How to Run a Charity Raffle in London: UK Rules and Online Guide

A London charity, school, PTA, sports club or community group can use a raffle to raise money, but the format matters. A paid random draw is normally a lottery under the Gambling Act 2005. Depending on how and where tickets are sold, you might be able to run it at an event, need to register a small society lottery with a London borough, or need a Gambling Commission licence. A properly structured free draw or genuine prize competition follows a different legal route.

This guide helps you choose the right route, build a realistic budget and organise the campaign. It is written for London groups, but the Gambling Commission guidance discussed below applies across Great Britain. Northern Ireland has separate gambling law.

Can you raise money with an online raffle?

Yes, provided the promotion is structured and operated lawfully. For many established charities, PTAs and community organisations, that means running a society lottery and obtaining the appropriate registration or licence. For other organisers, a compliant free draw or prize competition may be more suitable.

The platform does not make this decision for you. First establish:

1. What is the cause? Is the money for a non-commercial society, or will an individual or business retain the proceeds?
2. Does entry require payment? A donation that is compulsory for entry is still payment.
3. Is the winner chosen by chance? If so, a paid entry is likely to create a lottery.
4. Is there a free route? It must satisfy the Gambling Commission’s requirements, including being no less convenient than the paid route and promoted with equal prominence.
5. Is it a prize competition? The skill, knowledge or judgement test must be substantial enough to deter some potential entrants or prevent a proportion from winning. A trivial multiple-choice question will rarely qualify.
6. Where will entries be sold? Selling online, including through social media, rules out some simple event-based exemptions.

The Gambling Commission’s fundraising and lotteries hub is the best starting point. If the answer remains unclear, ask the relevant London borough licensing team or obtain legal advice before accepting entries.

Choose the correct raffle or competition format

An event raffle

An incidental lottery can work well at a school fair, community festival or fundraising dinner. It is relatively simple because the draw forms part of a separate non-commercial event. However, you cannot advertise ticket sales online, take payment before the day or continue selling afterwards under this exemption.

A small society lottery

A charity, PTA, sports club or other non-commercial society can register a small society lottery with the local authority where its principal office is based. In London, that normally means the relevant borough council, not the Mayor of London or Greater London Authority.

Registration is not merely a payment form. The society and draw must meet the statutory conditions, and the organiser normally needs to submit a return after each lottery. Search your council’s website for “small society lottery registration” or use GOV.UK’s find your local council service.

A free draw or prize competition

These can be operated for commercial or private gain when they genuinely satisfy the Gambling Act requirements. The Gambling Commission does not approve individual promotions in advance. Read its free draw and prize competition guidance rather than assuming a free postal route or simple question automatically makes a draw compliant.

Who could use an online fundraising draw?

• Schools and PTAs funding playground equipment, trips, library books or hardship support.
• Registered charities raising unrestricted funds or supporting a defined appeal.
• Community organisations paying for venue hire, equipment or neighbourhood projects.
• Amateur sports clubs funding kits, coaching, travel or accessible facilities.
• Arts and cultural groups supporting a production, exhibition or local festival.
• Mutual-aid and good-cause projects helping a person or community, after checking which legal structure applies.
• Businesses and individual creators promoting a product or funding their own project through a compliant prize competition or free draw, not a charitable lottery.

Be explicit about who receives the money. “Supporting a good cause” is not the same as donating all proceeds to a registered charity. Publish the beneficiary, promised percentage and calculation basis where entrants can see them before paying.

Choosing a prize and ticket price

The strongest prize is desirable, easy to explain and proportionate to the audience. A donated prize is particularly valuable because it does not consume the money raised.

Good local possibilities include:

• a meal or afternoon tea donated by a London restaurant;
• theatre, cinema, museum exhibition or attraction tickets;
• a hamper assembled by neighbourhood businesses;
• a class, workshop or personal-training session;
• signed merchandise from a local club or performer;
• a family pass or school-holiday activity bundle; or
• a service the donor is authorised and insured to provide.

Check expiry dates, booking exclusions, age restrictions, accessibility and whether the prize can legally be transferred. Avoid alcohol, gambling products, medical treatments or financially regulated products unless you fully understand the additional advertising and eligibility rules.

For pricing, work backwards from a realistic audience rather than an imaginary sell-out. If 150 supporters might participate and the average person will buy two entries, a £2 ticket creates a potential £600 gross revenue. A £10 ticket may reduce participation sharply even if the theoretical total looks attractive.

Running the competition online with Raffall

Raffall is one platform that can handle the listing, entry payments and automated winner selection. It describes UK listings as prize competitions rather than traditional lotteries and says its entry mechanism changes according to the entrant’s location.

The practical process is:

1. Create a host account and describe the prize accurately.
2. Set the entry price, quantity and closing date.
3. Add the charity or good cause and choose the percentage donated, where applicable.
4. Publish clear competition terms and promote the page.
5. Entrants pay Raffall rather than the host directly.
6. Raffall validates entries and selects the winner through its automated system.
7. The host contacts the winner and supplies or arranges the advertised prize.
8. Funds are released after the winner confirms receipt, subject to Raffall’s terms.

Raffall’s published standard host shares are currently 85% of ticket revenue for Basic and 90% for Premium or Pro, before any optional affiliate commission or charity allocation. The charity percentage is calculated from the host’s net revenue, not necessarily from gross ticket sales.

For a verified donation, Raffall displays the cause and percentage on the competition page and pays the donation directly. For an unverified arrangement, Raffall says it cannot confirm that the host subsequently made the promised donation. A host can currently select between 5% and 100% of proceeds for a listed registered charity, and can request that a missing charity, school, PTA or good cause be added to the database.

Current Raffall free trial for new hosts

The referral invitation currently advertises these new-host benefits:

• a 30-day free trial of Premium, stated by Raffall as worth £96;
• zero Raffall commission on the first £1,000 of ticket revenue; and
• a 20% discount if the host later subscribes to Premium or Pro.

Confirm all three benefits on the registration page before signing up. Subscription prices, commission and referral promotions can change, and a free trial may renew unless cancelled according to the live subscription terms.

Worked example: a London PTA fundraiser

Imagine a PTA has a donated £100 restaurant voucher and a realistic audience of 250 parents, relatives and local supporters. It plans 250 entries at £2 each and chooses to direct 100% of its host proceeds to the verified cause.

This is an illustration, not a proceeds guarantee. It assumes every available entry sells, all payments remain valid, the prize is delivered and accepted, no affiliate commission is enabled, and Raffall applies the displayed introductory waiver. Tax, advertising, delivery and other organiser costs are excluded.

If the PTA had to buy the £100 voucher itself, the cause could still receive the displayed platform donation, but the organiser would have spent £100 separately. The fundraiser’s overall net economic benefit would therefore be £100 lower. Keep the prize cost visible in the budget even when the platform does not deduct it.

How to promote a London fundraising competition

Begin with people who already understand the cause. A small engaged community will normally convert better than thousands of unrelated social-media views.

• Ask the school, club, charity and prize donor to email their own supporters.
• Give each partner one image, one short description and the correct entry link.
• Put a QR code on posters at the venue, subject to the rules of your chosen format.
• Explain exactly what the proceeds will fund rather than saying only “a good cause”.
• Introduce the prize donor and neighbourhood connection.
• Publish reminders at launch, halfway and shortly before closing instead of posting every day.
• Report the winner and final amount raised, subject to privacy consent.

Our free event poster and promotion pack can create reusable promotional material. If the wider fundraising event is free for the public to attend in London, you may also submit it to the London for Cheap agenda. A paid online competition by itself is not a free event and should not be submitted as one.

Do not encourage people to spend beyond their means, imply that buying more entries guarantees a win, or obscure a free route where one forms part of the legal structure.

Before-launch checklist

• We have identified the correct legal format.
• Any borough registration or Gambling Commission licence is in place.
• The beneficiary has approved the campaign and use of its name.
• The prize is secured in writing and can be transferred to the winner.
• Entry price, supply, closing time and eligibility are clear.
• Any free route is compliant and displayed with equal prominence.
• The skill element, if used, is legally meaningful rather than decorative.
• The charity percentage states whether it applies to gross sales or host proceeds.
• Platform commission, prize and fulfilment costs are in the budget.
• Privacy, marketing-consent and winner-publicity wording is ready.
• Someone is responsible for contacting the winner and delivering the prize.
• The group will publish the final amount raised and complete required returns.

Charity raffle questions

Sources and further checks

• Gambling Commission: fundraising, raffles and lotteries
• Gambling Commission: free draws and prize competitions
• Fundraising Regulator: lotteries and raffles
• Raffall: current host-referral benefits
• Raffall: how host revenue is calculated
• Raffall: charity and good-cause donations
• Raffall: how winners are selected

Legal guidance, platform process, published commission and referral invitation checked on 14 September 2026. Rules, platform terms and subscription offers can change. Check the official sources and your local authority before starting a promotion.