House Raffle Flop: American Red Cross Idaho 2008 House Raffle

The more house raffles I discover, the bigger the impression that many of these fundraising efforts are doomed from the start because of poor planning. Not from a lack of energy or excitement or effort, but from less-than-ideal decisions that have a huge impact on the outcome.

I found a post at Eagle Rock Talks that touched on the final week and outcome of the American Red Cross Idaho house raffle [original post].

The gist is that ARC Idaho gave themselves 2 months to sell 2,200 house raffle tickets, but with 1 week left they had only sold 200 or so. A mention on the television news and they sold an additional 275 tickets in that last week.

Interesting, yes? That they sold more house raffle tickets in a week than they did in the preceding two months?

I added the following comment to their discussion:

I’m curious about a few things:

1. Why start the house raffle during the presidential election? No way for the house raffle launch to get noticed with all the election hullabaloo in the news.

2. Why have only 2 months for promotion? That’s the shortest I’ve seen. They’re usually 3 months with a 3 month extension if ticket sales are slow.

3. Why was the house raffle’s Web presence only 2 pages on the ARC Idaho site? Why not a dedicated site to show off house pictures, list an FAQ, and other features I see on websites of successful house raffles?

4. Why didn’t they model their house raffle after the big successes: San Mar, Ocean Institute, Community Action Marin? For example, Early Bird cash drawings are common and spark early and continuous ticket sales.

Not judging, just concerned. They had a great idea, the execution was just lacking. I would hate for them to never do another house raffle just because this one didn’t go well.

~Crystal W.

I hope they don’t mind my 2¢. And I hope these are among the questions ARC Idaho asks in the weeks after their failed house raffle. The answers to those questions would hold valuable lessons for all of us…