Many non-profit development offices are moving away from the raffle (sweepstakes), even though it’s a tried-and-true tool for obtaining extra gifts and acquiring new donors. I know a number of public TV stations that have dropped raffles from special-appeal and lapsed-reinstatement programs, and an advocacy group that has been doing raffles for years and would like to get rid of them. The complaints include:

• Raffles are too much work.
• It’s too hard to get prizes.
• They have to assign a staff member, part or full-time, to handle prize procurement, production, rules and other details.
• The raffle is an unnecessary or unprofitable expense.

(Read on …)