How to organise a raffle or lottery

Legalities and guidelines

Whatever type of raffle you are organising, there are important rules and regulations which you must abide by:

Lotteries, raffles and some prize draws are regulated under the Lotteries and Amusements Act 1976 and the Lotteries Regulations 1993. Comprehensive information on the laws surrounding lotteries and raffles are available on the Gambling Commission's website: www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk .
If your raffle or lottery requires a licence, your local council will also be able to provide detailed information on the legal requirements of running a raffle and obtaining licences.
Tickets and books of tickets must only be sold for the price printed on the ticket (i.e. there must be no discounts such as 4 tickets for the price of 5.)
Each ticket should have a unique reference number.
Keep track of ticket sales. As promoter of the lottery you are responsible for how it is run, and must ensure that records are kept of where tickets are sold and how many.
If your raffle required a licence, a 'return' must be submitted to the relevant authority within the specified time limit. This should state how many tickets were printed, how many were sold etc. Your local council should supply details of this when they issue your licence.

If you are organising a small lottery incidental to an event, your draw must be held at that event.
For a Society Lottery the draw can be as low-key or as high profile as you wish. You can hold the draw as part of an event or simply hold a draw at an allotted place and time. It is unlikely that many ticket purchasers will attend a public lottery draw, but you must still announce where and when it will take place to all ticket holders.
Following the draw for a Society Lottery, you should notify winners immediately. Send out prizes once their address details are confirmed, and publicise the results (ensuring that addresses of the winners are not identifiable).
If you have a high value or newsworthy prize you could organise a local VIP to award the prize to the lucky winner and invite the local press to cover the prize giving. See our advice on grabbing press attention.