It may sound counter intuitive to sell raffle tickets at a discount. However done correctly this technique can provide a boost to sales, create excitement and increase overall revenue.
Think about all the times at the grocery store where you bought more because of offers such as “buy one, get one half price” or 3 for $1. Now we just apply these same concepts that have worked in retail for hundreds of years to your raffle!
The trick is to build in the discount from the beginning. Include any ticket price variations in your official rules. Never, ever, reduce the ticket price mid-way through the raffle. Some groups resort to this option because ticket sales are low, so they think that lowering the price will get more buyers. Not only does this send the wrong message to people (that you are desperate) it may be in violation of the law.
While raffles have a predetermined “donation” in terms of the ticket price, you can encourage people to increase that donation by buying additional tickets. Offering bonus free tickets or a reduced price for a larger number of tickets encourages people to buy more tickets, thus increasing the overall proceeds of the raffle.
There are a variety of ways to structure this promotion, depending on the base price of one ticket. Here are a few examples:
- $10 for one ticket, $20 for 3 tickets
- $20 for one ticket, $50 for 3 tickets, $100 for 8 tickets
- Buy two tickets for the big raffle, get a bonus ticket for a secondary drawing
- Half price on tickets only during the “kickoff” period, such as the first two weeks of ticket sales
- Century Club Bonus – donate $100 and get double the number of chances. So if your base ticket price is $10, if the person donates $100 they get 20 chances in the drawing
So as you see there are a many ways that these promotions can be created. Just put yourself in the shoes of the potential ticket buyer and consider what would be attractive to them. What would it take to get them to “bump up” to the next level? Then remember that the goal is to increase the overall proceeds of the raffle and make sure that your promotion will help do that.
Hold a Winning Raffle
Learn how to manage a raffle like the professionals. Check out RaffleFaq’s complete guide to holding a winning raffle.
