Raffles Without a Licence

A raffle can be run without any licence or registration if it qualifies as an incidental lottery under the Gambling Act 2005. This is the most common type of raffle in the UK — the standard raffle at a school fair, charity dinner, village fete, or quiz night. No paperwork needs to be filed with the local authority or the Gambling Commission, and no fees are payable. However, the raffle must meet every condition of an incidental lottery. Failing to meet even one condition moves the raffle into a category that does require registration.

Conditions for an Incidental Lottery

An incidental lottery must satisfy all of the following conditions simultaneously. There is no discretion — if any condition is not met, the raffle is not an incidental lottery and the organiser needs to register as a small society lottery or obtain a licence.

The raffle must be incidental to a larger event

The lottery cannot be the main purpose of the event. It must be a secondary activity — incidental to a fete, fair, dinner, concert, quiz, sports match, or other gathering. An event organised solely to hold a raffle does not qualify.

In practice, this condition is straightforward to meet. A school summer fair with stalls, games, food, and a raffle clearly satisfies it. A "raffle night" where the only activity is buying raffle tickets and watching the draw does not.

Tickets must be sold at the event only

All ticket sales must take place at the event itself. Tickets cannot be sold in advance — not by post, not online, not at the school gates the week before, not through a WhatsApp group. Pre-event promotion of the raffle is permitted (to encourage attendance at the event), but the actual transaction of selling a ticket must happen at the event venue during the event.

This is the condition most frequently breached, often unintentionally. Sending raffle tickets home in school book bags for parents to buy and return is advance selling, not event-only selling. Selling tickets in a pub the week before a quiz night is advance selling. Both would move the raffle into small society lottery territory.

The draw must take place during the event

The winning tickets must be drawn at the event, not afterwards. The results must be made available at the event — either announced publicly or displayed.

A raffle where tickets are sold at a Saturday fair but the draw happens the following Monday does not qualify as an incidental lottery. The draw must happen while the event is still taking place.

Prize and expense limits

No more than £500 may be deducted from the proceeds for prizes. This does not mean the prize value is capped at £500 — it means the amount taken from ticket sales revenue to fund prizes cannot exceed £500. Donated prizes that cost the organiser nothing do not count against this limit because they are not deducted from proceeds.

No more than £100 may be deducted from the proceeds for expenses. Expenses include ticket printing, signage, and any other costs associated with running the lottery. Again, this is a deduction limit from proceeds, not a cap on total expenditure. If the PTA pays for tickets from a separate budget line rather than deducting the cost from raffle proceeds, the position is less clear — the safest approach is to keep all lottery-related expenses within £100.

No rollover

Prizes cannot roll over from one incidental lottery to the next. Each event's raffle is a standalone lottery. If a prize is unclaimed, it cannot be added to the prize pool at the next event's raffle.

What Organisers Can and Cannot Do

Note that the uniform pricing rule (all tickets the same price) does not apply to incidental lotteries. Organisers can offer "£1 each or 5 strips for £3" at an event raffle without breaching any regulation. This restriction only applies to small society lotteries.

Practical Examples

School summer fair. The PTA runs a raffle alongside stalls, games, and refreshments. Tickets are sold at the fair entrance and at a dedicated raffle table. Prizes are donated by parents and local businesses. The draw takes place at 3pm, during the fair. Winners are announced over the PA system. This is an incidental lottery — no registration needed.

Charity quiz night. A charity hosts a quiz evening at a local pub. Raffle tickets are sold at the door and during the interval. Prizes are a mix of donated vouchers and purchased items (total purchased: £200). The draw happens between the quiz rounds. This is an incidental lottery.

Church harvest supper. The church runs a raffle at the harvest supper. Tickets are sold during the meal. Prizes are donated hampers. The draw takes place before dessert. This is an incidental lottery.

Sports club match day. A rugby club runs a half-time draw at a home match. Tickets are sold around the ground during the first half. The draw happens at half time. This is an incidental lottery — though if the prize exceeds £500 from proceeds or the club wants to sell tickets during the week, it becomes a small society lottery.

Common Mistakes

Several common practices inadvertently move a raffle out of incidental lottery status and into territory that requires registration.

Selling tickets before the event

The most frequent mistake. Sending tickets home with school children, selling at the bar in the week before a quiz night, or taking orders via social media all constitute advance sales. The moment a ticket is sold before the event begins, the raffle is no longer an incidental lottery.

Holding the draw after the event

Drawing winning tickets the following day — perhaps because the event ran late or the organiser forgot — means the draw did not take place during the event. This is a breach of the incidental lottery conditions.

Exceeding the £500 prize deduction limit

If the organiser purchases prizes totalling £700 and deducts this from ticket sale proceeds, the £500 limit is breached. The solution is either to reduce purchased prizes below £500, source more prizes through donation, or register as a small society lottery.

Running a standalone raffle event

A "raffle evening" where the sole activity is the raffle does not qualify as an incidental lottery. The raffle must be incidental to a wider event. Pairing the raffle with a social activity — a meal, entertainment, a quiz, a talk — satisfies the condition. The wider event does not need to be elaborate, but it must exist as a genuine activity in its own right.

Treating regular event raffles as separate incidentals

A society running a raffle at every monthly meeting may argue each is a separate incidental lottery. While technically each event's raffle is independent, the regularity of the arrangement and the advance expectation among members that a raffle will occur may attract scrutiny. Societies running regular raffles are generally better served by registering as a small society lottery — the annual cost is £20, and it removes any compliance ambiguity.

When to Register Instead

An incidental lottery is appropriate for occasional, event-based raffles with modest prizes. Registration as a small society lottery is the better option when:

• tickets need to be sold in advance of the event
• prizes exceed the £500 deduction limit
• the organisation runs raffles regularly (monthly or more frequently)
• the draw cannot practically take place during the event
• the organisation wants the flexibility to sell tickets over a period of weeks

Registration costs £40 initially and £20 per year — a modest expense that gives the society significantly more flexibility in how it runs its raffles. For the full legal framework, see UK Raffle Law.

Questions about running a raffle without a licence? See our help centre.

Last reviewed: February 2026