Drawing a winner for your raffle

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 "Campaigns"

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 "Campaigns" 

2. Click on the three dots to the right of your form and then on "Manage event". From there, navigate to the Payments section.

Note: If you have a raffle with multiple occurrences, you will also be able to filter for each occurrence. 

3. Click "Export" and select the Itemized payments report. 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, province, or region 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 detailed information on licensing requirements, including contacts for gaming authorities by region, see our article on Electronic Raffle System licensing and eligibility. You can also check out the following blog articles 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