This is a fundraising idea we should have covered a long time ago, as it is the perfect add-on to so many of the fundraising ideas we’ve covered so far.

A 50-50 raffle is the most basic of raffles.  All you do is sell tickets to the raffle, combine the money and award 50% of the combined money to the person who holds the winning ticket and 50% of the money to your organization.  A 50-50 raffle takes next to no planning and you don’t even need to buy prizes ahead of time.  If it sounds extremely simple, that’s because it is.

There are plenty of events at which you could hold a 50-50 raffle to increase your fundraiser’s profits.  We’ve covered some specific ones before:

• A dunk tank fundraiser
• A trivia night fundraiser
• A taste of the town fundraiser
• A 24-hour sports fundraiser
• A cake auction
• An exotic meat barbecue
• A silent auction fundraiser
• A charity rummage sale
• An adult spelling bee
• A charity speaker series

Here are some other events at which a 50-50 raffle might be appropriate:

• Regular meetings of any type (such as book club meetings)
• PTA meetings

Finally, a quick cautionary note: It is possible that a 50-50 raffle might not be permitted in your area due to gambling laws.  Please make sure this is not the case before adding a 50-50 raffle to your fundraising repertoire.