With the way ticket quantities and raffle licence revenue caps work, choosing a ticket quantity that doesn't shortchange your organization of possible revenue can be surprisingly tricky. Below, we look at a few important things to keep in mind.
1. Set a quantity of TOTAL tickets for sale, but don't set quantities for individual ticket tiers.
The Funding Change platform does not accept ticket quantities for individual ticket tiers.
For example, if you are using three different ticket tiers, let's say 1 for $5, 3 for $10 and 10 for $20, your local regulator may ask you to provide ticket quantities for each ticket tier (4,000 of 1 for $5, 8,000 of 3 for $10, and 8,000 of 10 for $20).
The reason they are asking for this is that, in the old-fashion physical raffle world, you would print off all your physical tickets before your raffle even starts and then stockpile all your tickets safely away in a safe or somewhere for safekeeping until the tickets are ready to be sold. However, this isn't the case in the online world. With our system, if your 10 for $20 tickets are selling like hotcakes, you're not limited to a specific quantity for that one ticket tier. If need be, you could sell 19,999 tickets at the 10 for $20 price and only sell 1 at the 1 for $5 price, which is why we handle ticket quantities in this way.
Your ticket quantity setup should look something like this:
- 1 for $5 - no quantity
- 3 for $10 - no quantity
- 10 for $20- no quantity
- 50 for $50- no quantity
- Total tickets available: 100,000
Important Note: If your local regulator is instructing that you must set individual ticket quantities, please give us a call! If you're in a region where our platform has been approved for use, that means that your local regulator has given the okay for running raffles based upon the way our system handles ticket quantities. With that being said, online raffles are still quite new to most regulators at this point and there are some major differences between the online raffle world and physical raffle world. So don't be too concerned if you're running into some confusion -- we're here to help! Give us a call at 1-888-480-9737.
2. Make sure you're calculating quantities based on the lowest per ticket price
This is a common mistake and it's one that can hit you hard in the pocketbook! Always make sure your ticket quantity is based on the lowest per-ticket price - meaning, the ticket that sells for the cheapest individual value.
Our system uses two factors to cap sales and will cap based upon whichever factor is reached first:
- Licence type
- Total ticket quantity
If you're holding a raffle in Manitoba and decide that you want to run an Under 10K Community Raffle licence type, our system will automatically cap your revenue at $10,000. You could set a ticket quantity of 1,000,000, but our system would still cap you at $10,000 because your licence only allows you up to $10,000 in sales.
To calculate your price per ticket, divide the cost of a ticket tier by the tickets in that ticket tier. For example:
| Ticket Tier | Ticket Tier Price ÷ Number of Tickets = Price Per Ticket | Price Per Ticket |
|---|---|---|
| 1 for $5 | 5 ÷ 1 = 5 | $5.00 |
| 3 for $10 | 10 ÷ 3 = 3.33 | $3.33 |
| 10 for $20 | 20 ÷ 10 = 2 | $2.00 |
| 50 for $50 | 50 ÷ 50 = 1 | $1.00 |
In this example, we see that 50 for $50 sells for $1 per ticket, making it the lowest/cheapest per ticket price.
Where the Problem Lies
If I'm holding a Manitoba Under 10k raffle and I'm attempting to cap my raffle at $10,000 in sales (which doesn't need to be done, as mentioned above, because our system will do that regardless of ticket quantity), and I calculate my quantity based on my ticket tier 1 for $5, I'll end up with 2,000 tickets for sale.
This is fine if I only sell tickets at the 1 for $5 price point, but let's say that I don't end up selling any 1 for $5 ticket price and only sell tickets from my 10 for $20 tier. At a Price-Per-Ticket of $2.00 ($20 ÷ 10 tickets = $2 per ticket), my revenue drops all the way from a possible $10,000 to only $4,000 since I can only sell 2,000 tickets at that price! Ouch!
The proper setup: Always use your lowest per ticket price
In the example we've been looking at, I should use my cheapest per-ticket price to calculate my quantity (50 for $50). This way, I max out my possible revenue. If I end up selling more of my 1 for $5 tickets, the Funding Change system will cap my revenue off at my licence cap of $10,000 anyways.
Our system is built to make everyone's lives easier -- yours as the organization, your ticket purchasers, and even your regulator!