Facebook 'giveaway' raffle type things

[Upinflames]

Hi all,

I have a friend who runs a small charity, she has 5 or 6 shops and runs various fundraisers. She does amazing work with the charity, it's a very worthwhile cause.

I was reading about Omaze and how they give (from memory) 70% of their take to buy the prize, 15% to charity and the other 15% to line their own pockets.

Is this an option I could start to help my friend raise some funds do you think or is it oversubscribed and difficult to break into?

Th ones I see on my FB are typically selling tickets to win a car / motorbike / watch but no mention of helping charities and I wondered if that might give it the edge.

Any thoughts or experience in this?

[Pistom]

Sorry - nothing of value to add here but I'll put my thoughts here anyway.

I'm not sure many who get drawn into this kind of gambling really bother about the money going to charity or look much further than what the prize is and even if the chance is only 1 in 10,000 - it's a chance as far as they're concerned which to them is the fun.

I imagine the hardest part is the promotion. You haven't included what these outfits spend on promotion in your funding model.

One raffle type thing I think is really clever is the one Matt Armstrong's girlfriend is fronting.

Matt is a really popular YouTuber and her company is skimming off the back of his popularity. Not only does he get a lot of views, much of the audience I imagine are the kind that like these kind of draws.

I've no idea how you could set up that type of collaboration but it's an example of how one business model supports another.

[StevieBee]

I used to work at Barnardo's many moons ago and have done commercial work for many of the top 20 charities over the years so have a bit of insight on this.

These types of initiatives are not suitable for small charities and nor would they be effective.

Omaze is a highly capitalised US 'for-profit' organisation which is what's needed to run that type of competition within the rules and make sufficient profit and money for the charity to make it worthwhile. Their hook is that the prize is of sufficient material value that for those that participate, it's worth a punt. For smaller charities, obtaining a prize to a level sufficient to attract meaningful participation and the investment needed to promote the opportunity places the charity at great financial risk and to a level that would see any board of trustees worth their salt, block. Even if the local Ferrari dealer donated a decent second hand 458, the charity would likely be better off financially selling it.

Added to which there are tightly enforced rules and restrictions around prize draws, lotteries, etc which, if ignored deliberately or otherwise can lead to all manner of punishment and again, putting at risk the very existence of the charity.

And you also have to contend with Meta (Facebook's) increasing nervousness around anything related to prizes, gambling, draws and the like.

The commercialisation of fundraising can be very effective for charities with incomes in the many tens of millions as they have the physical and financial capacity to properly manage it. For others, quiz nights with raffles, sponsored toe nail clipping or whatever remain solid, risk-free options.