How to Run an Online Raffle or Prize Draw

Running a raffle online comes down to three steps: collect the entries, put them in one list, and draw where people can see it. The tools you need for the middle and the end are simple; the care goes into the rules you set at the start.

Collect the entries

Gather entrants however suits your raffle — a sign-up form, replies to a post, sold tickets numbered in a sheet, a list of donors. The picker doesn't collect entries for you, and it doesn't read them from a comment thread; you bring the finished list. What you use as an entry is up to you: names, ticket numbers, or email addresses all work.

Set the rules before you draw

• A closing time, announced in advance, so nobody argues about a late entry.
• How many entries each person gets, and whether extras can be earned.
• How many prizes, and whether one person can win more than one.

Draw on a screen

Paste the list, set how many winners, and draw. For a room or a stream, put the draw on a screen everyone can see — the suspense, then the winner shown big — so the pick is watched rather than reported. Your entry list stays on your own screen while the display shows only the draw.

More than one prize

For several prizes given in order, keep past winners out so each round draws from those who haven't won yet. Drawing multiple winners without repeats covers the two ways to do it.

The Raffle & Giveaway Winner Picker handles the draw and the reveal; the fairness argument in full is in how to pick a raffle winner fairly.