One idea that works great as an add-on fundraiser at your events (especially a casino night!), is to host a 50/50 Deck of Cards Raffle. The twist is that there will be a set number of cards sold (52) and you’ll use a deck of cards to draw the winner.

Get 2 decks of cards, fresh in their plastic wrapped boxes, preferably with two different designs on the back. In front of the crowd, open them, and give one set of cards to two different volunteers to mark the backs of them. One deck will be marked with an “O” and the other an “X” (or use stickers, rubber stamps, spay/ neuter, whatever will help you identify them).

Keep one deck on stage or with the event organizer, and work the crowd selling cards from the other deck. Each card sells for $20, which allows people to win the pot of $520 (with the other $520 going to the charity). This allows you to create a nice sized pot, with a small selection of ticket holders, guaranteeing a 1 in 52 chance of winning! People really go for this, since it instandly ups their chances, without having to spend even more on extra tickets.

Once all the cards have been sold, have a volunteer (or person from the crowd) come up to draw the winning card from the other deck. Call out the card to find the winner! It’s an easy way to bring in some extra funds at an event, and we love add-on fundraisers! You can raise the price to $50 which will raise the pot to $1,300 (with the other $1,300 going to the charity). The best tip for pricing your cards is to KNOW your event, and know your donor base. If you’re selling cards for $50 at a bake sale, you may not sell as many. If you’re selling $50 cards at an upscale casino night or Fur Ball, then you’ll probably do really well! If you feel like your crowd will really love this, you can sell cards 2 or 3 times during the event. The only cost to your group is the cost of a few decks of cards, which can be picked up at dollar stores or Walmart. You can even get them donated from casinos, with their little hole punched through.

TWIST: Instead of using two separate decks of cards, you can rip the cards in half as they are sold, giving one half to the buyer and placing the other half inside a clear fish bowl.

TWIST: Draw out the naming of the winner as you ask everyone to stand up and then eliminate the losing ’suits’ who can now sit down. Then, drag it out so that every card from the winning suit is eliminated until the last person is the winner.