For many groups, having a regular raffle may be too difficult due to state laws, or a lack of 501c3 designation. But, you can still hold a raffle where everyone wins something, either a bake sale treat or a gift certificate or basket!

My group did this 2 Easters ago after I found it mentioned on one of the fundraising newsletters that I receive. We sold the eggs for $1 each, and each of them had a slip of paper inside that corresponded to either a gift certificate or coupon for a free appetizer (or whatever you can get donated), or to a nice chocolate bunny basket, etc. We had about 75 eggs with approximately 10 of them with prizes labeled inside, and the rest just said “you’ve won a free treat from the bake sale”. That way, the customers weren’t really risking anything big and they’d still get something for their donation. Everyone wins something! They were a big hit. We sold out in under 30 minutes on a payday.

If you have some REALLY nice prizes like a decorated cake, a basket of goodies, possibly a $25 gift card, then you might be able to charge $2 to $5 per egg.

We listed all the prizes on a poster board and crossed off the taken items one at a time. This helped bring more people to our table to see the prizes available, and we believe it increased participation since the customers could still see the $25 gift card was still available with only 20 eggs left.

In legal terms, this is NOT a raffle, because everyone will still win something. If you feel the need to label it, then it aligns itself with a door prize idea, where everyone has equal opportunity to win something, but only a few win the BIG prizes. At least, this is what was explained to me by our Army JAG lawyers, and they allow these mystery egg events at our bake sales on military posts.