Types of Raffles

The Gambling Act 2005 classifies raffles as lotteries and defines several distinct categories, each with different rules, registration requirements, and financial limits. For the legal definition of a raffle and how it differs from tombolas, sweepstakes, and prize draws, see What Is a Raffle. The type of raffle that applies depends on who is running it, where tickets are sold, and the scale of the operation. Choosing the correct type before tickets are printed or sold is essential — operating under the wrong category is a compliance breach.

Incidental Lottery

An incidental lottery is a raffle held at an event where the draw takes place during the event itself. It is the simplest and most common raffle type, requiring no licence and no registration with the local authority.

The Gambling Commission defines an incidental lottery by several conditions. Ticket sales must take place only at the event — not in advance, not online, not by post. The draw must happen during the event and the results must be announced at the event. No more than £500 may be deducted from the proceeds for prizes, and no more than £100 may be deducted for expenses. No rollover of prizes to another lottery is permitted.

The event itself must not be organised solely for the purpose of the lottery. The raffle must be genuinely incidental to a wider event — a school fair, charity dinner, quiz night, sports match, or community gathering.

In practice, incidental lotteries are the default choice for one-off event raffles. School fairs, summer fetes, church socials, pub quiz nights, and charity galas almost always operate as incidental lotteries. Problems arise when organisers sell tickets in advance or exceed the prize and expense limits without realising they have moved into small society lottery territory.

Small Society Lottery

A small society lottery is the most common type for organisations running planned fundraising raffles with advance ticket sales. It requires registration with the local authority but does not require a licence from the Gambling Commission.

To qualify, the raffle must be promoted by a non-commercial society — an organisation established for charitable purposes, sport, culture, or other non-commercial objectives. The society must register with the local authority in the area where its principal office is located. Registration costs £40 initially and £20 per annual renewal.

The operating limits for a small society lottery are:

All tickets must be sold at the same price — bundle discounts (such as "5 for £3") are not permitted for small society lotteries, as this results in tickets being sold at different per-ticket prices. The promoter's name and address, the society's name, the ticket price, and the draw date must all appear on every ticket.

The society must submit a return to the local authority within three months of each draw and retain records for at least three years. Full details are covered in Small Society Lotteries and Returns and Reporting.

Large Society Lottery

When a society's raffle exceeds the small society thresholds, it must hold an operating licence from the Gambling Commission. The annual licence fee starts at £196.

Large society lotteries may have proceeds of up to £5,000,000 per draw and £50,000,000 per year. The maximum single prize is £500,000 or 10% of proceeds, whichever is greater. At least 20% of proceeds must go to good causes.

Most community organisations — schools, PTAs, local sports clubs, churches — will never reach these thresholds. Large society lottery licences are held primarily by national charities, professional lottery operators, and large membership organisations running substantial lottery programmes.

The transition from small society to large society lottery is not automatic. A society that expects to exceed the small society limits must apply for a Gambling Commission licence before the draw that would breach the threshold, not after.

Private Lottery

A private lottery is restricted to a defined, closed group. The Gambling Commission identifies three types of private lottery:

Private society lottery — restricted to members of a single society. The society must be established for purposes other than running a lottery. Only members may buy tickets.

Work lottery — restricted to people who work on the same premises. All participants must be employed at or working from the same location.

Residents' lottery — restricted to people who live at the same premises. All participants must reside at the same address.

Private lotteries require no licence and no registration. However, they are subject to strict conditions: no advertising outside the eligible group, no rollover prizes, and all proceeds must go to prizes or to the purposes of the society. No profit may be taken by any individual.

Tickets must state that the lottery is a private lottery and identify the society, workplace, or premises. Tickets may only be sold by authorised persons and must not be sold to anyone outside the qualifying group.

Private lotteries are commonly used for workplace raffles — office draws, team events, and internal fundraisers. They are also used by clubs and societies that wish to run a members-only draw without registering with the local authority.

50/50 Raffle

A 50/50 raffle (also called a half-time draw or split-the-pot) is a format where the prize pool is determined by ticket sales — typically half the total proceeds go to the winner and half to the organising society.

A 50/50 raffle is not a separate legal category. It is still classified as a lottery under the Gambling Act 2005, and the rules that apply depend on the format. A 50/50 draw at a football match where tickets are sold and drawn during the match operates as an incidental lottery. A 50/50 draw with advance ticket sales operates as a small society lottery.

The 20% minimum to good causes applies if the raffle is run as a small society lottery. A 50/50 split satisfies this requirement since 50% of proceeds go to the society — well above the 20% minimum. However, if expenses are high, the organiser must ensure that the net amount reaching good causes still meets the threshold.

50/50 raffles are most common at sports club events, particularly football and rugby matches. The format is effective because the growing prize pot is visible to potential buyers throughout the event. For full details, see 50/50 Raffles.

Tombola

A tombola is a variant of a raffle where participants draw a ticket and immediately discover whether they have won. In a standard tombola, tickets ending in 0 or 5 win a prize, giving roughly a 1-in-5 chance of winning.

Legally, a tombola is classified as an incidental lottery when it takes place at an event. The same rules apply: tickets sold at the event only, draw during the event, maximum £500 prize deduction from proceeds, maximum £100 expenses. Because every winner claims their prize immediately, there is no separate draw procedure.

Tombolas differ from standard raffles in several practical ways. Prizes are typically lower in individual value but higher in volume — a tombola stall at a school fair might have 100 small prizes rather than 5 large ones. The instant-win format means no stubs are collected and no draw announcement is needed.

Tombolas are a staple of school fairs, church fetes, and community events across the UK. For a detailed guide to setting up and running a tombola, see Tombola.

Prize Draw

A prize draw is not technically a raffle. The critical distinction is that a legitimate prize draw offers free entry — removing the "payment" element that makes an arrangement a lottery under the Gambling Act 2005.

If participants must pay to enter, the arrangement is a lottery regardless of what the organiser calls it. If a genuine free entry route exists alongside a paid route, the arrangement may qualify as a free draw, which falls outside lottery regulation entirely.

The Gambling Commission publishes guidance on the distinction between lotteries and free draws. The free entry route must be genuinely available and clearly communicated — not hidden in small print or made artificially difficult.

Prize draws are relevant in the raffle context because they are sometimes used as an alternative to online ticket sales, which require a remote lottery operating licence. Some organisations choose to run a free prize draw online instead of a lottery. The legal considerations are different from those for raffles and are covered in Online Raffles.

Online Raffle

Selling raffle tickets online in the UK requires the society to hold a remote lottery operating licence from the Gambling Commission, in addition to any local authority registration. This applies regardless of the scale of the raffle.

The requirement for a remote licence has led many organisations to explore alternatives: promoting the raffle online but selling tickets in person, running a free prize draw online instead, or using an external lottery manager (ELM) who already holds the appropriate licence.

Online raffles conducted through social media — particularly Facebook — are a frequent source of compliance issues. Many Facebook raffles operate without proper licensing, and the Gambling Commission has published specific guidance on this. For the full legal position and practical alternatives, see Online Raffles.

Comparison Table

The table below summarises the key differences between raffle types to help organisers identify which category applies to their situation.

Which Type Applies?

The decision depends on the answers to four questions:

1. Is entry free? If yes, it is a prize draw, not a raffle, and lottery regulation does not apply.
2. Are tickets sold only at the event, with the draw during the event? If yes, and prizes do not exceed £500 from proceeds, it is an incidental lottery. No licence or registration is needed.
3. Are tickets sold in advance, or do prizes exceed incidental lottery limits? If yes, the society needs to register as a small society lottery with the local authority — provided the per-draw and annual limits are not exceeded.
4. Is the raffle restricted to members, workers, or residents of a single premises? If yes, it may qualify as a private lottery with no registration required.

For a step-by-step decision tool, see the Licence Checker. For the full legal framework, see UK Raffle Law.

Questions about raffle types? See our help centre.

Last reviewed: February 2026