Candy Raffle

My school chorus (about 40 students) has raised about $300-350 by having a raffle on two jars of candy/money. I get glass or plastic jars (fairly large but not huge), tape dollar bills (about four to five) on the sides (inside of course), and then fill with candy. I tape the tops securely with strapping tape and put some sort of decoration on the top. This is extremely easy to do. My chorus sells tickets for fifty cents each. I print a sheet of them on the computer and run copies. (Tickets contain the name, address, and phone number of the buyer.) After two to three weeks, we have the winning tickets drawn - usually at our Fall Carnival. (I get parent volunteers to sell tickets at the Carnival also.) I give out packs of ten tickets at a time to chorus members and give them another ten tickets when they turn the money in for the first pack.

Each chorus member is required to sell at least two packs of tickets, but I don't have any punishment for those who don't. I usually have some reward for the top salesperson, then a smaller reward for the next two highest sellers. I keep a running total on the board of who has turned in the most sold tickets and try to keep the kids excited about it.

I also keep track of how much money I spent to get the jars ready and repay myself from the profits. Sometimes, I put the jars on a secretary's desk in the main office with a sign explaining the particulars.