According to HGA Fundraising, a Golden Ticket raffle is a capped raffle: you sell 100 tickets at $100 or $250, draw one winner, and the winner takes a bucket-list trip. You reserve the prize at no upfront cost and pay HGA's reserve only after the drawing.
Sell 100 tickets at $100 and you raise $10,000. Price them at $250 and you raise $25,000. One trip prize, one drawing, nothing to buy up front and nothing owed if you don't sell.
The Golden Ticket is a capped raffle. Your nonprofit sells 100 tickets. One winner is drawn and takes the trip package you reserved as the prize.
That's the whole strategy. The cap is what makes the ticket worth buying — a one-in-a-hundred shot at a bucket-list trip is a real bet, and your donors know it.
You pay HGA nothing up front. You pay our reserve on the prize only after the drawing.
For a closer look at the capped-ticket math, read the 100-ticket Golden Ticket raffle guide.
100 tickets at $100.
The standard. This is what most galas and auctions run, and it's the version your donors understand the moment you describe it.
A school example: Incarnate Word Academy raised $10,000 with one raffle.
See the $100 Golden Ticket100 tickets at $250.
For a room with real capacity. If your table sponsors and top donors are already writing four-figure checks, $250 is not a stretch — and you don't need a sellout to beat a sold-out $100 raffle.
See the $250 Golden Ticket| Feature | $100 Golden Ticket | $250 Golden Ticket |
|---|---|---|
| Tickets | 100 | 100 |
| Ticket price | $100 | $250 |
| Gross | $10,000 | $25,000 |
| Nonprofit cost | $1,995 | $3,995 |
| Net to mission | $8,005 | $21,005 |
| Best for | Your first Golden Ticket | Rooms already giving at four figures |
Three revenue lines off one prize.
Ask a sponsor to underwrite the Golden Ticket for $2,500 or more. Their name goes on the poster, the tickets, and every mention from the stage. Your cost on the prize is covered before you sell a single ticket.
That's $10,000. And if you come up short heading into the event, your auctioneer can sell the remaining tickets from the microphone.
After the raffle drawing, offer a second Golden Ticket as a live-auction lot. Ninety-nine people just watched someone else win the trip they wanted. They are the warmest bidders in the room.
Berean ran the $250 Golden Ticket instead of the $100. They sold 76 tickets, not 100 — $19,000 gross against a $3,995 reserve, for $15,005 net. A fully sold-out $100 raffle would have returned $8,005.
Read the full storyThey started selling online the Monday before their event. By the time doors opened Saturday, all 100 tickets were gone. Then their auctioneer offered a second Golden Ticket as a live lot after the paddle raise. Bidding stalled at $3,500 — until a guest nobody recognized held up ten fingers and shouted "$10,000." He had passed on every other chance to give that night.
Read the full storyReserve the trip and the media kit lands the same day. Your committee has everything it needs to start selling tickets.
Secure the economics before you promote it: consider underwriting opportunities for the prize and plan pre-event sponsorship and underwriting alongside ticket sales.
Reserve your prize. The $100 Golden Ticket or the $250 Golden Ticket. Nothing due, no contract.
Get your media kit. It lands the day you reserve.
Sell your 100 tickets. Pre-event, at the door, or both.
Draw the winner — then offer a bonus Golden Ticket from the stage.
Send us the winner's name, email, and phone. A dedicated HGA booking specialist contacts them within 24 hours and your team is done.
A capped raffle of 100 tickets with a bucket-list trip as the prize. One winner is drawn and takes the trip. You reserve the prize at no upfront cost and pay HGA's reserve only after the drawing.
The cap is the product. A one-in-a-hundred chance at a real trip is what justifies a $100 or $250 ticket. If you want to raise more, raise the ticket price, not the ticket count.
Look at your room. If your guests are already giving at four figures, the $250 works. If this is your first Golden Ticket, run the $100. Your Fundraising Specialist will tell you which one fits your event.
A sponsor covers the cost of the prize — $2,500 or more — in exchange for their name on the poster, the tickets, and every mention from the stage. It means the prize is paid for before your event starts.
Your auctioneer can sell the remaining tickets from the microphone.
No. You reserve at no cost and owe HGA's reserve only once the drawing happens and a winner claims the trip.
No minimum, no contract, no setup fee.
Raffle rules vary by state, and some require a permit or registration. Check your state's charitable gaming rules before you sell tickets.
Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder
Jason has over 30 years helping nonprofits raise money and coaches multiple nonprofit leaders each week.
Tell us your event date and your room size. We'll tell you whether to run the $100 or the $250 and send a one-page plan. No obligation.
Plan My Golden Ticket