How to Organise a Raffle
Many King's College Hospital Charity supporters hold raffles to raise money.
This is a fantastic way of raising money and getting your whole community involved through advertising, donating prizes and buying tickets!
BUT
It
is not as simple as it sounds! Raffles are bound by the legal
requirements of the Lotteries and Amusements Act 1976 and the Gambling
Act 2005 and there are some rules and regulations that must be
followed. First of all, although they might seem simple, there are
actually 4 different types of raffles, all of which have different
rules! Please read the following descriptions and decide which type of
raffle you would like to hold.
Incidental Non-Commercial Lottery
This is the most common type of raffle. It is a raffle that takes place at a one or two day event but is not the main attraction of the event, for example a raffle at a school fair, a ball or a private party.
Customer Lottery
This is a raffle that is held particularly by a company for the benefit of a charity. Raffle tickets are not promoted to the general public but are offered only to staff and customers.
Private Lottery
This is a raffle that is considered private because tickets are only available to a private group of people e.g. members of a society, employees of a company, residents of the same premises etc.
Small Society Lottery
This is the most complicated type of raffle. In a Small Society Lottery, tickets are available to the general public and promotion and advertisement are not restricted to private premises. Anything that involves promoting or advertising to the public as opposed to a private group requires government authorisation, in this case in the form of a Lottery Licence. If you wish to organise a Small Society Lottery type of raffle solely for the benefit of King's College Hospital Charity, it may be possible to use the KCHC Lottery Licence.
Decided?
The best way to decide which type of raffle to organise is to think about who you want to sell tickets to:
1. People attending an event = Incidental Non-Commercial Lottery
2. Customers in your shop = Customer Lottery
3. Colleagues or members of your group/society = Private Lottery
4. General public = Small Society Lottery
Once you have decided which one of the four types of raffle you would like to undertake, please contact the King's Fundraising Team and we will talk you through the requirements for each type of raffle. Please do not organise a raffle, even a small one without talking to us first.
King's Fundraising Team Contact Details
Tel: 020 3299 3456
Fax: 020 3299 3795
Next step: Two Popular Events
