Raffle and competition websites are becoming more popular each year. There’s all kinds available with various pricing, from winning millions to luxury houses to custom camper vans. Many of these raffle websites have a fairly high ticket price compared to the lottery. One of the biggest new players in the online raffle/competition industry is Omaze, they offer players a chance to win a luxury house somewhere in the UK or Europe. Ticket prices start from £10, but you can even subscribe on a monthly basis.
Here at Developer Rocket we make websites for Raffle and competition businesses all around the UK. We can get your business up and running or improve what you currently have. Get in touch here.
Step by step guide
We have a step-by-step guide available, here. We charge for this because we have put a lot of time and effort into putting this guide together and it’s made with years of experience so you save time and money when you make your own site. Buy it here too.
Why a raffle or competition website a good business model?
Hosting an online raffle offers numerous benefits and serves various purposes, making it an attractive option for organizations, businesses, and individuals alike. Here are some of the key reasons why conducting an online raffle can be advantageous:
1. Accessibility: Online raffles break down geographical barriers, allowing people from all over the world to participate. This accessibility expands your potential participant pool, increasing the chances of reaching a larger audience and generating more revenue or engagement.
2. Convenience: Participants can enter online raffles from the comfort of their own homes, at any time that suits them. This convenience encourages more people to participate, as they don’t have to go to a physical location or adhere to specific entry hours.
3. Cost-Effectiveness: Hosting an online raffle can be more cost-effective than traditional offline methods. There’s no need to print physical tickets, rent a venue, or hire staff to manage the event. This cost savings allows you to allocate more resources towards prizes, marketing, or charitable causes.
4. Increased Reach: With the power of digital marketing and social media, online raffles have the potential to reach a wider audience than traditional methods. You can leverage various online channels to promote your raffle and attract participants, including social media platforms, email newsletters, websites, and online communities.
5. Data Collection: Online raffles provide an opportunity to collect valuable data about your participants, including their contact information, demographics, and preferences. This data can help you better understand your audience and tailor your future marketing efforts to reach them more effectively.
6. Fundraising: For charitable organizations, online raffles can be an effective way to raise funds for a cause. By selling raffle tickets online, organizations can reach a larger donor base and generate more donations than traditional fundraising methods.
7. Brand Awareness: Hosting an online raffle can help increase brand awareness and visibility for businesses. By offering attractive prizes and promoting the event across various online channels, businesses can attract new customers, engage with existing ones, and strengthen their brand reputation.
8. Engagement and Community Building: Online raffles can foster a sense of community and engagement among participants. By creating excitement around the event, encouraging social sharing, and providing opportunities for interaction, organizers can build a loyal and engaged audience.
9. Greater chance of winning: The chances of winning competitions are higher than a lottery. Depending on the company doing it, you can almost guarantee your chance of winning is higher simply down to the lower number of people playing. This might make spending £10 on a ticket more appealing to customers. You can find more info about the odds of winning the lottery from the blog post from Health Lottery.
But isn’t online raffle gambling? Are competition websites legal?
According to UK law Online raffles and competitions are not gambling. These types of websites and apps are still fairly new so there isn’t the same level of laws compared to gambling.‘ Prize Competitions’ is the official terminology used by The Gambling Commission.
If you are looking for some more information about illegal lotteries, PWC has a great article about this, Illegal raffles and lotteries in the United Kingdom
What are the legal requirements for running a competition site?
Running your own competition website is straightforward, and with a few guidelines, it doesn’t require any special licensing.
Do I need a license to run a competition website?
Prize competitions and free draws are exempt from regulation under the Gambling Act 2005, meaning they don’t require a license. These competitions can be held for commercial or personal purposes, allowing you to offer prizes or promote a product in a fun, engaging way without the need for licensing.
What is a prize competition?
A true prize competition is one where winners are chosen based on skill, judgment, or knowledge. Under the Gambling Act, a legitimate prize competition requires that the skill, knowledge, or judgment involved should either:
- Discourage a significant number of potential entrants from participating, or
- Prevent a substantial number of entrants from winning a prize.
By including a qualifying question related to the prize, you ensure that participants must possess a certain level of knowledge or judgment. Alternatively, you can provide a free entry option to meet these requirements.
How do you structure a competition to meet the ‘skill’ requirement?
To satisfy the skill test, you must reasonably expect that the level of skill, judgment, or knowledge required will either:
- Deter a significant portion of potential participants from entering, or
- Prevent a considerable number of entrants from winning a prize.
The necessary level of skill or knowledge depends on your target audience. If the questions are too simple and fail to discourage enough participants or eliminate a substantial number of entrants, the skill test won’t be met. In this case, you’ll need to increase the skill level (keeping records to justify your reasoning) or ensure the competition is free to enter.
How should I set up the multiple-choice question?
For competitions using multiple-choice questions, the Gambling Commission advises that there should be enough credible alternative answers and that the correct answer should not be placed too close to the question itself. The required level of skill or knowledge will vary based on the target audience.
How do I ensure there is a free entry route?
Even if a competition includes a paid entry route, it will be considered free to enter if there is an alternative free route, provided that:
- The alternative entry method, such as sending a letter by regular post or using another communication method without payment, is just as convenient as the paid route.
- The free entry route is clearly displayed in an equally prominent and understandable position.
- The prize allocation system treats all entries equally, without discrimination between paid and free routes, and both are entered into the same winner selection process.
If you’re unsure whether your competition meets the skill test, you can ensure it falls outside the scope of the Gambling Act by offering a free entry option or, if payment is required, by providing an alternative free route that is well-advertised. A competition that fails the skill test can still be outside the Gambling Act’s remit if:
- No payment is required to enter, including to find out if you’ve won or to collect a prize, or
- There is a clearly available free entry route.
The Gambling Act defines ‘payment’ to include not just money, but anything of value, such as paying extra for a product to enter or using premium rate phone numbers, including when paying more for a promotional product compared to a non-promotional one.
PLEASE NOTE – The advice provided above is for informational purposes only. While we have conducted research, we recommend that you carry out your own research and/or consult with a legal professional.
What is the difference between the lottery and an online competition?
Most people have played the lottery at some point in their lives, you buy a ticket at your super market or online, numbers are then randomly chosen and a winner is chosen based on the numbers they picked. Lottery is a form of gambling, there are three aspects to this which make it so:
- Payment
- One or more prizes are won
- Prizes are awarded by random chance
If you had an online raffle or competition which had those three areas then it would be gambling and thus, illegal.
How do you make a competition or raffle website legal and not gambling?
There is a pretty sneaky workaround for this, which all online raffles or competitions must use.
Skill based questions
For an online raffle to be legal, the Gambling Commission states that..
“competitions that genuinely rely on skill, judgment or knowledge are to be permitted to operate free of any regulatory control under the Gambling Act 2005”,
Many websites got around this by asking very similar questions that everyone knows the answer to, however, the Gambling Commission states…
“there are some competitions that ask just one simple question, the answer to which is widely and commonly known or is blatantly obvious from the material accompanying the competition. The Commission considers that these do not meet the test in the Act.”
In fact, it is stated in the Gambling Act 2005 that the skill-based question should be difficult enough to..
“Deter a significant proportion of those who wish to enter from doing so, or. Prevent a significant proportion of those who do enter from winning a prize”
So in order for your competition website to be legal, the questions need to be somewhat difficult. But the level of difficulty is always up for debate.
Free entries
If your question on your competition website is too easy then the other way to make sure it’s legal is to make the entrees free.
The Gambling Commission states:-
“if a competition organiser establishes two equally prominent and convenient methods of paying for entry and one costs less than the other, that is sufficient for the competition to meet the requirement.”
You can add a free way to enter as well as paid options, but the free route must be treated in the same way as the paid route. This means someone with a free ticket must have an equal chance of winning compared to the paid participant. The same maximum entries for both free and paid too.
Top Website Builders for Raffle Competitions in the UK
It’s up for debate on what the best way to build a competition website is, you could create your own custom system using code, or you could use a pre-built platform, both are intimidating if you don’t have any development experience. Below is what we recommend:
Using WordPress to make a competition or raffle website
WordPress is a top choice for building competition or raffle websites because it offers a huge selection of plugins and themes tailored to these types of websites. With its extensive library, WordPress allows you to easily integrate features like countdown timers, entry forms, and secure payment gateways without needing advanced coding skills. Pre-built plugins like RafflePress, WPForms, and WooCommerce make it possible to add functionalities such as entry restrictions, email collection, and prize management, saving you time on custom development.
Moreover, the wide range of themes available for WordPress means you can achieve a professional and engaging look from the start. Many themes are specifically designed for raffles, competitions, and giveaways, which means they’re optimized for user experience, fast loading times, and mobile responsiveness. WordPress also enables quick updates and flexibility, allowing you to easily scale or adjust your site as your audience grows. Overall, using WordPress for your competition or raffle site simplifies the setup process and helps you create a seamless experience for users, leaving you more time to focus on growing your entries and engagement.
How to make a competition or raffle website
Before we go through the list, make sure that your website is legally viable, and make sure you look into the laws regarding your raffle website before launching it.
Step 1: Define Your Goals
Before you start building your website, it’s essential to clearly define your goals. Are you looking to raise funds for a charity or organization? Do you want to increase brand awareness or drive traffic to your site? Understanding your objectives will help you tailor your website design and marketing strategy accordingly.
Step 2: Choose a Platform
There are several platforms available for creating raffle or competition websites, ranging from DIY website builders to custom development. Popular options include WordPress with plugins like RafflePress or WooCommerce, dedicated raffle platforms like Rafflecopter or Raffall, or custom development using web development frameworks like Django or Ruby on Rails. Choose a platform that aligns with your technical skills and budget.
We recommend RafflePress because we often use WordPress to make websites. This is a great platform to start a competition or raffle website because the plugin is quick and easy to set up. It also has great features which allow the users to get more entries by sharing the competition on their social platforms like Facebook and Twitter, and you can also get more entries if they visit, subscribe and take other actions on YouTube. It’s the perfect way to share and make your competition go viral.
Step 3: Design Your Website
The design of your website plays a crucial role in attracting participants and encouraging them to enter your raffle or competition. Ensure that your website is visually appealing, easy to navigate, and mobile-friendly. Use high-quality images and clear, concise copy to communicate the details of your event and the prizes on offer.
In order to get a great looking websites it’s important to put the research in. Try and find some websites you like the look of, and if you are struggling try looking on Behance or Dribble. This is where web designers like us submit their designs.
Step 4: Set Up Registration and Payment Processing
Make it easy for participants to register for your raffle or competition and purchase tickets or entries. Implement a user-friendly registration process with clear instructions and minimal friction. Integrate secure payment processing to accept payments online, ensuring the safety of your participants’ financial information.
Many of the Raffle plugins and software options have their own registration and payment integration. We would recommend using something like Stripe or Paypal as they are the most accessible. However many competition websites do not allow a standard payment gateway, so Stripe and Paypal may not be an option for you. The most popular payment gateway for competition/raffle websites is Cashflows, you are required to sign up for this, pay their fee and send over various documents like ID, proof of address and others. Make sure you take this into consideration when you budget for your competition website.
Step 5: Promote Your Website
Once your website is live, it’s time to promote your raffle or competition to attract participants. Utilize a mix of digital marketing channels, including social media, email marketing, influencer partnerships, and paid advertising, to reach your target audience. Highlight the unique features of your event and the exciting prizes on offer to entice people to participate.
Step 6: Manage Your Event
Throughout the duration of your raffle or competition, it’s essential to actively manage and promote your event to maintain momentum and engagement. Regularly update your website and social media channels with countdowns, winner announcements, and behind-the-scenes content to keep participants excited and informed.
Step 7: Follow Up
After your raffle or competition has ended, take the time to follow up with participants and winners. Thank everyone who participated, whether they won or not, and collect feedback to improve future events. Make sure to deliver prizes promptly and professionally to maintain a positive relationship with your audience.
How much does a raffle or competition website cost to develop?
At Developer Rocket, we aim to keep our prices as fair as possible, we price our services based on how long it takes us. In the past, we have charged between £1899 and £3000 for a full ready competition website. If you have your designs, branding and content ready, it can help reduce this price because it’s less work for us!
Get in touch below for a quote from us, this form goes straight to our inbox so we’ll reply when we can, thanks!
Create a raffle website or competition website
Creating a raffle or competition website can be a rewarding way to engage your audience, raise funds, or increase brand awareness. By following these steps and leveraging the right tools and strategies, you can create a successful event that captures the attention of your target audience and drives results for your organisation or business.
If you are looking for help in developing your competition or raffle website get in touch with us at Developer Rocket today!