Raffle promotion fails in a predictable way: a burst of enthusiasm at launch, silence in the middle, and a scramble at the end. The fix is not more effort, it is a checklist, written before launch, that spreads the right actions across the campaign's phases.
This is that checklist. Each item is one line; where a task deserves a full playbook, the link takes you there. Work through it phase by phase and your promotion runs itself.
Before launch
- Set the draw date, close time and campaign length (two to four weeks of selling is the sweet spot)
- Build the campaign page: prize-led headline, prices and bundle visible, one buy button; our landing page best practices are the standard to hit
- Photograph every prize properly and list them in draw order
- Confirm your permit covers where and how you plan to promote; the legal questions guide covers the basics
- Write and schedule the full email sequence now, using our raffle email campaign templates
- Decide your early bird offer and its exact end date
- Print QR codes for every physical touchpoint, sized and tested per the QR code raffle guide
- Brief your sellers and inner circle, with a suggested share message ready to forward
- Ask sponsors and prize donors to promote to their audiences; it is one of the benefits they signed up for
Launch week
- Send the early access email to past buyers and members a day or two before going public
- Publish the announcement across every channel on the same day, so the launch feels like an event
- Push the personal-share ask: committee, volunteers and known supporters posting to their own profiles and community groups, per the social media strategies for raffles
- Post the first prize spotlight before the week is out
- Announce the early bird deadline everywhere, and honour it to the minute when it lands
Mid-campaign
- Keep a steady rhythm: a prize spotlight or reveal every few days
- Post milestone updates at real thresholds: 50% sold, 75% sold, or progress against your fundraising goal
- Send the mid-campaign email (prize spotlight or milestone, whichever is stronger this week)
- Refresh community group posts with new angles: a different prize, a cause story, a seller's personal note
- Check the sales curve against your plan; a flat week means the next post leads with your strongest unused prize
Final 72 hours
- Run the countdown: daily posts, remaining-ticket counts if capped, exact close time in every caption, per the countdown marketing guide
- Send the last-chance email 48 hours out and the short final-day reminder on the morning of the close
- Text your list on the final day if you have SMS; it is the channel that gets read in minutes
- Give sellers a final target and a ready-made "last chance" message to forward
Draw day and after
- Promote the draw time itself; anticipation sells tickets to the final minute
- Run the draw on time and announce winners promptly
- Post the winner moment (with permission) and the total raised; it is the campaign's most shareable content
- Thank everyone within 48 hours, winners and non-winners alike, with the thank you email templates
- Record your numbers against the success metrics baseline while they are fresh
- Diarise the impact update for a few months out; it is the first promotion of your next raffle
The one-line version
Schedule everything before launch, open with early access, keep a steady mid-campaign rhythm of prizes and milestones, finish with a real countdown, and close the loop after the draw. Promotion is a calendar, not a talent.
Every item on this checklist points at one destination: a campaign page where buying takes a minute. Set yours up free on GalaBid's raffle platform and start ticking.