The Benefits of Running an Online Charity Sweepstakes

With an online sweepstakes for charity, your cause can extend far beyond your local community. Imagine reaching supporters across the country—or even around the globe—with whom your mission resonates. The advantages?

• More donations from people who may never attend an in-person event or participate in a peer-to-peer fundraiser but are still eager to support.
• Amplified impact as supporters share your sweepstakes with their networks through social media, turning a single entry into dozens.

Running a sweepstakes can conserve resources. Some of the ways nonprofits save include:

• Reduced event costs. Since the sweepstakes operates online, there’s no need to rent venues, hire staff, or invest in on-site logistics. You don’t need to purchase printed raffle tickets.
• Efficient payment processing. Donations and sweepstakes entries are processed through your fundraising platform.

Sweepstakes fundraising platforms make campaign management more straightforward in several ways:

• Instant entry tracking. Everything from donations to entries is handled automatically, giving you a real-time view of participation.
• Effortless communication. You can notify sweepstakes winners instantly and update participants with the click of a button.
• Live performance metrics. Fundraising platforms provide instant analytics, allowing you to adjust strategies on the fly and optimize results.

When you run a charity sweepstakes, compliance is easier:

• Clear terms and conditions. Sweepstakes must have official terms that detail the terms of the campaign. The good news is that the Eventgroove platform has legally compliant official sweepstakes rules built right in! These rules cover a worldwide drawing, making it easy for anyone, anywhere to enter.
• Drawing: Sweepstakes prize winners must be chosen through a random drawing using a using a random number generator. This makes the whole process easier!
• Automatic confirmations. Participants will receive immediate confirmation of their entries, building trust in the process.
• Simplified auditing. Your platform handles all transactions and entries instantly. This makes it easy to provide clear documents for taxes or regulations.

Both sweepstakes and raffles involve prizes and are easy to run, but the key difference is how people participate. A sweepstakes allows supporters to enter for free (or for a small donation), while raffles require a direct purchase of tickets.

• Sweepstakes: Since there must be a free method of entry, a sweepstakes is not considered gambling and thus is legal almost everywhere. If you’re worried about no one donating to your cause to win the prizes, put that concern to rest. Most people are more than happy to contribute to a good cause for a chance to win.
• Raffles: Although effective, running a raffle can cause headaches. Every state and country has its own raffle laws, and you need to be compliant. This is because paying to enter a raffle makes it a game of chance. In legal terms, this is considered gambling.
• Why Sweepstakes Win: With the ability to offer both free and donation-based entries, a sweepstakes opens up the field. They’re not considered gambling, which frees you from almost any limitation..

Online auctions require organizers to obtain several prizes, upload pictures, write product descriptions, and then list them. Once the auction is launched, you must monitor bids and continually promote to encourage more bidding. A sweepstakes usually has a handful of prizes (or maybe just one big, dazzling prize). While organizers may have to continuously promote, it’s simpler when there are fewer prizes!

• Sweepstakes: Once a sweepstakes is live, managing it is straightforward. Supporters can enter anytime during the campaign without needing to revisit the site or monitor their chances of winning.
• Auctions: Participants must stay engaged throughout the process, constantly checking and updating their bids, which can limit participation to those with the time and inclination to do so. Organizers need to stay on top of things, too—they have to keep the bidding momentum up.
• Why Sweepstakes Win: A sweepstakes campaign offers more flexibility and less regulatory complexity, making them easier to launch and manage, particularly for smaller nonprofits or organizations with limited resources.

Raffles and auctions involve more complex rules and regulations, especially regarding the sale of tickets or goods.

• Sweepstakes: With no mandatory ticket purchase required, sweepstakes are not considered gambling and thus come with fewer legal restrictions.
• Raffles and Auctions: Raffles have strict regulations depending on your location, and may be classified as a form of gambling in some jurisdictions. Auctions involve additional management, such as handling payments and shipping items to winners or setting pick-up times.
• Why Sweepstakes Win: Sweepstakes offer more flexibility and less regulatory complexity, making them easier to launch and manage, particularly for smaller nonprofits or organizations with limited resources.