Your team ran the numbers before launch. Prizes are donated, the platform charges $49 a month, and 500 tickets at $10 should bring in around $4,900.
But the final deposit lands at $3,600. Every ticket sold and the raffle were a success, yet the number still came in low.
When your team went back through the campaign, you found charges tied to permits, design work, processing, and the prize itself.
With online raffles, several costs sit outside the obvious ones that most nonprofits are unaware of.
Licensing and compliance have their own cost
Raffle fundraisers are regulated like lotteries in most states, and the required permits come with fees:
- Raffle licence or application: Required in most states, commonly $10 to $500 or more depending on your jurisdiction.
- Gaming permit: Often $25 to $500 or more, sometimes calculated against total prize value.
- Registration fee: Charged separately by some states and local authorities.
- Surety bond: Required in certain states, running $100 to $1,000 or more based on the bond amount.
- Legal or accounting help: Optional, with attorney fees from $200 and consultants charging $100 to $300 hourly.
Note: These figures are indicative, not fixed. Requirements and charges vary by state, so check with your local authority.
Platform pricing has more layers than the headline fee
Online raffle websites price their software in different ways: a monthly subscription, a per-campaign charge, or a percentage cut of every ticket sold. This figure is just one layer among others:
- Payment processing: Billed separately, usually around 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction.
- Add-ons: Text-to-give, custom branding, extra admin seats, and data exports are often priced individually.
- Payouts: Some providers charge a withdrawal fee or hold your funds for several days after the draw.
The online raffle fundraiser costs that never appear on an invoice
Beyond legal filings and platform charges, an raffle online carries costs that look small individually, but they come straight out of your net.
Even free channels like word of mouth and email need assets, and someone has to make them.
That means flyers, social creative, email templates, and event signage. You either pay a freelancer or your volunteer makes them. Plus, printing and email platform upgrades add up as your list grows.
Prize acquisition and fulfillment
Donated raffle prizes still cost something. Shipping, insurance, and coordination fall on your team, and high-value items may need to be appraised.
Awards above IRS thresholds also trigger W-2G reporting, with withholding that sometimes falls to you rather than the winner.
If sales stall below your minimum and you cancel the draw, refund processing carries its own charge.
What to check before your next raffle
Most of these costs are predictable, which makes them manageable at the planning stage. Here are some quick tips that will help:
- Calculate the ticket count that covers every cost above before setting a goal
- Price tickets high enough that flat processing fees stay proportionally small
- Bundle tickets so donors pay once instead of three separate times
- File permits early and avoid expedited processing charges
- Reuse design assets across email, social, and print
- Cap prize value below bond and tax reporting thresholds
Your choice of software does a lot of the work here. A platform that includes ticketing, built-in social sharing, and reporting saves you from paying for three separate services and stitching the data together.
So next time you plan a raffle fundraiser, account for every cost upfront, so more of what donors give reaches your cause.
