The Honest Guide to Online Raffle Platforms for Nonprofits
Most comparison articles are written by generalists with no raffle experience. This one isn't. We've been running online nonprofit raffles since 2005 we've seen what breaks, what works, and what "free" actually costs your cause. Here's the unfiltered truth on every major platform.
Our recommendations at a glance
Scores are based on capability depth, true cost, checkout friction, and support quality not marketing claims. Full breakdowns follow below.
The only platform supporting all four raffle formats Traditional, Basket, Queen of Hearts, and Duck Race. Done-for-you managed setup. Human US phone support. 20 years of raffle-specific operational experience.
Capable platform with strong design. Free tier forces mandatory tip prompts same abandonment risk as Zeffy. Flex tier charges 6.9% on raffle transactions. No basket raffle or Queen of Hearts support.
Genuinely $0 to the org. Donors face a 17–29% tip prompt at checkout, pre-checked. Research shows 30–40% cart abandonment on surprise fees this size. No specialty formats. Stripe only suspension risk for regulated prizes.
All-in-one fundraising suite where raffles are a secondary feature. Tip-based checkout model. Stripe only confirmed mid-campaign account suspension for regulated prizes (wine, spirits, firearms). No specialty raffle formats.
Start here: what type of raffle are you running?
Your format determines your platform options. Traditional draws work on almost any platform. After that, the field narrows fast and for three of the four major formats, there is only one platform that handles them correctly.
Sell tickets, draw a winner. Handled well by nearly every platform on this list. Your decision here comes down to pricing model and checkout experience not features.
Works on all platforms
Also called Tricky Tray or Penny Social. Multiple prize pools, wallet-based ticket allocation, independent draw per basket. Requires a platform built for it workarounds destroy the donor experience. Native support is exclusive to Chance2Win.
Chance2Win exclusive
Progressive weekly jackpot 54-card deck, weekly draws, growing jackpot until the Queen is selected. Jackpots reach $100K–$300K in engaged communities. Requires automated board management, card elimination logic, and weekly workflow. Fully exclusive to Chance2Win.
Chance2Win exclusive
Pre-numbered pool tied to a live physical event. Each ticket corresponds to a duck or ball. Refund-driven renumbering handled automatically no other platform accounts for this correctly. Exclusive to Chance2Win.
Chance2Win exclusiveFull capability and pricing comparison
Every major factor that determines whether a raffle platform will actually work for your organization.
| Feature | Chance2Win ★ | RallyUp | Zeffy | Givebutter | BetterWorld |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional raffle | ✓ Excellent | ✓ Good | ✓ Basic | ✓ Basic | ✓ Basic |
| Basket raffle (native) | ✓ | ✗ Workaround | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Queen of Hearts | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Duck race / ball drop | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Hybrid cash + online pool | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Multi-gateway payments | ✓ Premium | ✗ Stripe only | ✗ Stripe only | ✗ Stripe only | ✗ Stripe only |
| No tip at donor checkout | ✓ | ⚠ Free tier only | ✗ | ✗ | ⚠ Free plan |
| US phone support | ✓ | ⚠ Limited | ✗ AI chatbot | ✗ | ✗ |
| Compliance-first onboarding | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Free to organization | ✓ Zero Fee plan | ⚠ Free tier w/ tips | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Pricing model | Flat fee or disclosed donor charge | Free tier + 6.9% Flex | $0 org + 17–29% donor tip | $0 org + donor tip | $0 org + donor tip |
What "free" actually raises on a $20,000 campaign
The math that tip-based platforms never put in their marketing materials. Run these numbers before you choose a platform.
Baymard Institute · eMarketer June 2024 · Contentsquare 2025 Digital Experience Benchmark · VWO 2026 Conversion Research. Based on $20,000 gross ticket sales. Normalized modeling individual results vary; the direction does not.
Real calls. Real consequences.
After 20 years supporting nonprofit raffles, the Chance2Win team has fielded thousands of support calls. These are the patterns that keep coming up.
"Hey, this is Mark. We talked about the win-a-house raffle a while back. The other guys were free and you charge. We went with them. Funny you should ask how it went…"
Mark's organization sold thousands of tickets for a house raffle. Midway through, they discovered the prize structure had serious legal compliance problems that had never been reviewed before launch. The raffle was cancelled. Every ticket required a manual refund. The "free" platform had no refund management tools whatsoever. After paying processing fees on every refund, the total loss came to approximately $50,000.
Chance2Win reviews every raffle structure before a single ticket goes on sale. That process requires real staff which is part of why the platform isn't free. It's also why disasters like this are preventable for organizations that use it.
The cost of a platform is not the fee it charges. It's what happens when something goes wrong.
"We're a little church in a small town with maybe two stoplights. We're hoping to raise a few thousand dollars for the kids at our Fourth of July picnic."
We expected this campaign to raise $6,000 or $7,000. Supporters started sharing the raffle. Orders came in from outside the town, then outside the state, then from across the country. Ticket bundles dramatically increased the average order size. Final result: 17,369 tickets sold, $351,100 raised. We've seen fundraisers run by NFL players and celebrities raise a fraction of this sometimes 1% or less.
This church runs entirely on volunteers. They don't take salaries. Almost every dollar raised goes directly to the kids they serve. Their supporters know it. They believe in it. And they share it. Authentic mission, real community support, and the right fundraising structure.
Successful fundraising isn't driven by marketing budgets. It's driven by belief in the cause and a platform that doesn't get in the way.
Queen of Hearts: the most powerful format nobody's running online correctly
Honest reviews. No sponsored placements.
Our editorial position: we acknowledge competitor strengths. An honest review that gives credit where it's due is more persuasive and more useful than a pure takedown.
Chance2Win Editor's Choice for Specialized Raffles
chance2win.org · 20+ years · Apollo Beach, Florida · (813) 699-9325
Chance2Win is the only platform that supports all four major raffle formats in a single managed system. It is done-for-you: their team builds and hosts your custom raffle website, handles compliance-first onboarding, and answers the phone. Not a chatbot. Not a ticket system. A person who knows raffle mechanics and charitable gaming law. Pricing: Two models, both free to the organization. Zero Fee plan a fixed 12% service charge disclosed to donors at checkout (approximately 1–2% incremental abandonment above baseline). Premium plan organization pays a flat fee starting at $329; near-zero incremental abandonment. Not available in Utah (prohibits fundraising raffles) or Hawaii (prohibits paid raffles). The platform is not self-serve every organization goes through compliance review before launch. Start Your Raffle at Chance2Win →RallyUp Solid for Standard Events, Expensive at Scale
RallyUp is a capable fundraising campaign tool with strong design and solid peer-to-peer fundraising features. For traditional raffles and standard draws, it performs well. Its free tier forces mandatory tip prompts that cannot be disabled generating the same cart abandonment exposure as Zeffy. The Flex tier at 6.9% on raffle transactions is expensive once your campaign exceeds $10,000 in sales. No basket raffle, no Queen of Hearts, no duck race. Best honest use case: polished peer-to-peer campaigns and corporate events where specialty raffle formats aren't needed and budget justifies the Flex tier cost.Zeffy Genuinely Free, Genuinely Limited
Zeffy's headline is accurate: $0 to your organization. The cost is paid by your donors through a variable tip prompt at checkout typically 17–29%, pre-checked. Independent research consistently documents 30–40% cart abandonment on surprise fees of this magnitude. On a $20,000 raffle, that's $5,000–$8,000 in lost revenue before Zeffy processes a single transaction. No basket raffle. No Queen of Hearts. No duck race. No phone support. Stripe only. Best honest use case: casual fundraisers under $5,000, simple traditional draws, situations where you can personally walk donors through checkout friction. Is Zeffy really free? Full analysis →Givebutter All-in-One Suite, Shallow Raffle Features
Givebutter is a well-designed all-in-one fundraising suite where raffles are a secondary feature. Same tip-based checkout friction as Zeffy. Stripe-only with confirmed mid-campaign account suspension for regulated prizes. No specialty raffle formats. Best honest use case: organizations already embedded in Givebutter for donation campaigns where a basic raffle is a minor add-on.Which platform is right for your organization?
Run through these in order. The right answer usually reveals itself by the third question.
Or call the team directly: (813) 699-9325 · Apollo Beach, Florida · Mon–Fri 8am–5pm EST
Raffle and charitable gaming laws vary by state. Nothing on this site constitutes legal advice. Always consult a licensed attorney familiar with your state's charitable gaming regulations before launching a raffle campaign. Chance2Win does not operate in Utah (prohibits fundraising raffles) or Hawaii (prohibits paid raffles). Published by The Chance2Win Team, Apollo Beach, Florida. © 2026 RafflePlatforms.com · Independent nonprofit fundraising software reviews.