Raffles & Prize Draws | Planadar Help

Raffles & Prize Draws

Run a raffle or prize draw at your event to boost engagement and — for verified nonprofits — raise money. Entrants are not attendees: raffle entries never count toward capacity or your attendee roster.

Two ways to run a raffle

• Free prize draw (giveaway) — anyone can enter with their name and email, at no cost. Available to every organizer on any plan.
• Paid fundraising raffle — supporters buy entries, and the proceeds flow to you like ticket sales. Because selling raffle tickets is legally restricted to registered charities in most US states, paid raffles are available only to verified 501(c)(3) organizers.

Getting verified: add and verify your nonprofit profile under Profile → Nonprofit. Once verified, the "Sell entries (paid raffle)" option unlocks in the raffle editor. See the nonprofit verification article for details.

Create a raffle

1. In the event's console, go to Sales & Registrations → Raffles.
2. Click New raffle and set the title, the prize (with an optional prize image), and an optional description.
3. Choose the entry type:
   • Leave Sell entries (paid raffle) off for a free giveaway.
   • Turn it on (verified nonprofits only) and set a price per entry. Selling entries requires a connected payout account so the money reaches your bank.
4. Set how many winners to draw and, optionally, how many alternates (ranked backups you can promote later if a winner can't claim). To award a different prize to each winner (Grand / 2nd / 3rd…), turn on Different prize per winner and list the prizes in order — the number of winners then matches the number of prizes, and each winner is told exactly which prize they won.
5. Optionally set a max entries per person and a draw date (shown to entrants; you still draw the winners manually).
6. Save. New raffles start as a Draft.

Open it for entries

A Draft raffle is not visible to anyone. Click Open for entries to make it live. Once open, the raffle appears automatically on:

• Your public event page (a compact "Enter to win" button next to Get Tickets / Donate).
• Your branded event website — either the same CTA button, or a full Raffle section you can add in the Website Builder (Add Sections → Raffle) to feature it with the prize image and details.

Draw a winner

When you're ready, click Draw winner on the raffle. Planadar picks the number of winners you set at random from all completed entries (no entry can win twice), emails each winner automatically, and notifies you. If you set alternates, they're drawn as ranked backups at the same time — they aren't emailed unless you promote them. Winners and alternates are shown on the raffle card afterward, where you can Promote an alternate to a winner if someone can't claim their prize. A raffle can only be drawn once.

Track entries and money

• Each raffle card shows its entry count and, for paid raffles, the total raised.
• Click Entries to see everyone who entered and export the list to CSV.
• A Raffle Entries card on the event Dashboard rolls up entries and amount raised across all your raffles.

Fees & payouts (paid raffles)

Paid raffle entries use the same payout mechanism as tickets and donations: the charge is made on the platform, then the net (minus payment-processor and platform fees) is transferred to your connected account. Platform fees follow your plan — 0% on paid plans, a small platform fee on the Free plan. Standard Stripe processing fees always apply.

What your entrants see

Anyone who enters gets a confirmation, and paid entrants get a receipt-style email. Signed-in entrants can track everything they've entered — paid or free — under Profile → Raffles, including whether a raffle has been drawn and whether they won.