Overview
Participants obtain numbered tickets with each ticket having the chance of winning a prize. At a set time, the winning number(s) are drawn from a container holding a copy of every ticket previously sold. The drawn tickets are checked against a collection of prizes with numbers attached to them, and the holder of the ticket wins the prize.
- Licensing requirements vary based on the organization’s anticipated net proceeds for the conduct of a single or multiple raffles in a calendar year. There are three main categories of raffles based on anticipated net proceeds:
- Under $5,000
- $5,000-$30,000
- Over $30,000
- No sale of raffle tickets shall be made more than 180 days prior to the date scheduled for the occasion at which the raffle will be conducted
- Payment for the purchase of raffle tickets may be made with cash, checks and debit or credit cards
- Authorized organizations wishing to sell raffle tickets online must first obtain approval of the Commission via an Internet Raffle Application.
- Organizations need approval to sell raffle tickets in other than the municipality within which the organization is domiciled. Approval may be obtained by filing Raffle Consent Forms (GC-RCF) with the Commission, which contacts the applicable municipality for approval on the organization’s behalf.
- Raffle drawings may be held at premises other than those of the organization, including state-owned property (subject to permission from the state agency that owns the property)
Contiguous County Search
Raffle Sales
- Organizations are no longer required to obtain permission from each municipality to sell raffle tickets in a municipality in a contiguous county.
- Organizations may request to sell raffle tickets and/or conduct a drawing outside its own premises or the premises of an authorized lessor.
- Organizations may complete and send Raffle Consent Form (GC-RCF) to the Commission, which notifies each municipality accordingly.
Raffle Categories
Raffles fall into one of the following categories:
Category 1A
Net proceeds will meet or exceed $30,000 per calendar year
- File Forms GC-2, Form GC-2A, Form GC-2B and pay a $25 annual license fee to the municipal clerk;
- Obtain a Games of Chance License (GC-5) from the municipal clerk;
- File a Financial Statement of Raffle Operations (Form GC-7R) with the municipal clerk and the Commission by January 30 of the following year; and
- If applicable: Remit an additional license fee to the municipality of 2 percent of the net profits over $30,000. (Note: There is no additional license fee paid on the first $30,000 in net profits).
Category 1B
Net proceeds from a single or cumulative raffles will be between $5,000 to $29,999 per calendar year
- File Form GCVS-1 with the municipal clerk and the Commission attesting that the cumulative net proceeds will be between $5,000 to $29,999 for the calendar year;
- If actual net proceeds reach or exceed $30,000, the organization must follow the instructions for 1A.
Category 2
Net proceeds from a single raffle will be less than $5,000
- The organization’s principal officers must examine the charter, certificate of incorporation, or constitution and make a good-faith self-determination that the organization qualifies as an “authorized organization” per GMU 190-a (2)
- If actual net proceeds are between $5,000 and $29,999, the organization must follow the instructions for 1B. If the actual net proceeds are more than $30,000, the organization must follow the instructions for 1A.
Search for the Queen of Hearts Raffle
Weekly scheduled raffle drawings are conducted from tickets sold during that week with at least one prize awarded (either a secondary or the Queen of Hearts grand prize).
- The winner of each raffle prize is determined and a raffle prize awarded after only one week’s worth of raffle ticket sales.
- After each drawing, all tickets are discarded and new tickets are sold.
- The process continues until the weekly raffle winner selects the Queen of Hearts and is awarded the grand prize.
- Each organization must enact a House Rule* describing its card selection process for an absentee raffle winner. House Rules must be prominently posted where tickets are sold and winning tickets are drawn.
*Many organizations have enacted House Rules requiring that a proxy select a face-down card from the game board on behalf of an absentee raffle winner and that the cash prize associated with that selection be awarded to the winner when they become available. Organizations should solicit membership input in creating and enacting House Rules to cover specific matters not covered by Commission rules.