The Golden Ticket is an exclusive high price point Raffle Game where the winner gets to pick ANY of the Live Auction Items as the prize.
I work with some local and regional nonprofits that have amazing donors and raise good money at their events through the Live Auction and Fund-A-Need, but struggle to solicit high value items. Their largest item may be a trip valued at $2,500 (though it would sell for more in the auction). The Golden Ticket is an excellent game for organizations like theirs because even though they may “lose” a live auction item through the Golden Ticket winner, the proceeds from the Golden Ticket sales far exceed what the item would have sold for in the auction. And, in my experience, roughly 50% of the time my clients play this game, the Golden Ticket winner donates their item back to the auction, generating even more revenue, because people are just amazing sometimes.
Who would benefit from offering this game?
This would benefit your organization and enhance your event if…
You are a small to mid-sized event (250-999 guests) that has live auction items with values all under $5,000.
You are an organization hosting a gala of 1,000+ because you have a larger pool of donors to whom you can sell the tickets
Who should skip this game:
If you are hosting an event with less than 500 people and are offering auction packages that have values over $5,000 there is a good chance you could actually lose money by offering the Golden Ticket to your guests. It works better when the ticket sales will exceed the price of your most expensive live auction item.
What you need to play?
A roll of raffle tickets
Dynamic and engaging Volunteers who can sell the tickets
How to set up and play:
Determine how much you want to make from the game:
Set a goal for how much revenue you want to earn from the “Golden Ticket” Game. Your goal should be equal to or higher than the value of your most expensive Live Auction item so you don’t end up losing money on your game.
Say your biggest Live Auction item is a trip to Italy valued at $6,500, your goal should at least be to sell enough tickets to meet $6,500 (though, if you have enough attendees, shoot for higher). For the sake of the instructions, I’m going to use the goal of $10,000, but know that depending on the number of people you have attending and their giving capacity, you will need to adjust your personal goal.
Decide how many tickets you should sell and how much to sell them for.
If you are hosting an event of 1,000, you should easily be able to sell 100 tickets and could likely sell them at $100 a piece to reach your goal of $10,000. You could also try for 200 tickets at $50/piece or 50 tickets at $200/piece. Remember the higher the price, the more challenging they are to sell, but the exclusivity of the raffle increases a lot which will be appealing to many of your donors.
Selling your tickets somewhere between $50 and $100 is a great place to start and fill in your numbers from there. If you have a group of 250 people, a goal of raising $10,000 with the Golden Ticket may be too high (unless you have exclusively high rollers at your event), but you could work to sell 50 Tickets at $100 and raise $5,000.
Keep in mind the winner may pick your most expensive item, so whatever you raise in the Golden Ticket needs to make up for the potential revenue you might sacrifice on that Live Auction Item.
Get the most charismatic and sales savvy volunteers you can and sell those tickets out STAT
This game can only be truly successful when you completely sell out your tickets. These volunteers should be fun, extroverted and feel comfortable chatting with strangers and know how to clearly communicate the message. I’m sure you can think of a few volunteers right now who would be perfect for this job. They will feel honored when you let them know they were the first person you thought of for this role!
EXPERT TIP:
If there is a trip or dinner experience for multiple people (say 6-8) on your auction lineup, have your volunteers go up to groups of people that are clearly friendly and have them each buy a ticket to increase their chances. “Hey, you should ALL buy one or two and then if one of you wins you can still all go to Mexico! Do it! How fun would that be?!” I have seen tables of friends go absolutely WILD when they win a trip with their besties!
Pull the Golden Ticket Winner right before the Live Auction
Bring the raffle tickets up to the stage and have the auctioneer (or whoever you want) pull the winner. Your auctioneer will remind the audience,
“I am about to pull our Golden Ticket winner. The winner will get the choice select any of the Live Auction Items we have tonight or donate it back to be bid on in the auction. Now let’s see who our lucky winner is…..Which item are you going to claim tonight?”
I like to give the choice to give it back BEFORE selecting the winner because it is off putting and a shame strategy to put a donor on the spot after you’ve called their name. Remember, every part of your event is about nurturing donor relationships because that is going to make you more profitable in the long run.
Remove the item from the live auction
When they announce their selection, congratulate them cheerfully and have your AV team remove it from the slide show or have the auctioneer skip it during the live auction, acknowledging the winner and thanking everyone who participated in the Golden Ticket Raffle.
Are you going to try it?
This game is a fun way to get more revenue out of your live auction items! It’s exclusive and a great way for donors who may not be able to afford bidding on the Live Auction, but have their eyes on certain items. They get a fighting chance as 1 of 50 people for only $100 instead of dropping a couple thousand on what it would actually sell for in the auction.
Comment below if you’ve tried this or have any questions.
I’m always happy to give feedback to make sure your event is a success!
