Zeffy does not have an automatic drawing tool. Below are the steps you need to take to draw your raffle winner.
How to draw your winner and conclude your raffle
To draw your winner and conclude your raffle, follow these steps:
1. Check your GA's guidelines for any requirements related to drawing methods - some approve of online drawing tools, others may require you complete the draw by hand (click here to learn how to print e-tickets generated by Zeffy).
2. Make sure your raffle ticket sales are closed so that no further sales are made through the form (click here to jump to this step of the article).
3. Export your sales report straight from Zeffy to obtain a list of all participants and their respective ticket numbers (click here to jump to this step of the article).
How to close your sales on your raffle form
To prevent any further sales from being made on the form once you're ready to draw your winner, there are three ways to close your form.
1. Set an automatic close date
When creating your form, in the "Date & time" section, you can set an automatic close date. Simply click "Add sales close date" below the event occurrence options and set the date you'd like sales to close automatically:
In this example, we have a raffle being hosted on November 30th, 2024 and sales are set to close on November 2nd. As soon as the date and time passes, your form will be closed.
If you ever wish to re-open sales and you have set an automatic close date, simply edit the form and either remove the sales close date, or post-pone it.
2. Set an event end date and time
If you add an event date and time to your raffle form, your sales will close automatically after the set "End date."
In the screenshot above for example, if there was no sales close date, the sales on the form would close automatically on November 30th at 5PM.
3. Close your sales manually
If you do not want to set an event date and time on your raffle form, you will have to close your sales manually to prevent further sales from being made. To close your sales manually:
1. Go to "Forms"
2. Click the three dots next to the form name
3. Select "Close sales"
Export your sales report with your participant and ticket number information
Zeffy will generate a sales report that contains the contact information collected at the time of payment from your participants, the details of their payments, the ticket numbers assigned to them and any answers to custom questions you may have asked on the form.
To obtain this report,
1. Go to "Payments"
2. Use the "Filter by form" filter at the top and find your raffle form in the drop down list. Select the name and apply the filter so that only payments made on your raffle form will be displayed.
Note: If you have a raffle with multiple occurrences, you will also be able to filter for each occurrence.
3. Click "Export" and a spreadsheet will be downloaded to your device (or sent to your email if the file is too large)
On the report, you will see a line for each e-ticket generated. For example, if someone purchased 5 tickets, there will 5 rows with their name, payment details and e-ticket number.
Why doesn't Zeffy draw my raffle winner?
Zeffy does not have the required license to be an Electronic Raffle System with a drawing tool. You can use the platform to sell tickets, but the draw will need to be done outside of the platform. A random name picker is a great option if this meets the requirements of your state or province.
Each state and province has their own rules and regulations to respect when hosting an online raffle, set by their respective gaming authorities (GA). You may need to apply for a license or your nonprofit may need to meet specific requirements to host an online raffle. For more detailed information on the regulations of each province or state, visit their respective websites. You can also check out the following blog articles and others we have for specific states and provinces:
US raffle rules by state: Legal guidelines for nonprofits and 501(c)3
A Nonprofit Guide to Canadian Raffle Laws