← All Articles · 2026-01-23

Are Raffles Legal? What Every Fundraiser Organizer Should Know Before Selling Tickets

Raffles are a fundraising staple because they're simple, fun, and historically very effective at moving small-dollar tickets in large volume. They're also one of the more heavily regulated fundraiser formats, because a raffle is technically a form of gambling under most legal definitions — participants pay for a chance to win something of value based on random chance.

Why Regulation Varies So Much

In the United States, raffle law is set primarily at the state level, and sometimes further regulated by county or municipality. Some states allow nonprofit organizations to run raffles with minimal paperwork; others require a specific gaming license, a registration fee, or restrict raffles to organizations that have held nonprofit status for a minimum number of years. Many jurisdictions cap the value of prizes that can be offered without additional licensing. This is exactly the kind of detail that varies too much by location for any general guide to cover accurately — what's true for a school PTA in one state may be entirely different a few miles away across a state line.

What to Check Before You Launch

Before selling tickets, confirm whether your organization needs a raffle or gaming permit in your state, whether there's a cap on prize value or ticket price, whether proceeds need to be reported to a state gaming or charity regulator, and whether online ticket sales (as opposed to in-person) are treated differently under your local rules. Your state's attorney general office or secretary of state website is typically the most reliable starting point, and many have a dedicated charitable gaming division you can contact directly.

Lower-Friction Alternatives

If the regulatory overhead feels like too much for a small one-time fundraiser, formats like a themed basket giveaway funded through flat-fee "entries" structured as donations (rather than a chance-based raffle), or a straightforward auction where bidders pay for a specific item rather than a chance at a prize, can sometimes sidestep gaming regulations entirely — but this distinction also varies by jurisdiction, so it's worth confirming with a local advisor rather than assuming.

Once you've confirmed a raffle is workable for your group, our Fundraising Goal Calculator includes several raffle formats — 50/50, themed basket, reverse raffle, and more — with realistic ticket-price and participation assumptions to help you estimate potential profit.