Are you looking for new raffles to try at your 2025 banquet? Here are a couple thoughts and ideas submitted by RMEF regional directors. Raffle laws for each state vary, so please consult with your regional director before implementing new raffles.
General Raffle – A Different Vision
From Zach Goldberg, Regional Director – Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi
Investing in the quality of your general raffle, as well as adjusting it structure and your committees’ sales tactics, can help your chapter increase its general raffle revenue dramatically. Below are some of the tactics and results that helped RMEF chapters generate more funding at their banquets.
Pre-Event Discounts:
By preselling a general raffle, you are able to gauge its success prior to doors open, which allows for addition or reduction of raffle items. Too many items decrease your net revenue while too few affect your total sales.
Quality Items:
Utilizing quality items in your general raffle will often increase your sales at the event, even when tickets are presold. Additionally, in future years, your attendees will engage more in presale packs as your chapter continues to increase its quality.
Here are a few of my favorite general raffle tips:
- Utilize a preorder option to increase sales (i.e., $300 ticket bundles for $150) NOT AVAILABLE DAY OF/AT THE EVENT
- Don’t use your general raffle as a spot to simply place merchandise that you don’t know what to do with
- Bundle items together and ensure it is a package that someone would be happy to win
- Don’t be afraid to place a $350 firearm, optic or package at a bucket
- Turtlebox Speaker and a Yeti Gobox make great high-end general raffle prizes.
- Some ECL Package items might do well on a bucket: rocking chairs, mailbox, archery target, YETI soft cooler
- Use Silencer Central at a bucket
- restaurant gift cards can be grouped for a “lunch for a week” bucket
- Bundle an oil change, carwash and RMEF windshield blind for a “Car Works” bucket
- Place a key item at a bucket
- Don’t only put expensive items at the “BONUS” table
- Some rooms, I remove the BONUS and all items on the GR are up for grabs
Below are the results of three chapters that recently implemented the above general raffle sales tactics.
Weiss Lake Results (~100 people, first BGB) offered presale GR $300 for $150
- 2024; general raffle sales: $6,640
- Raffle cost: $2,999
- Number of buckets: 20
- Number of guns: 5
Northeast FL (~200 people): 2024 First year doing GR presale, $300 for $150
- 2023; general raffle sales: $7,540
- Raffle cost: $4,095
- Number of buckets: 47
- Number of guns: 0
- 2024; general raffle sales: $14,400
- Raffle cost: $6,335
- Number of buckets: 55
- Number of guns: 6
- One key item
Central FL Stats (~100 people) offered presale $300 for $150
- 2023; general raffle sales: $4,135.00
- Raffle cost: $1,682
- Number of buckets: 18
- Number of guns: 1
- 2024; general raffle sales: $6,740.00
- Raffle cost: $2,197
- Number of buckets: 28
- Number of guns: 4
Unlimited Tickets vs Limited Entry Raffles
From Tyler Wetterau, Regional Director – Wisconsin
The optics of a volunteer selling tickets at $20 per ticket, with a roll of tickets that seem never ending, will shy more people away than a person selling $100 tickets with only 20 tickets to offer. The numbers being used are an example and other dollar values and ticket amounts can be applied.
Limited entry raffles create a sense of urgency as well as gives an attendee their odds per raffle, which is appealing to most attendees. These raffles also allow for a chapter to be creative with incentive items, such as a hat, knife or YETI mug that is given with each ticket purchased. If there is a cost, it is easily tracked in EMS, if built properly. Sellout raffles provide a chapter an expected projection of sales, opposed to an unlimited ticket raffle.
Limited entry raffles allow your event’s timeline to transition more quickly, with people winning more in the “happy hour” portion of the night. Most raffles are drawn and prizes given away once the last ticket is sold. This also gives the emcee selling points by announcing the amount left before it can be drawn. Giving items away earlier in the evening helps create excitement and helps sell tickets to other raffles as attendees see others winning.
Successful chapters using this method will budget 1-3 “extra” or “back pocket” raffles that can be utilized as “walk around” raffles once people are seated. Many people don’t get up to play games/raffles once they are seated for the meal, so a walk around raffle will help generate a few more sales during and after dinner.
Below is an example from an event that had unlimited raffle in 2022, and then went to limited entry raffles in 2023 and 2024.
2022 Unlimited Tickets Sold
Total Event Net Income: $9,542.65 N/G %:20.11
- Electric bike raffle:
o Cost: $1699.99
o Revenue: $1760
o Net & N/G %: $60.01, 3.4%
- Grill raffle:
o Cost: $419.99
o Revenue: $610
o Net & N/G %: $190.01, 31.1%
- Lawn raffle:
o Cost: $100.80
o Revenue: $100
o Net & N/G%: -$0.80, -0.80%
2023 Limited Tickets Sold
Total Event Net Income: $33,120.01 N/G %:45.90
- Electric bike raffle:
o Cost: $1495
o Revenue: $2920
o Net & N/G %: $1,425, 48.8%
- Hunting package mug board:
o Cost: $1099.98
o Revenue: 2500
o Net & N/G %: $1,400.02, 56%
2024 Limited Tickets Sold
Total Event Net Income: $49,330.87 N/G%: 51.19%
- Kill it, chill it, grill it raffle:
o Cost: $848.20
o Revenue: $3000
o Net & N/G%: $2151.80, 71.73%
o Bergara B14, YETI Tundra 45, Donated Grill, 30 YETI 10 oz Cups (Takeaways for each ticket purchased)
o Limited Entry: 1 in 30 @$100/ticket
- After the hunt raffle:
o Cost: $741.20
o Revenue: $1880
o Net & N/G%: $1,138.80, 60.57%
o RMEF Breeze Rockers, Solo Stove Ranger 2.0, YETI Roadie 24, Turtlebox Speaker
o Limited entry: 1 in 100 @ $20/ticket – lower limited entry game and a way to use typical live auction items differently (Breeze Rockers & Solo Stove)
- Knife raffle:
o Cost: $1003.93
o Revenue: $2500
o Net & N/G%: $1,496.07, 59.84%
o Weatherby Vanguard 308 w/Leupold Scope, Stone Glacier Avail 2200, Kenetrek Corrie Hiker, 50 RMEF Schrade knives as takeaways for each ticket purchased.
o Limited entry: 1 in 50 @ $50/ticket.