, you are out to raise money for a good cause and you need to make sure people know that.

The car you choose needs to be a desirable car, not just any car.  You will want to work with a dealer to get this car, and offer them lot’s of free advertising to be able to get a good deal on the car.  A plus to going with a dealer is that you can use their client base as possible raffle ticket buyers by mailing them a letter about the raffle and keeping the car your raffling off, along with a sign for your raffle, in their show room where a lot of people will see it.   These are just a few things to consider.

I’ve mentioned on here before that raffle’s work well when combined with other fundraisers.  One of the popular ones that I’ve seen raffles combined with are Spaghetti Dinner fundraisers.  This is a really great idea for schools or businesses who have an immediate contact list.

Typically how people will make this work is to make the dinner a flat fee, and then charge extra if any participants want to be able to take part in the raffle.  It is really great to be able offer this when people come, especially when you advertise it well.  Not only will more people come to your dinner and pay the flat fee, but you also have the possibility of people buying the extra raffle tickets.

The only thing that I would advise in this situation is that you would not charge much for the raffle tickets if you are going to do a higher flat fee.  Some people go with a higher flat fee for the dinner just in case nobody wants to do the raffles, but then some people do a lower flat fee for the dinner to ensure that people do buy raffle tickets.  If it were my fundraiser, I would go with the latter just because you want to give the appearance of an inexpensive night to be able to advertise it well.