How to Run a Booster Club Raffle: Permits, Tickets, Drawing

Roles

No single person should sell tickets, count the money, and deposit it. See Internal Controls for Booster Clubs.

Step 1: Approve the Raffle

1. Confirm state legality and eligibility on the club’s state page.
2. Confirm the district allows the raffle at the planned event and location. See School District Fundraising Policies and MOUs.
3. Present a plan to the board: purpose of the funds, prizes and their values, ticket price, number of tickets, drawing date, budget, and who will sell.
4. Vote, and record the motion in the minutes.

Step 2: Register or Get the Permit

File the state registration or permit application, and any local permit, before ordering tickets. Processing can take weeks; California asks for at least 60 days and allows no ticket sales until its confirmation letter arrives. Keep a copy of the permit in the raffle file.

Step 3: Secure the Prizes

• Get donated prizes in writing, with a description from the donor. Thank donors with a written acknowledgment that describes the item but does not state its value.
• Buy prizes only after the board approves the expense. Texas caps purchased prizes at $75,000; California lets no more than 10% of ticket receipts pay raffle costs.
• Texas requires the club to own the prize, or post a bond for its value, before selling tickets.
• Record each prize’s fair market value (FMV), the price it would sell for between a willing buyer and seller. FMV drives the tax steps.

Details are in Raffle Prizes, Donated Items, and Vehicles.

Step 4: Set the Ticket Price and Structure

The ticket price affects the federal tax test. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) compares each prize to 300 times the price of one ticket. Bundles lower the per-ticket price: at “3 for $10,” the wager is $3.33. For prizes paid in 2026, a prize of $2,000 or more that is at least 300 times the per-ticket price is reported on Form W-2G, and any prize over $5,000 (after subtracting the ticket price) requires 24% withholding. See Federal Tax Rules for Raffles.

Set the drawing date before sales start; Texas requires it to be set in advance and printed on the ticket.

Step 5: Print the Tickets

Use numbered, two-part tickets: a stub the club keeps for the drawing and a matching receipt for the buyer. California requires a detachable stub. Print what the state requires. Texas requires:

• the name of the organization
• the address of the organization or of a named officer
• the ticket price
• a general description of each prize worth more than $10
• the date the prizes will be awarded

Also print “Need not be present to win” (if true), the club’s contact information, and a line that the ticket is not a tax-deductible donation. Do not print “donation” as the price.

Step 6: Publish the Rules

Write a one-page rules sheet and make it available wherever tickets are sold. Sample language:

Tickets are $10 each or 3 for $25. The drawing will be held on [date] at [time] at [location]. Winners need not be present to win and will be notified by phone and email within two business days. Prizes are awarded in the order listed. Prizes have no cash value and may not be exchanged, except as required by law. Winners are responsible for all taxes on their prizes; for any prize of $2,000 or more, the winner must provide a taxpayer identification number before the prize is released, and for any prize valued over $5,000, the winner must pay the required federal withholding before the prize is released. Unclaimed prizes after [30] days will be [redrawn / retained by the club]. Ticket purchases are not tax-deductible. Proceeds support [purpose]. Raffle conducted under [state registration or permit number].

Check the state’s raffle rules for anything on unclaimed prizes before choosing the redraw or retain option. Check whether the state bars insiders from buying tickets; Tennessee bars board members, officers, employees, and their household family members.

Step 7: Distribute and Track Tickets

Every ticket printed is accounted for.

1. The treasurer records the ticket number ranges received from the printer.
2. Each seller signs out a numbered range on a ticket log: seller name, ticket numbers, date out.
3. Sellers return sold stubs, unsold tickets, and money together. The treasurer and second counter count the money, match it to the stubs, and both sign.
4. Unsold tickets are returned and marked void.
5. Before the drawing, the treasurer reconciles: tickets printed = tickets sold + tickets returned unsold + tickets missing. Missing tickets are listed by number.

Do not pay sellers, give them free tickets as a reward, or credit sales to a student’s account. Paid sellers can violate state law (Texas bars paying anyone to sell tickets) and can defeat the volunteer exception to unrelated business income tax. Crediting sales to individual students raises private benefit problems. See Private Benefit and Individual Fundraising Accounts.

Step 8: Handle the Money

Follow the club’s event cash procedures: two people at every count, a signed count sheet, and a prompt deposit. Track raffle money separately from other event money, as California requires. See Handling Cash at Booster Club Events.

Step 9: Hold the Drawing

1. Draw at the advertised date, time, and place. If the drawing must move, follow state law. Texas allows one new date within 30 days, then requires refunds.
2. Before drawing, confirm the stub count matches the reconciled number of tickets sold.
3. Put every sold stub in one closed container and mix thoroughly.
4. Have a person with no stake in the outcome draw, in view of the audience and two witnesses.
5. Draw prizes in the published order. Read each ticket number and name aloud.
6. Record each winning number, name, and prize on a drawing record, and have both witnesses sign it.
7. Keep the winning stubs with the drawing record.

Step 10: Notify and Pay Winners

1. Contact winners using the information on the stub.
2. For any prize of $2,000 or more (2026 threshold), collect the winner’s name, address, and taxpayer identification number on Form W-9 before releasing the prize.
3. For any prize where FMV minus the ticket price exceeds $5,000, check two forms of ID (one with a photo), collect 24% withholding from the winner, or pay 31.58% if the club has promised to cover the tax, and have the winner sign Form W-2GForm W-2GCertain Gambling Winnings: the information return a club files with the IRS and gives to the winner when a raffle or other gaming prize reaches the federal reporting threshold.All terms.
4. Give the winner Copies B and C of Form W-2G at pickup or by January 31.
5. For a vehicle or other titled prize, transfer title from the club to the winner. See Raffle Prizes, Donated Items, and Vehicles.

Step 11: Report and Close Out

1. The treasurer prepares a raffle report for the board: tickets printed, sold, unsold, and missing; gross receipts; prize costs; other expenses; net proceeds; and winners.
2. File any state post-raffle report. California’s Form CT-NRP-2 is due February 1 for raffles held the prior year.
3. File Forms W-2GForm W-2GCertain Gambling Winnings: the information return a club files with the IRS and gives to the winner when a raffle or other gaming prize reaches the federal reporting threshold.All terms and Form 945 if required. See Federal Tax Rules for Raffles.
4. Report gross ticket sales (not net) on the club’s annual IRS return.
5. File the raffle records together: permit, board minutesMinutesThe official record of what a meeting decided, not a transcript of what people said. The secretary takes them, the next meeting approves them, and the club keeps them permanently.All terms, ticket log, count sheets, deposit slips, drawing record, winner paperwork, and copies of every tax form. IRS Publication 3079 says gaming records must support the annual return and be kept until the statute of limitations expires, generally three years from the later of the return’s filing or due date. See Booster Club Financial Records and Retention.