School & PTA Raffle Guide: Licences, Rules and Raising More
Everything a school or PTA needs to run a raffle — when you need a lottery licence, online and text raffle rules, prize ideas, and how one PTA made £870 profit.
The raffle is the PTA fundraiser that refuses to retire — because it works. Parents will buy tickets for a hamper they'd never bid on and a fun run they'd never join. Run digitally, it also sheds the parts everyone hates: printing books of cloakroom tickets, folding them into a drum, chasing cash in book bags. Here's the complete guide — legal requirements first, then how to raise more. (General guidance, not legal advice — see the Gambling Commission for the rules.)
Do we need a licence?
It depends on where and when tickets are sold:
- Raffle drawn at the fair, tickets sold only at the fair → an incidental lottery: no licence needed. Limits: max £500 spent on prizes (donated prizes don't count), max £100 on expenses, draw at or straight after the event.
- Tickets sold in advance — at the school gate for weeks, online, or by text → a small society lottery: the PTA must register with the local authority (£40 first year, £20/year after). Proceeds capped at £20,000 per draw; at least 20% must go to the cause. Our small society lottery guide walks through registration step by step.
- Selling online or by text counts as remote gambling — run it through a platform with a Gambling Commission licence (like DONATE's raffle service) or a licensed External Lottery Manager rather than a DIY payment link. Full detail: online raffle rules for UK charities.
Two rules PTAs most often miss: every ticket must cost the same (no "3 for £5" on society lotteries), and no sales to under-16s — worth remembering when pupils are the sales force. Raffle tickets are also never eligible for Gift Aid, though optional add-on donations are.
Why digital raffles out-earn paper ones
Grand Avenue Primary's PTA made £870 profit from a text raffle on DONATE — parents bought tickets by texting a keyword, the draw ran automatically, and there was no printing, folding or cash counting. As their organiser put it: "well worth paying, for all the printing and ticket folding it saved." Read the full school and PTA text raffle case study.
The economics are simple: paper raffles lose margin to printing and lose sales to "sorry, no cash on me". A digital raffle reaches every parent by newsletter, WhatsApp group and school app — including the ones who never come to the fair — and grandparents can join in from anywhere in the UK.
Making it a success
- Prizes: local and donated. Local businesses respond well to PTAs — aim for a headline prize (hamper, day out, term of a club) plus a spread of smaller ones. Donated prizes don't count toward the £500 incidental-lottery prize cap.
- Give it a deadline moment. Tie the draw to the fair, the last day of term or a school event — deadlines convert.
- Push through every channel. Newsletter, class WhatsApp reps, banners at pickup, and the keyword on every flyer.
- Add an optional donation at checkout for the parents who want to give more — that part can be Gift Aided.
- Reinvest what you learn. Spring fair, Christmas raffle, sponsored events — see our PTA fundraising ideas for spring and Easter for the year-round calendar.
School raffle — FAQs
Does a school raffle need a licence? ＋
Not if tickets are sold only at the event where the draw happens — that's an incidental lottery. Selling tickets in advance (including online or by text) requires the PTA to register a small society lottery with the local authority (£40, then £20/year), and online sales should run through a licensed platform.
Can children sell or buy raffle tickets? ＋
Tickets must not be sold to under-16s, so pupils shouldn't be buyers. If pupils help promote the raffle, sales should be made to and by adults — a digital raffle where parents buy directly by text or online sidesteps the issue entirely.
How much profit does a typical PTA raffle make? ＋
It varies with school size and prizes, but as a real benchmark, Grand Avenue Primary's PTA cleared £870 profit from a single text raffle on DONATE, helped by having no printing or ticket-handling costs.
Can we claim Gift Aid on raffle tickets? ＋
No — raffle tickets never qualify for Gift Aid. An optional additional donation made alongside a ticket purchase can qualify if the PTA is a registered charity and the donor completes a declaration.
Ready to run yours?
Set up a school raffle on DONATE — compliant under our Gambling Commission licence, with ticketing, payments, the draw and winner notifications handled for you.