The Raffle...

The charity knitting group that I belong to, Knitting for Brisbane's Needy, doesn't get government funding so raffling donated prizes is a way of raising money for the group. And so it was that I found myself working behind the scenes on our Christmas 2014 Raffle.

I had stepped up and taken over from a member who had done a brilliant job running raffles...both in providing prizes herself but also using her communication skills to keep the momentum rolling and the enthusiasm for selling tickets on high alert. Another member had assisted her and this member had wrapped prizes beautifully ready for the draw....hmmm...hard acts to follow! Lol. I had previously run very small raffles when I was the coordinator of an Outside School Hours Care Centre in the late 80s to mid 90s, but this would be different.

K4BN members are spread far and wide. Some members don't attend Knit and Natters, some members don't use the Internet, some members use Facebook and others use the Yahoo Group Forum to stay in touch. So quite a disparate grouping that I needed to get information about the prizes to. Did I mention prizes? Well we ended up with 38 prizes; absolutely amazing! 

Some of the prizes....

I posted albums showing each prize on my personal FB page, the group's closed FB page, in the Yahoo group's page and at any Knit and Natters I went to, I showed photos on my iPad. I'm aware that there were many people who weren't able to see the photos and possibly I might need to review my decision to not make multiple 'prize posters' for the Knit and Natters I don't attend. 

Some more prizes...

With so many prizes and my inexperience at running a larger raffle I pretty soon realised that organisation was the key, as well as regular communication to members. I regularly updated the prize list and the photo albums as more prizes were given. And of course, regular public acknowledgment and thank yous to the donors was important. 

As the time for the draw drew near, I 'tightened procedures' and checked and double checked the prizes I had and chased up on ones promised, but not in my 'hot little hands' yet. So all prizes were numbered and labelled with a description and the name of the donor. 

Two nights before the draw, everything was checked again and packed in 2 large boxes which were also labelled with the numbers of the prizes inside. DH helped me pack my little Mitzi Micra the day before, in case I needed help from my assistant Helen, who has a larger car than my Mitzi...but everything fitted. 

And so it was on Monday December 1 at the Scarborough knit and Natter, we had the big draw! 

Helen helped me put all the prizes in order and within easy reach...

We drew the name and number of the prize first...then drew out the winner from the bucket of ticket butts...my wonderful assistant Helen then read out the details of the winner to my other Assistant, Karen, who was our recorder. Her clipboard sheets had the number and description of each prize and a space to write in the winner and contact details. After Karen had the details, Helen taped the ticket butt to the prize. 

So we repeated this until all 38 prize winners had been drawn. Then it was time for a coffee while we worked out the best way to get prizes to the winners. And then I could relax! Lol.

We had some very excited winners, but best of all, the raffle raised $1275. 

DH even won a prize...

10 balls of Cleckheaton  Silk...wonder what he will make with that? I bought more tickets than DH did, but he won a prize! Oh well...

 I was a bit disappointed that I didn't win one of Jenny's tea cosies :-), but I will get over it! Lol