How a calendar raffle fundraiser works for a small nonprofit

A calendar raffle fundraiser sells one numbered ticket for every day in a set period, usually a month, and draws a cash winner for that day until the calendar runs out. For a nonprofit’s development director who just finished a gala that ate three months of planning for one night of revenue, a calendar raffle fundraiser spreads the work and the payoff across weeks instead of a single evening. This post covers how to price the tickets, set the prize schedule, draw a winner nobody can second-guess, and stay inside the rules your state sets for charitable raffles.

Key Takeaways
– A calendar raffle fundraiser sells one numbered ticket per day in a set period, commonly 30 days, and draws a cash winner for that day instead of paying out every prize at once.
– Tying the daily draw to a public number, such as the last digits of your state lottery’s daily pick number, keeps the drawing transparent without staging a live event every day.
– Raffle permit and registration rules differ by state, so confirm them with your state’s charitable gaming office or attorney general’s charities division before you sell a single ticket.
– The IRS requires a Form W-2G and withholding once a raffle prize’s value crosses specific thresholds, so collect the winner’s information as you pay them, not after the fact.
– Tagging every ticket sale with the fundraiser’s name turns this year’s buyer list into next year’s first call instead of a stack of paper stubs.

What a calendar raffle fundraiser is

A calendar raffle fundraiser is a raffle where every ticket number matches a day on a printed or digital calendar, and a winner is drawn for that single day rather than all at once. Most small nonprofits run a 30-day version tied to one month; a few run a full year once the first one works.

A calendar raffle trades a single big night, like a gala or silent auction, for thirty small ones. Buyers check back daily to see who won, which keeps your organization in front of them for a month. The cost sits on the other side of that trade: someone on staff or a committee has to run a daily drawing and payout for thirty straight days.

Price calendar raffle tickets and set the prize schedule

Price tickets to cover every prize with room left for the organization, not to match what a bigger nonprofit across town charges. Here’s one way the math works: sell 300 tickets numbered 1 through 300 at $20 each, which raises $6,000. Pay $50 a day for 30 days, a total of $1,500 in prizes, and the organization keeps $4,500.

A common variation pays a larger prize on the last day or on weekends, which gives buyers a reason to hold their ticket through the whole month instead of treating day one as the only chance that matters. Print the full prize schedule on the ticket itself so nobody has to ask what a Tuesday is worth compared to a Saturday.

Pick a transparent way to draw a winner each day

Two methods cover most calendar raffles. The first is a live draw: pull a numbered stub from a box in front of a witness and record it immediately. The second ties the winning number to a public figure nobody on your committee controls, most often the last two or three digits of your state lottery’s daily pick number, where your state’s raffle rules allow it.

The second method removes the question “who picked that number” entirely, since anyone who bought a ticket can check the same public result you did. Whichever method you pick, post the winning number and the prize amount the same day, in the same place every time, so buyers don’t have to track down the committee to find out.

Check your state’s raffle rules before you sell a single ticket

Raffles are a form of charitable gaming, and most states require some combination of a permit, a registration, or a licensed gaming manager before a nonprofit can sell tickets, with the specific thresholds set by prize value and ticket volume. Those rules differ by state and sometimes by county, so confirm them with your state’s charitable gaming office or your attorney general’s charities division before you print a single ticket, not after.

Federal tax reporting applies on top of whatever your state requires. A raffle prize is gambling income to the winner, and the IRS requires a Form W-2G when a prize’s value, minus the ticket price, is $600 or more and at least 300 times the ticket price, with 24% federal withholding once the taxable prize tops $5,000, according to IRS Publication 3079. The IRS’s charitable gaming guidance covers how this fits with your organization’s tax-exempt status. Collect the winner’s name, address, and Social Security number at the moment you pay out a prize anywhere near that line, not weeks later when the winner has moved on.

Track every calendar raffle ticket, winner, and payout

A calendar raffle only works if someone can answer “who holds ticket 147” in under a minute, every day, for thirty days. Keep one list mapping each ticket number to the buyer’s name and contact information, not a stack of carbon stubs split across whoever sold them.

Donor Profiles give each buyer one record, and an Activity Tag marking the purchase “Calendar Raffle” separates these sales from other gifts the moment you pull a report.

If several volunteers are selling tickets at different events, Team logins keep everyone working off the same list instead of three paper tallies that have to be reconciled by hand later. FundHero’s premade reports export to Google Sheets or Excel, which saves whoever closes out the raffle from retyping thirty days of winners and payouts into a spreadsheet from scratch.

Thank buyers and invite them back next year

Every buyer funded the whole prize pool whether or not their number ever came up, so every buyer gets a thank-you, not just the winners. A thank-you letter template built for this is a faster starting point than writing thirty-plus notes from scratch in the first week of next month.

Tagging each sale also sets up next year’s easiest ask: a Smart Group built on the “Calendar Raffle” tag pulls this year’s full buyer list so renewal is a call to people who already said yes once, not a cold list built from nothing.

FAQ

What is a calendar raffle fundraiser?
It’s a raffle where every ticket number matches a day on a calendar, usually a month, and a cash winner is drawn for that specific day instead of all the prizes being awarded at once.

How much should we charge for calendar raffle tickets?
Enough to cover every prize on the schedule with a margin left over for the organization. A 300-ticket raffle at $20 a ticket covering $1,500 in prizes across 30 days nets $4,500, though the right numbers depend on how many tickets your group can realistically sell.

Is a calendar raffle legal for our nonprofit to run?
That depends on your state. Most states regulate raffles as charitable gaming and require a permit, a registration, or both above certain thresholds, so check with your state’s charitable gaming office or attorney general’s charities division before you sell any tickets.

How are calendar raffle winners picked each day?
Either a live draw of a numbered stub in front of a witness, or a method tied to a public number, like your state lottery’s daily pick number, that nobody on the committee controls. Post the result the same way every day.

Do calendar raffle winners owe taxes on what they win?
That’s between the winner and their own tax preparer. Your nonprofit’s job is narrower: track whether a prize crosses the IRS’s reporting and withholding thresholds, which trigger a Form W-2G and, above $5,000, federal withholding.

Run the next calendar raffle fundraiser with the list already straight

A calendar raffle fundraiser works because it breaks one big ask into thirty small, visible ones. Price the tickets to cover the prizes, pick a drawing method buyers can check for themselves, and post each day’s winner the same way every time. The real work happens before the first ticket sells: checking your state’s rules and building one list that says who holds every number.

Keep that list, the Activity Tags, and the thank-you notes in one place so next year’s raffle starts with a buyer list instead of a blank page. Start a free trial of FundHero (no payment info required) before you print your next batch of tickets.