Raffles are some of the most engaging and fun fundraisers out there. The chance of winning an appealing grand prize combined with the ability to support a good cause often attracts a wide audience, allowing your nonprofit to bring in significant fundraising revenue. Plus, they’re fairly simple to organize and can be paired with many other events and campaigns.

Have you heard of the “3 E’s of Event Fundraising”? Benefit auctioneer Danny Hooper has shared 3 goals that, if met, go a long way to ensuring the success and sustainability of any fundraising event: Entertain: Make giving fun Engage: Hold the audience’s attention Extract Funds: Keep the focus on fundraising

We recently shared a list of ideas for incredible raffle grand prizes, including travel packages, electronics, season tickets, and even a dream home. Offering an impressive grand prize allows charities to raise tens of thousands of dollars for their cause.

Looking for a straightforward, effective way to raise money for charity? How about a raffle? If raffles are allowed in your state*, hosting a raffle is a reliable, low-cost fundraising strategy to engage supporters - and they take a whole lot less planning than a full-fledged event.

Nonprofits that host charity fundraising events have very different goals than those who attend. On one side of the fence, guests want to be entertained and have fun. On the other, nonprofits urgently need to raise money to support their mission. To the rescue: the 3 E's of a successful fundraising event, as coined by fundraising auctioneer Danny Hooper—Entertain, Engage and Extract. These 3 simple principles allow your event to reach its full revenue potential. (For more, check out "The "3 E's" that Bridge the Gap Between Fun and Fundraising.")

Spring is in full swing, and with it, a peak time for fundraising events like annual galas, golf tournaments and live auctions. Have you brainstormed ways to keep your events new and exciting? It's tempting to think "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Fact is, fresh ideas are the antidote to donor fatigue, no matter how successful your events have been in the past. Bringing something new to the table can supercharge attendance and revenue for almost all nonprofits.

LifeAct, a nonprofit dedicated to suicide prevention education, partnered with Winspire to reserve once-in-a-lifetime Experiences for their annual raffle. $32,000 raised from raffle Over 300 tickets sold Proceeds contribute to 1,354 students coming forward to seek help last year Since 1992, LifeAct’s mission has been to prevent suicide by educating young people to recognize the symptoms of depression and seek professional help. They send trained, credentialed instructors into middle and high schools throughout Northeast Ohio to teach their program, Recognizing Teen Depression and Preventing Suicide, at no cost to schools.

Saint Clair Shores Senior Activity Center Raffle: June 23, 2011 We wanted to share this exciting success story from one of our clients which illustrates how Non-Profit organizations can use Winspire to help raise money. We are proud to be associated with St. Clair Shores Senior Activity Center and look forward to working with them again in the future.