How to run a 50/50 raffle that actually sells

A 50/50 raffle is simple on a whiteboard: sell tickets, draw one winner, split the pot. It fails in the hallway because two parents sell, nobody can see the pot, and the treasurer rebuilds the numbers from Venmo screenshots. This guide is the operating version: price, live pot, who sells, eligibility, and the Monday settlement. Product mechanics live on the raffles page. This is the volunteer runbook.

Write down the night before you open sales. Draw date and time. Who can buy (adults only in many states). Ticket price or tiers. Whether you will sell at a game and online. Those four facts decide the setup. You do not need a second raffle app for the door and a spreadsheet for online. You need one inventory and a page that works on a phone, because that is where families buy.

Price tickets so a parent can decide in the stands

One price is fine for a first 50/50: $5 a ticket, or 5 for $20 if you want a bundle. Tiers exist so a buyer who would have spent $5 spends $20. Do not invent six packages. Test the price on five board members. If they hesitate, it is too high for a hallway sale. If they shrug, you left money on the table.

Show the live pot. A 50/50 that looks empty does not sell. A pot that ticks up on the public page and on participant pages gives sellers something to text besides “please buy a ticket.” That is the difference between a $400 night and a $4,000 night. TazFund tracks the pot as tickets sell; the draw is auditable. Details: 50/50 and prize raffles.

More than two people have to sell

If only the treasurer and the coach sell, you will not hit the goal. Every player, parent, or member needs a page and a share link. When someone buys from that link, the sale counts toward that person. That is attribution, not a vanity leaderboard. How it works is in peer-to-peer attribution and on teams and participants.

Send one message, not five. A text or email from the participant page, with the pot and the draw date, is the whole outreach. If two-thirds of the roster never send a message, the campaign stalls. That is the usual failure mode, not the software.

Stay legal enough for the board

Raffle and sweepstakes rules vary by state. Organizers are responsible for compliance in their jurisdiction. Block sales from states you cannot serve. Keep an auditable draw record. If you cannot explain who won, when, and from which ticket pool, you should not run a raffle. TazFund can block ineligible states; it cannot replace your attorney or your state’s raffle registration.

Youth sports and school groups should read the youth sports and schools and PTOs playbooks for how those calendars actually work.

Settle on Monday

After the draw you should see tickets sold, fees, refunds, voids, the winner payout, and the organization net. If those numbers live in three exports, the stack failed. Settlement should be boring enough to paste into minutes. That standard is the same one on payouts and reporting.

• One ticket price or a short bundle. No six-pack maze.
• A live pot on the campaign and on each seller’s page.
• A personal page and share link for every participant.
• State eligibility blocks and an auditable draw.
• One settlement: pot, fees, winner, net.

A two-week timeline

Fourteen days out: publish the campaign, set the draw, connect payments. Ten days out: roster participants and send a test purchase to the treasurer. One week out: share links go to the roster. Two days out: a reminder with the live pot. Night of: sell at the gate from the same inventory. Next morning: draw if you did not draw live, then export settlement. That is the whole operating system.

If you are choosing between a raffle and a Sport-A-Thon this season, read Sport-A-Thon vs raffle. If you inherited the PTO night, use the PTO checklist.

Put the 50/50 on one site before the next home game. Start free on TazFund or review how pricing works.