You know what a raffle is, right? Imagine I have a quilt or gift basket or something, I offer you a chance to buy a raffle ticket. If I sell 100 raffle tickets at a dollar a ticket, I have earned a hundred dollars. Then I draw a ticket out of a basket, and give the quilt to the person whose name I’ve drawn.
Do you ever buy raffle tickets?
Have you ever won something in a raffle?
Do you view buying raffle tickets more as a relatively painless way to donate money to worthy causes, or as an opportunity to win prizes?
Given that Gambling is Evil*, do you believe that raffles are a form of gambling and therefore something which should be avoided?
*I know, many of you do not believe that Gambling is Evil, especially in moderation. Heck, I’m not convinced in practice that all Gambling is Evil. But for the purpose of this thread, Gambling IS Evil. Please leave all arguments to the contrary outside this thread.
I’ve won things in raffles and known lots of people who have won things in raffles. Almost every tournament I’m in, a bowling ball (and sometimes other prizes) are given away through raffle ticket sales.
I’ve never seen a problem with it. I think it’s a great way to earn money for a cause. If the price is reasonable, I’m almost guaranteed to contribute. It’s not straight gambling because generally raffles aren’t being held to make a profit.
If it’s a worthy cause, I’d probably rather just give them a cash donation unless the prize is really, really sweet. I’ve always thought charities have too many gimmicks (why do 10,000 people have to ride a bike for 150 miles to raise money for M.S.?) but I suppose that’s the way it’s got to be.
Or maybe I’m just bitter because I’ve almost won a rifle twice. (They sell 52 cards out of a deck and eliminate cards in a second deck one by one. I’ve entered twice and been the second to last man standing twice now)
The one raffle I’ve won was about the bestest thing an 10 year old horse crazy girl could ever dream of.
I won a pony!
Now granted the pony I won was not the pony they showed off as the pony you would get if you won, but it was a pony none the less. The pony they showed off was actually a class B miniature horse that stood about 2.5 feet at the shoulder almost the size that could be kept in the house! 3 months later I got the phone call that I had won and Grey the pony was delivered. He was a green broke, recently gelded 2y.o. pony from hell that was big enough to ride and was NOT the same pony. Of course at the time it didn’t matter because it was a horse and I had wanted one for.ev.er. My parents made me sell him after 2 months.
I won a salmon fishing trip for 2 to the Campbell River in British Columbia. I took my older brother and we had a blast. A local youth sports organization held the raffle and I bought one of the last tickets available to make a neighbor kid happy.
When I buy raffle tickets, I do it as a way of supporting a cause. I’ve never won anything major (I did hit a 50/50 drawing once for about $30.00), but the chance of winning something is secondary to me. I don’t buy the tickets to win, I buy them to donate money to a cause. Therefore, I don’t consider it gambling.
Of course, I have some odd views on gambling. My religion forbids it. I still buy the occasional lottery ticket, though. My rationalization is as follows: when I buy a $1.00 scratch-off ticket, what I’m really buying is $1.00’s worth of entertainment. I also think of it as a tiny little voluntary donation to the state of Maryland, to help them carry on some of their social programs. Like with the raffle, the chance of winning something is secondary.
I’ll buy raffle tickets if it’s from somebody I know, doing it to support their cause. Sports, trips to Europe, cancer research, sure, I’ll pitch in $5.
Do you mean that the raffle doesn’t profit, or that the organization holding the raffle is a nonprofit? Because I’d say raffles are held with the express purpose of making a profit.
I buy if the cause is right. That includes most things. I don’t recall ever winning. Yes, I pretty much view it as a way to support worthy causes. Most of the time I don’t need or want the prize, unless it is cash.
I sometimes buy raffle tickets but it’s never with the thought that I might actually win something! I know some people regard it as gambling (my mother’s church won’t allow raffle tickets to be sold on the premises for that reason) but I have to say that I think it’s pretty silly to liken raffles to gambling.
Every year I participate in a charity event called Run For Home, it’s a fun day out for those that do it and hopefully fun for those that help us along the way. Part of the criteria for taking part is that you need a team of four people and you have to raise £250 per team before you can enter.
We’ve done all sorts of things as fundraising events - we’ve had auctions to sell prizes donated by local businesses/attractions etc, we’ve had bake sales, we did a couple of very well-attended treasure hunts and we’ve had both bingo and board games nights. We’ve also raffled off some of the auction lots that didn’t pick up any bids.
I think people know that really when they buy a ticket from us, they’re donating to a cause and there’s only a small possibility that they’ll get something back from it, and probably they don’t really expect to.
See, looked at in just the right light, even bingo could be seen as gambling. Again, I don’t look at it that way. Once a year, my youngest daughter’s elementary school has “Basket Bingo”. You get 20 cards for $20.00, and play to win Longaberger baskets. I went last year, won nothing, and had a blast. To me, it’s $20.00 for a good cause (new equipment for the elementary school) and entertainment. It’s not about winning. In fact, I’m not a fan of the Longaberger baskets, and if I did win one, I’d probably sell it on ebay! (Just FYI, the baskets are paid for by local business owners, who get a mention in the evening’s program).
Sorry I wasn’t clearer. In the raffles in which I participate, money is generally being raised either to help a non-profit organization that needs spending money to aid whatever their cause is, or to raise money for a person or group of people in need. In other words, not for the purpose of making an individual or corporation richer.