School Easter Raffle: How to Run One Online
Running an Easter raffle can be your school’s first major fundraising win of the year. While the combination of children and chocolate is foolproof, the tight timeline of Term 1 often creates challenges. Here’s how to make it work, inspired by Heathmont East Primary School’s successful switch to online raffles. For the bigger picture beyond Easter, our complete guide to school raffles covers the same framework across the whole school year.
The traditional raffle headache
Before going digital, schools typically wrestle with:
- Printing and distributing tickets
- Managing promotions
- Collecting returned tickets
- Banking and tracking money
- Sorting tickets for drawing (imagine doing this 80 times!)
Heathmont East’s digital transformation
In March 2019, Elle from Heathmont East Primary School decided to revolutionise their annual Easter raffle by taking it online. The results? A remarkable $3,975 raised in just 2.5 weeks — purely from chocolate prizes!
The 4Ps of their success
1. Planning
- Maintained their proven raffle structure
- Eliminated administrative burdens through digital tools
- Quick launch capability (same-day registration possible)
2. Prizes
- 100% community donated
- $1,000 worth of chocolate
- 80 total prizes, including:
- 1st prize: $150 ‘Easter Eggstravaganza Hamper’
- 2nd & 3rd: smaller hampers
- Multiple $3 prizes ensuring abundant winning chances
Pro tip: donations can continue after launch — just ensure all prizes are ready by draw time. Because the prize pool grows as donations arrive, run the total through the free permit checker once it settles; the threshold that triggers a permit differs by state, and Victorian schools should read the VIC raffle rules in particular. Donated chocolate is one of several zero-cost prize strategies covered in our raffle prizes guide.
3. Pricing
Their winning structure:
- $1 per ticket
- 4 for $4
- 6 for $5
- 12 for $10
- 18 for $15
- 24 for $20
Key stats:
- Average ticket price: 83¢
- Average transaction: $11.58
- Most popular packages: 12–18 tickets
- Digital advantage: card purchases typically triple traditional cash sales
4. Promotion
Digital raffles enable 24/7 sales through multiple channels:
- School newsletter
- Email campaigns
- Push notifications
- Social media
- Parent portals
- Physical posters
- Take-home notes
Best practice: every raffle gets its own shareable link and QR code — put both on every piece of promotion, with a clear call to action like “Buy raffle tickets now”. The QR code belongs on take-home notes, posters and the classroom door; the link belongs in the newsletter and every email.
Making the switch
Ready to transform your Easter raffle? Consider these benefits:
- Eliminate manual ticket management
- Enable around-the-clock sales
- Track sales in real time
- Reduce volunteer workload
- Increase average purchase value
Don’t let Term 1’s tight timeline stop you from running a successful Easter raffle. With digital tools and proper planning, you can launch a profitable fundraiser in record time — and if you want to see how far a school raffle can go once the format is working, Knox Grammar’s 64% sales surge is the case study to read next.
