Raffle Format

We've been considering two different raffle formats. 

1.) Common Pot of Tickets for All Prizes.

The first format is the simplest, we put all the raffle tickets in a common pot and then draw names sequentially for each prize.

2.) Individual Pot of Tickets for Each Major Prize

Each major prize will have it's own bucket (box, coffee can, etc..) for raffle tickets.  You will be allowed to pick where your raffle tickets go.  For example... want the kayak?... put your ticket in the kayak pot.  Want one of the other prizes?... put your ticket in that pot.

As for minor prizes, I think we might either lump them as prize packages or combine all the remaining tickets after the major prizes are awarded and keep drawing names until everything is gone.

Personally, I think #2 might be more fun (do you go for the biggest prize? the thing you most want? the thing you think you have the best chance of winning?).  However, it is also far more complicated to run.   I'm also curious which will make more money for our charities.


 

K.I.S.S method. Totally.

#1

Raffle away top to bottom until all prizes are gone, or out of raffle tickets.  Whichever comes first.
Be sure to have the roll of raffle tickets on hand so that if there are still items to raffle off, folks can pony up more money on the spot to keep the raffle going.  Just a thought to make even more money for the charities, rather than shutting down and having to store lever over stuff until the next event.

I can see positives to both methods. One of the charms of this type of event to me is that lots of people walk away with something cool even if the fishing didn't go well for them. For that reason I like option #1 better. But I think both options would work well.

Thanks for giving us a vote!

Definitely positives to both in my mind. If you really want a specific prize then you can throw everything at that prize and possibly could sell more tickets just for that. On the other hand the nice thing about #1 is that you can buy 1 ticket and have a shot at all the prizes not just one... Tough decision!!

Either way - Please DO NOT have DRUNK people in charge of pulling the tickets this year. Last year I brought a guest... I was not happy...

#2 sells more tickets.

Separate raffle pools for the kayak and the lesser value items sells more tickets.

$10 is way way to high of a ticket price point. $2 is about right. I can do the math later.

Assuming that the goal is to maximize ticket sales, your proposed formats and pricing are suboptimal.

Either way - Please DO NOT have DRUNK people in charge of pulling the tickets this year. Last year I brought a guest... I was not happy...

Do we have any non-drinkers that will be in attendance?  Might be good to identify someone that's planning to stay sober to run the raffle if that's a big deal.

Getting in on all the beer and whatnot during the taco feed is a big part of the draw for a lot of people, and I can reasonably predict I won't be especially sober by the time the raffle occurs.  I'm not a huge drinker, but the taco feed is one time I let myself have a good time at the keg since I know I'm not driving anywhere until the next day.

#2 sells more tickets.

Separate raffle pools for the kayak and the lesser value items sells more tickets.

$10 is way way to high of a ticket price point. $2 is about right. I can do the math later.

Assuming that the goal is to maximize ticket sales, your proposed formats and pricing are suboptimal.

Please do the math..  factor in about $20 worth of tickets included with each registration and the fact that we will only be selling tickets Friday night and Saturday afternoon up until raffle time.

I'm sure there are some proven raffle formulas based on game theory.  I guess I just hadn't thought to look into it.   

Either way - Please DO NOT have DRUNK people in charge of pulling the tickets this year. Last year I brought a guest... I was not happy...

I don't care if it is run by someone that has been drinking, but please no more children screaming into the microphone.  I had to leave, couldn't take that anymore.

#2 sells more tickets.

Separate raffle pools for the kayak and the lesser value items sells more tickets.

$10 is way way to high of a ticket price point. $2 is about right. I can do the math later.

Assuming that the goal is to maximize ticket sales, your proposed formats and pricing are suboptimal.

Please do the math..  factor in about $20 worth of tickets included with each registration and the fact that we will only be selling tickets Friday night and Saturday afternoon up until raffle time.

I'm sure there are some proven raffle formulas based on game theory.  I guess I just hadn't thought to look into it.

Will do.  It will be well into the evening before I can get to it.

I've been down the rabbit hole a bit on auction and raffle theory.  I have come to the realization that I was wrong about the math insofar as it is a non game theory psychology exercise.  The math requires too many assumptions.  I was right about splitting up the prize pool from the big ticket items and the other items.  I was right about dutch or "bucket" raffles being better for the prize pools that we anticipate.

From what I know about the money raised in NCKA events including Albion (which uses #1)  and GS (which switched from #1 to #2 three years ago), and reasonably assuming that NCKA and ORC participant demographics are sufficiently similar, I will tap into the wealth of knowledge there to find the amount raised in the various formats and the number of participants at each event.

As far as ticket pricing goes, there wont be much to go on for $10+ ticket prices because those raffles are always long duration and not for a single day event.  I have the sense that $10 tickets would be suitable for a single big ticket raffle item like a kayak, but not for a dutch raffle to bid on, say,  a $50 collapsible net.

Anyway since its more of an exercise in psychology than a true math problem, I'll collect the data points and report back so you guys can make a reasoned decision.

I've been down the rabbit hole a bit on auction and raffle theory.  I have come to the realization that I was wrong about the math insofar as it is a non game theory psychology exercise.  The math requires too many assumptions.  I was right about splitting up the prize pool from the big ticket items and the other items.  I was right about dutch or "bucket" raffles being better for the prize pools that we anticipate.

From what I know about the money raised in NCKA events including Albion (which uses #1)  and GS (which switched from #1 to #2 three years ago), and reasonably assuming that NCKA and ORC participant demographics are sufficiently similar, I will tap into the wealth of knowledge there to find the amount raised in the various formats and the number of participants at each event.

As far as ticket pricing goes, there wont be much to go on for $10+ ticket prices because those raffles are always long duration and not for a single day event.  I have the sense that $10 tickets would be suitable for a single big ticket raffle item like a kayak, but not for a dutch raffle to bid on, say,  a $50 collapsible net.

Anyway since its more of an exercise in psychology than a true math problem, I'll collect the data points and report back so you guys can make a reasoned decision.

This guy is smart. Where did we find him?

What if there were two raffles... Hear me out:
Raffle #1 is the kayak and a few prizes that are big ticket items (if there's a smoker or a rod/reel) that raffle is a $10 per ticket and you do not need to be present to win (name and phone number needs to be legible).

Raffle #2 is a bucket style raffle where each person puts their raffle ticket into the bucket next to the item (or group of items) of interest.  If there are 20 prizes, there are 20 buckets. Tickets cost $2 per ticket, and must be present to win. Prize items can be grouped to make sure the raffle event doesn't take too long to complete.

The entry fee could provide two raffle tickets - one for the big prize pool and one for the small prize pool.  Easy enough to have two different colored raffle ticket rolls to keep the two from getting mixed up. 

Interesting idea Barb, but will take a bit of tweaking to make work.

If they went with two raffle ticket prices, then one of two things would have to happen to the registration price of $50, or amount of tickets provided would have to be increased.

Examples:

-We each would get two raffle tickets, one for $10, and one for $2.  This would effectively change the distribution of what the $50 registration actually covers, or there would be a drop in the registration cost from $50 to $42 to make sense.

or

-We each would pay our $50 registration and receive one $10 raffle ticket, and five $2 raffle tickets. 

The second option makes the most sense, and easier to manage.

I like Barb's idea as well. It is sort of the best of both worlds. Certainly it could be a bit more complicated, but not by much.