Easter, Mother’s Day, Christmas
The fixtures. Donated hampers, a two-to-three-week sale in the newsletter, about a hundred families. The fastest wins of the school year and the easiest to repeat.
How to run the Easter raffle online
For schools & P&Cs
School raffles, built on four thousand of them
Schools have been running raffles on RaffleLink since 2016: Easter hampers, fete raffles, Christmas draws and the occasional car. This page is what we have learnt from all of them, so your committee can plan from real numbers rather than a guess.
Used by
4,000+ school raffles run on RaffleLink
$16.7M raised by schools and P&Cs
2,200+ schools, from tiny primaries to large colleges
97% of school raffle sales now arrive online
The school raffle calendar
Median results per occasion, from school raffles on RaffleLink since 2016. Half of raffles did better than the median, half worse; the top quarter is the line the best 25% cleared. Full tables, launch months and method in the school raffle year, by the numbers.
| Occasion | Raffles | Median raised | Top quarter | Buyers | Typical ticket | Days on sale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Easter | 841 | $2,000 | $3,000 | 112 | $2 | 19 |
| Christmas / end of year | 664 | $2,300 | $3,800 | 97 | $2 | 23 |
| Mother's Day | 300 | $1,700 | $3,100 | 80 | $3 | 15 |
| Fete / fair | 202 | $2,900 | $5,700 | 108 | $5 | 28 |
| Father's Day | 193 | $1,400 | $2,100 | 72 | $2 | 17 |
| Major / annual raffle | 116 | $4,800 | $10,400 | 137 | $5 | 38 |
| Gala / dinner | 83 | $4,000 | $7,000 | 96 | $5 | 19 |
| Trivia night | 81 | $2,200 | $3,000 | 68 | $5 | 16 |
Launches peak in March (Easter), November (Christmas) and August (Father’s Day and Term 3 fetes). The prize sets the price: a hamper raffle raises $1,850 at the median, a cash or holiday first prize about $3,500, because the community accepts a $5 ticket for one and $2 for the other.
The one decision that doubles the result
Whatever the occasion, a school raffle reaches roughly the same crowd: 70 to 140 families. What changes the total is how much each family spends, and that is set by the ticket price. Nearly half of school raffles charge $1 or $2 a ticket, and they raise the least.
The fix is not a $20 ticket. It is a $5 ticket with a pack, so the family that would have bought a $2 strip buys five for $20 instead. How to set the ladder.
| Ticket price | Raffles | Median raised | Spend per buyer |
|---|---|---|---|
| $1–$2 | 1,621 | $1,800 | $19 |
| $3–$5 | 1,373 | $2,400 | $26 |
| $6–$10 | 352 | $4,200 | $40 |
| $11–$20 | 174 | $5,300 | $45 |
| $20+ | 187 | $7,600 | $67 |
Formats that work for schools
Each one is a different job for the committee. Most schools settle on two or three fixtures a year and, once in a while, one big one.
Fete and fair raffle
Four weeks of selling into a day everyone already has in the diary. The draw is the closing act, and the last third of tickets sells at the gate.
The school raffle year, by the numbersMajor annual raffle
One raffle a year with a prize worth a sentence and a five-week sale. Double an Easter raffle at the median, triple at the top quarter.
Sourcing prizes from sponsorsCar raffle
The biggest single fundraiser most schools attempt: $39,900 at the median, with $50–$100 tickets and a capped count outperforming $5 tickets sold wide.
What school car raffles actually raiseThermomix and single-prize raffles
One prize every parent recognises, priced at $5–$10 with packs. Predictable, and a good first step up from the $2 hamper raffle.
Thermomix raffle guideClass-rep and house selling
Give each class rep or house captain their own link and watch the leaderboard. Team tracking turns a P&C job into a school-wide one.
Team sales tracking for rafflesHow schools sell
97% of school raffle money arrives online. The rest is the school gate, the fete and the odd paper book, and all of it lands in one draw.
The newsletter link
One link in the school newsletter and on the P&C socials does most of the work. Families buy on their phone in under a minute, and tickets go straight to their inbox.
Ticket packs
Five for $20, ten for $35. 68% of school raffle orders are a pack and the average order is $27.
The school gate and the fete
Ticket Booth turns a volunteer’s phone into a tap-to-pay ticket seller. Cash and card sales at the gate land in the same draw as the online ones.
Paper books, if you still want them
Some communities like a book in the bag. Printable tickets merge into the same draw, weighted so every ticket keeps its fair chance.
See how a school lifted sales 64% with the tracked links and the booth in the Knox Grammar case study.
The rules, handled
A school raffle is run by the P&C or P&F (or the school itself as a not-for-profit), under the rules of your state. Those rules are built into the platform: permit thresholds, fundraising caps, draw order and duration limits are checked while you set the raffle up, so the compliant way is the only way it can go live.
Do we need a permit?
Usually not for an ordinary school raffle, but it depends on your state and the prize value. The permit checker answers in a minute.
Check your statePlanning something big?
In Queensland a raffle past $50,000 in sales becomes a Category 3 art union. RaffleLink’s draw program is the OLGR-approved method of draw named on those licences.
Queensland Category 3, explainedFair draws, clean paperwork
Cryptographically signed draws, winner publication, tax invoices and the audit trail your treasurer will ask for, all automatic.
How compliance worksSchool raffles, written up
Case studies and guides from the blog. New pieces appear here as they publish.
Case studies
Knox Grammar's School Raffle: 64% Sales Surge
How a smart date change and a systematic reminder campaign lifted Knox Grammar's raffle takings 64% to nearly $27,000 — without expensive prizes.
Case studies
Raffle Prize Sponsors: A $10K School Success
How an 85-student rural school partnered with a World's-50-Best restaurant to raise $10,000 — and the playbook for landing premium prize sponsors of your own.
School fundraising
School Easter Raffle: How to Run One Online
How one primary school raised $3,975 in two and a half weeks with donated chocolate — and how to launch your Easter raffle before Term 1 runs out.
School fundraising
School Raffles: The Complete Fundraising Guide
How Australian schools raise up to $24,000 with online raffles — the 4Ps framework of planning, prizes, pricing and promotion, backed by real school results.
Fundraising ideas
Thermomix Raffle Guide: Raise $3,400–$5,000
Why Thermomix raffles consistently raise $3,400–$5,000 — no upfront prize cost, minimal permit requirements and proven ticket structures that sell out.
Start with the next fixture
No setup fee, no subscription: 5.5% on card sales including GST, and cash sales are free. Nothing is payable until tickets sell, so an account can sit ready for Term 1.
Benchmarks as of September 2026.