Crowdfunder | Stories

Love, You Make It: What Olivia Dean’s prize draw can teach charities about music prize draws

Rebecca Hughes — Tue, 03 Nov 2026 09:39:22 +0000

Written: 2 November 2026

Olivia Dean is playing one of her most intimate shows of the year, and the only way in is through a prize draw on Crowdfunder. Love, You Make It takes place at Hackney Church on 18 November and celebrates 15 years of You Make It, an East London charity that helps young, unemployed and underemployed Black and Brown women build confidence and access opportunities.

The draw raised £60,000 in its first 24 hours and has now passed £103,000 from 5,500 supporters. If your charity has a musician among its ambassadors, patrons or supporters, this is a model you can copy. Here is how it works, why it took off so quickly, and how to run your own.

What is the Olivia Dean prize draw?

It is a raffle style prize draw for pairs of standing tickets to a one-night-only, stripped-back Olivia Dean set at Hackney Church. Entries start at £10, with the money raised going to You Make It.

Early access draw: 300 pairs, open only to entries made in the first 24 hours.
Main draw: another 300 pairs, open to everyone who enters before the draw closes.

If you entered in the first 24 hours, your entry goes into both draws. That gave fans a real reason to act on day one, and it is a big part of why the first night went so well.

As with every prize draw on Crowdfunder, it has a free entry route, so anyone can take part without paying.

See the Love, You Make It prize draw →

Why did it raise so much, so fast?

Most celebrity prize draws lead with the star. This one leads with the charity. The event is called Love, You Make It, not “Win tickets to see Olivia Dean”, and the launch was built to give You Make It as much as possible.

Three things stand out.

Fans signed up before they knew what for. Ahead of launch, Olivia asked her fans to sign up to a mailing list to hear about “something exciting”. Those fans got the first look at the draw, and most of the first night’s total came from this warm audience, before a single public post.

Early access rewarded the keenest fans. The two-draw structure turned excitement into action. If you knew about it early, you had better odds, so people entered straight away instead of bookmarking it for later.

The prize money cannot buy. Olivia played six nights at The O2 on her Art of Loving tour. A few hundred people in a Hackney church is a completely different night, and you cannot get in any other way.

Why do music prize draws work so well for charities?

A gig ticket is easy to understand, easy to share and hard to say no to. Music prize draws turn fans into supporters, and they work at every scale.

There is no upper limit on entries, so there is no ceiling on what you can raise. Everyone has the same chance of winning, whether they give £10 or £100, which keeps it fair for fans who could never afford resale prices. And every entrant joins the charity’s community, often for the first time.

Crowdfunder charges no platform fee on prize draws. The only deduction is a small payment processing fee on each entry, so more of the money goes to the cause.

What music prize draws have run on Crowdfunder?

Hackney Church has become a familiar venue for this kind of night. Coldplay’s Chris Martin and Jonny Buckland have played intimate shows there for Crisis and War Child, with tickets only available through a Crowdfunder prize draw. One Coldplay draw raised around £350,000 in 48 hours.

Some of the biggest names in live music have used Crowdfunder in the same way:

Glastonbury: prize draws for Oxfam and War Child have raised over £3 million, with one Oxfam draw passing £1 million in three weeks.
War Child: a mix of big and small draws, from Foo Fighters to Aurora and Brit Awards experiences.
Stagehand #ILoveLive: £915,977 raised through memorabilia and experience draws for live music crew.
Nordoff and Robbins: £28,035 from a draw for a Mark Knopfler guitar.
Music Support: over £10,000 from a single prize draw. For example: Win a Gibson Les Paul signed by The Darkness

What makes a great music prize?

The best prizes are exclusive. If someone could buy it online tomorrow, it will not create the same buzz.

Good music prizes include:

tickets to a small, one-off show
a meet and greet or soundcheck visit
signed instruments, setlists or vinyl
guest list spots on a tour date
a songwriting session or studio visit

Experiences tend to beat physical items, and prizes connected to the cause beat everything.

Does this only work for music?

Not at all. The same model works for any experience people can’t buy: a seat at a sold-out sporting fixture, a behind-the-scenes tour, a meet and greet with an animal at your local zoo or a night somewhere special. If your charity, venue or partner can offer access that money can’t normally buy, a prize draw turns it into funding and new supporters.

Crowdfunder Experiences brings these prize draws together in one place, so you can see what other organisations are offering and get ideas for your own.

Browse Crowdfunder Experiences →

Does my charity need a celebrity to run a music prize draw?

No, but if you have one, use them. Many charities already have musicians as ambassadors, patrons or long-time supporters. Think of it as bringing your own celebrity: you supply the connection, Crowdfunder supplies the platform and the know-how.

If an ambassador is touring next year, a pair of tickets and a meet-and-greet on one date could be your prize. If not, a local band, a venue or a festival can donate something just as special to the right audience.

How do I run a music prize draw on Crowdfunder?

Here is what the most successful music draws have in common.

Put the charity front and centre. Name the event after the cause, explain where the money goes and let the artist talk about why they care. A short, honest video from the artist does more than a reshared graphic.
Warm up your own list first. Give your supporters and the artist’s fans early access before you go public. You will grow your mailing list and start strong.
Give people a reason to enter now. An early access draw, a limited first batch or a clear closing date all help.
Plan your promotion. Line up social posts, emails and a final 24-hour push before you launch. Ask the artist to post on their own channels, and collaborate on posts where you can.
Get the legal bits right. Every Crowdfunder prize draw needs a free entry route and clear terms and conditions. Our prize draw guide and the Gambling Commission’s guidance on prize competitions and free draws cover what you need.

Prize draws on Crowdfunder run on their own and cannot be combined with match funding.

Ready to start your own music prize draw?

Whether you have a headline act or a signed setlist, a prize draw is one of the most exciting ways to raise money and grow your supporter base at the same time.

If your charity has a connection to an artist or an idea for a money-can’t-buy experience, our team will help you shape the prize, plan the launch and get the compliance right.

Crowdfunder Experiences

Start your prize draw →

The post Crowdfunder Stories | Watch the series appeared first on Crowdfunder Stories.

How to run a raffle for your school or PTA

Rebecca Hughes — Fri, 30 Oct 2026 10:53:44 +0000

Written: 27 October 2026

TL;DR: Taking your PTA raffle online can help you raise thousands of pounds by reaching parents, grandparents, local businesses and the wider school community. The simplest route is usually a raffle-style prize draw with a genuine free entry option, which avoids the need for a lottery licence or registration when set up correctly. Choose one or two desirable prizes, aim for £5 per entry with bundle offers, run your draw for two to three weeks, and promote it through school communications and social media. Pick a winner fairly, then make your raffle a regular fundraising tradition to maximise your impact.

PTAs run raffles all the time. At the summer fair, the Christmas bazaar, the end-of-year celebration. But taking that raffle online opens up a much bigger audience than the parents who made it to the school hall, and can raise significantly more as a result.

This guide covers how to run an online raffle or raffle style prize draw for your PTA legally and effectively in the UK, from choosing a prize through to picking a winner and making the most of the money raised. Please note there are some differences in thresholds and requirements in Northern Ireland.

Can a PTA legally run an online raffle?

Yes, but the route you take matters.

Under UK law, a raffle where everyone pays to enter and the winner is chosen at random is legally a lottery. Running an online raffle without the right setup can be a criminal offence, even for a school PTA.

There are two ways to do it properly:

The quick route: run a raffle style prize draw. If you include a genuine free entry route (anyone can enter without paying, often by post), your draw falls outside the definition of a lottery and requires no registration or licence. This is the model Crowdfunder uses, and for most PTAs it’s the simplest option by a long way.

The traditional route: register as a small society lottery. If you want a paid-ticket-only online raffle with no free entry option, your PTA needs to register with the local authority first. This comes with ongoing rules on ticket pricing, what tickets must say, how much of the money goes to your cause, and reporting to your council after every draw. The Gambling Commission’s guidance on small society lotteries covers the detail: gamblingcommission.gov.uk. Please note the rules on lotteries in Northern Ireland differ in some respects, please consult the NI Department for Communities.

What about the raffle at the school fair? A raffle where tickets are sold and the winner drawn at the event itself is usually exempt (as an “incidental lottery”) and doesn’t need registration, though there are limits on how much you can spend on expenses and prizes. Once you sell tickets before the event or online, the exemption no longer applies. At that point you’d need to register as a small society lottery, with the rules and reporting that come with it, or run it as a prize draw with a free entry route instead, which doesn’t need registration.

Full guide: how to run an online raffle legally in the UK →

Why take your PTA raffle online?

A school hall raffle reaches the parents who turned up. An online raffle or prize draw reaches grandparents, aunties, uncles, former parents, local businesses, and anyone in the school community’s wider network who’d happily spend £5 for a chance to win something if you made it easy for them.

The numbers shift when you go online:

More people can enter (not just those physically present)
Entries can come in over days or weeks, not just one evening
Supporters can pay by card or bank transfer, not just cash, so no more counting coins at the end of the evening
You build a list of supporters you can contact for future fundraising

Most PTA raffles at a school fair raise a few hundred pounds. Online PTA raffle style prize draws on Crowdfunder regularly raise into the thousands.

Choose your prize

An online prize draw works differently to the school fair raffle. At the fair, you might have 57 donated bottles, books and chocolates spread across a table. Online, that doesn’t translate. What works online is one or two prizes that people genuinely want to win, something worth sharing beyond the school WhatsApp. Fewer prizes, bigger impact, wider reach.

The prize is what gets people to share the draw beyond the school gate. A bottle of wine from the staffroom collection won’t travel far. Something genuinely desirable will.

What works well for PTAs:

A family holiday or weekend away (donated by a parent who owns a holiday let, or sourced from a local hotel)
A hamper of vouchers from local businesses (restaurant, spa, cinema, activity centre)
A one-off experience: a sports coaching session, a kids’ party package, a cooking class
Tech or gadgets (an iPad is the single most common high-performing raffle prize for PTAs)
A year’s free breakfast club or after-school club place (if your school offers them)

How to source prizes for free:

Ask parents first. Most PTA committees underestimate what their parent community has access to. Someone works at a hotel chain. Someone runs a restaurant. Someone has a holiday cottage sitting empty in October. A direct ask in the class WhatsApp group or via the school newsletter often surfaces prizes that would cost hundreds to buy.

Then approach local businesses. Frame it as visibility, not charity: “Your business will be promoted to 400 families across our school community via email and social media.” Keep the ask specific: “Could you donate a voucher to the value of £50?”

Price your entries and set up bundles

£5 per entry is the sweet spot for most PTA raffles and prize draws. It’s low enough to be impulse-friendly, high enough to add up.

Offer bundles to increase what each person spends:

3 for £10 — this is the one to use if you only pick one bundle. It turns a £5 impulse entry into a £10 transaction.
5 for £20 — for the keener parents and grandparents
10 for £30 — for the PTA superfans

Average entry on a Crowdfunder prize draw is around £18, largely because of bundle pricing. Without bundles, it would be closer to £5.

Discounted bundles are only available on prize draws; they are not legally allowed in society lotteries as every ticket must be sold at the same price.

Make sure your free entry route is compliant

If you’re running a raffle style prize draw (the no-registration route), the free entry route is the thing that makes it legal. It needs to be genuine, not a technicality buried in the small print.

The free entry route must be:

Available by post or another method that’s no more expensive or less convenient than paying to enter
Clearly displayed on your prize draw page, not just hidden in the terms
Open for the same period as the paid entry route
Treated equally in the draw — free entrants have the same chance of winning

Common mistakes PTAs make:

Only mentioning the free entry route in the terms and conditions
Closing the free route before the paid route ends
Not adding free entries to the draw before picking a winner
Requiring free entrants to jump through extra hoops paid entrants don’t face

On Crowdfunder, every prize draw must include a free entry route before it can go live, and the terms template walks you through how to set it out.

Set your target and timeline

Target: Think carefully about whether to choose “keep what you raise” or “all or nothing.” With keep what you raise, you must award the prizes whether or not you reach your target, even if only a handful of entries come in. With all or nothing, you only award prizes if your project reaches its target, and all entries are refunded automatically if you don’t. Most PTAs choose keep what you raise, especially when prizes have been donated and there’s no cash outlay to recover.

Timeline: Two to three weeks is the right window for a PTA raffle. Long enough to build momentum, short enough to maintain urgency.

Time it around the school calendar: the week before half term, the run-up to Christmas, or the last few weeks of the summer term when goodwill is highest.

Fix your closing date before you launch. The deadline is what drives entries in the final 48 hours, which is typically when a third of your total comes in.

Promote it through the school community

Week one: the inner circle. Your PTA committee and class reps should be the first to enter and share. Ask each class rep to forward the link to their year group WhatsApp or email list. Early entries make the page look active when wider audiences see it.

Week two: the full school community. A message from the head teacher or PTA chair via the school’s usual communication channel (Parentmail, ClassDojo, school app, email) is typically the single biggest driver of entries. Follow up on social: the school’s Facebook page, Instagram, and any local community groups you’re part of.

Final 48 hours: the urgency push. A countdown reminder via the school’s comms channel and the class WhatsApp groups. Remind people of the prize, the cause, and the deadline. Make it easy to forward to grandparents and extended family.

Don’t forget: if a local business donated the prize, ask them to share the raffle with their own customers. A post from the local restaurant to their Instagram following can drive entries from people who have no connection to the school at all.

Pick your winner

The winner must be selected fairly. Crowdfunder’s number generator can help with this.

Before you draw:

Make sure all free entries have been added to the pool
Record the total number of entries
Run the generator and save the result as your record of a fair draw

Announce the winner via the school’s usual channels and on your prize draw page. A photo of the winner collecting their prize (with permission) is great content for promoting your next one.

After the draw: turn it into a tradition

The PTAs that raise the most from raffles don’t run one and stop. They make it a fixture: a Christmas raffle, an end-of-year raffle, maybe one tied to a specific project (new playground equipment, a library refresh, a residential trip subsidy fund).

Each raffle builds on the last. Parents who entered once expect it the next time. The class reps know the drill. The local businesses who donated prizes are easier to approach again because they saw the visibility the first time round.

A PTA raffle style prize draw that runs twice a year at £2,000–£5,000 each is £4,000–£10,000 annually, with minimal effort and no registration, licensing or reporting.

Success stories

Friends of Sheldon School (Chippenham) raised £2,026 with a prize draw headlined by a Dyson Supersonic Nural hairdryer worth £399. The funds went to student enrichment programmes, trips and extra-curricular activities. A single standout prize, clearly photographed, with a simple entry structure: £2 for one entry, £10 for seven, £20 for fifteen.

Friends of Meersbrook Bank School (Sheffield) raised £5,110 with a signed Arctic Monkeys drum skin as the prize, funding a playground revamp. A local-pride prize tied to the city’s most famous band, it travelled far beyond the school gate.

KAStonbury Grand Prize Draw (London) is a repeat annual draw run by the King Alfred School parents’ group, tied to its festival-style school event. It raised £2,810 in 2024 and grew to £4,585 in 2025. A good example of how a seasonal draw builds year on year.

SMSJ PTA Oasis Tickets Prize Draw (London) raised £444 from 82 supporters by offering a pair of Oasis tickets at Wembley. The PTA didn’t buy the tickets as a prize, they already had them, and turned a single asset into a fundraiser that engaged the whole school community.

Lady Margaret School PTA (London) raised £2,754 with a Christmas market prize draw. The funds went to the school’s mental health and wellbeing initiative and its library project. Timed to the school’s Christmas market, it extended the fair’s reach online.

Ready to start?

A raffle style prize draw on Crowdfunder is free to set up for schools and PTAs, requires no licence, and can be live in about 20 minutes.

Get started

Pick your winner with our number generator →

Browse prize draws on Crowdfunder →

UK legal guide: do you need a licence for your raffle? →

This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. If you are in any doubt about your specific situation, seek independent legal advice.

The post Crowdfunder Stories | Watch the series appeared first on Crowdfunder Stories.

Three Crowdfunder faces on the Smiley Movement Impact 100 list

Rebecca Hughes — Thu, 29 Oct 2026 09:39:32 +0000

Written: 28 October 2026

Smiley News has named its first Impact 100: The New Generation list for 2026, and three people from the Crowdfunder community are on it.

The list celebrates 100 changemakers from the UK, the US and beyond, across ten categories. Athletes, musicians, inventors and community campaigners all feature. There were no nominations and no voting. A team spent weeks researching hundreds of people and asked one question: who is making the world a better place?

Here is who made it from our corner of the world, and why it makes sense.

Who from Crowdfunder is on the Impact 100 list?

Simon Deverell, Crowdfunder founder and co-CEO. Simon is listed under Founders Building “Impact Into Business”. Smiley News says he is “helping communities turn their innovative ideas into reality”. That is the Crowdfunder story in one line. Every day, people with an idea for their street, club or town use the platform to find the supporters and match funding to make it happen.

Eliza Rain (@disabled_eliza), Crowdfunder content creator. Eliza is listed under Equality & Inclusion Activists, as a creator highlighting disability, LGBTQ+ inclusion and accessibility. They are one of the creators who go out and film content for us, often on the high street, asking whether community funding is the future of the places we spend time in. Their videos show how many of the spaces near you are already crowdfunded, from cafes to community venues, and they do it with accessibility front of mind.

Dave Morris, CEO of Boxing For Better. Dave is listed under Community Builders & Heroes. Smiley News says he is “here to prove that movement is key”. Dave ran a crowd-favourite fundraiser for Boxing for Better CIC: Manchester’s First Fully Inclusive Boxing Hub.

What is Dave Morris doing with Boxing For Better?

Dave is a former amateur boxer. In 2021, he started a free weekly boxing session for young people in Leigh, Greater Manchester, after a rise in youth violence in his town. More than 30 children turned up to the first one.

Boxing For Better now supports hundreds of people each week. Its programmes include free community sessions, disability boxing, probation boxing, a men’s mental health session, and support for homeless people and young offenders. It has run from church halls, schools and community centres, and wants a permanent home.

The target was £30,000 for a permanent, fully accessible, trauma-informed boxing hub in Leigh. It includes an accessible gym, inclusive equipment for SEND and disability sessions, classrooms for mentoring and employability support, and quiet rooms for one-to-one conversations.

The project hit its target on 4 June 2026 and has now raised £40,858. It is still open for donations.

Congratulations to Simon, Eliza and Dave. You can see the full list at smileymovement.org.

If you have an idea that could do some good where you live, start your project on Crowdfunder.

Get started

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Best UK Reward-based Crowdfunding Platforms for Arts

Rebecca Hughes — Mon, 26 Oct 2026 15:02:57 +0000

Written: 26 October 2026

TL;DR: For UK arts projects, Crowdfunder is a lower-cost and more flexible option than Kickstarter.

Fees: Crowdfunder charges no platform fee for arts projects.
Funding model: Crowdfunder offers all or nothing or flexible funding. Kickstarter is all or nothing only.
Match funding: Crowdfunder has match funding, including Creative Scotland Crowdmatch (up to £10,000 per project). Kickstarter has very little.
Musicians: Offer rewards at different pledge levels, such as credits at £5 to £15, signed CDs at £20 to £40, and listening parties or studio session invites at £50 to £100.
Examples: Marisa and the Moths raised £23,412, and Faye MacCalman and Tobias ben Jacob are live now.
Choosing: Crowdfunder is best for UK audience.

The best UK reward-based crowdfunding platform for arts depends on three things: what it costs, what happens if you miss your target and whether it can unlock match funding. Crowdfunder and Kickstarter are the two main options for UK artists, and they handle all three differently.

This guide compares them on fees, funding model, rewards and match funding, with real UK figures, so you can pick the right one before you launch.

What is reward crowdfunding and how does it work for arts projects?

Reward crowdfunding means supporters pledge money to your project and get something back, such as a signed print, a ticket, an early copy of the album or a credit on the film. You set a target and a deadline, share your page and collect pledges from your audience.

It suits arts projects because most artists already have something people want to own or experience. A band can offer the record before anyone else hears it. A theatre company can offer tickets and a thank you in the programme. A visual artist can offer a limited print run.

The rewards also do a second job. They give people a reason to pledge now rather than later, and they turn a one-off donation into a relationship with someone who will come to your next show.

What should UK artists look for in a reward crowdfunding platform?

Look at five things: the total cost, the funding model, how rewards work, whether match funding is available and how much support you get. Put the fees side by side first, because they change how much of your target reaches your bank account.

Total cost. Most platforms charge a platform fee plus a payment processing fee on every pledge. Add both together and work out what you would actually receive from your target. If you are fundraising for a not-for-profit or community organisation, check whether the platform fee is waived.

Funding model. With all or nothing, you only receive the money if you reach your target by the closing date. With flexible funding, you keep what you raise even if you miss it. All or nothing tends to attract larger pledges. Flexible funding suits projects that can still go ahead with a smaller amount.

Rewards. Check that you can offer different reward levels and that you are clear about delivery dates. If you miss your target on a flexible funding project you still have to fulfil the rewards supporters pledged for.

Match funding. Match funding adds money from a funder when your supporters pledge. It also gives people a reason to act. Crowdfunder’s own data shows supporters are 84% more likely to donate when match funding is available, and average donations are 2.5 times larger.

Support and audience. A platform will not hand you an audience. Look at what help you get with planning, promotion and the practical side of running a campaign, such as webinars and a help centre.

Which are the best UK reward crowdfunding platforms for arts?

Crowdfunder is the strongest fit for most UK arts projects because it offers both funding models, UK match funding and no platform fee for arts projects. Kickstarter is a good choice if you want a large international audience and are happy with all or nothing. Fees below were checked in October 2026.

	Crowdfunder	Kickstarter
Platform fee	None for arts and creative projects (fees page)	5% of funds raised (UK fees)
Payment processing	2.9% + 30p per pledge on UK and EU cards	3% + 30p per pledge. Pledges under £10: 5% + 8p
Funding model	All or nothing or flexible funding (how they differ)	All or nothing only
If you miss your target	All or nothing: supporters are refunded. Flexible: you keep what you raised	No fees charged and supporters are not charged
Rewards	Yes, plus donations and prize draws	Yes
Match funding	Yes, through funds such as Creative Scotland Crowdmatch, or bring your own funder	No match funding scheme on the platform
Payout	Within 7 working days of the campaign ending (arts page)	Check Kickstarter’s payout schedule

There is no platform fee for arts and creative projects on Crowdfunder. Payment processing fees still apply.

Other platforms, including Indiegogo, also run reward campaigns, and membership platforms such as Patreon suit ongoing support better than a one-off project. Check current fees and UK availability before you commit to any of them.

Can arts projects get match funding in the UK?

Yes, but it depends on where you are and what is open. Match funding is where a funder adds money to what your supporters pledge, and on Crowdfunder it has been used for arts projects in Scotland and England. Kickstarter does not offer it.

Creative Scotland Crowdmatch. This fund is run by Crowdfunder and Creative Scotland for individuals, groups and creative businesses working in Scotland across arts, screen and the creative industries. It matches eligible donations pound for pound, up to £250 per donation, with up to £10,000 available per project, capped at 50% of your target. You need at least 25 unique supporters and must reach 100% of your original target. Across the scheme, 176 projects have raised £1,754,175 from 19,185 supporters. Check out the fund page to ensure it’s live before you plan around it.

Bring your own match fund. If you already have a funder, a local business or a major donor, Crowdfunder lets you add your own match fund to your project. Ask a funder to match pledges 1:1, suggest a cap and a closing date, and tell them what their name on your page will do for their reputation locally.

One rule to remember: prize draws cannot be combined with match funding on Crowdfunder, so choose one route for your campaign. Our match funding FAQs and guide to applying for match funding explain how it works.

How can musicians use reward crowdfunding for albums, EPs, tours and equipment?

Musicians often use rewards to pre-sell what they are making. You set pledge levels and give each one a reward that costs you little but means something to a fan. Crowdfunder’s complete guide to crowdfunding for musicians suggests this kind of ladder:

Albums and EPs: thank-you credits, demos and behind-the-scenes updates at £5 to £15. Early downloads, signed CDs or limited edition items at £20 to £40. Signed vinyl, studio session invites and online listening parties at £50 to £100.
Tours: tickets to launch shows, an online listening party where you play something new and a private house concert for your top tier.
Equipment: a signed instrument at the top tier, from £250 upwards.
Merch: a t-shirt, a print or a handwritten lyric sheet works at almost any level.

Low-cost, experience-based rewards often beat generic merchandise, and physical rewards carry postage and packing costs you need to budget for. Our list of 55 reward ideas has more to borrow.

There is no platform fee for arts and creative projects on Crowdfunder, which helps when you are working to a small budget. Match funding can also help your campaign go further: partner funders top up what your supporters give, as covered in the match funding section above.

Victoria Wijeratne, a multi-instrumentalist, producer and composer, is crowdfunding to finish her debut 12-track album, In The Shadow of Forests, and make a 16mm music video for its lead single “Night Howler”. The page breaks down where the money goes, including the video (£5,293), mixing and mastering (£2,100) and a London listening event (£800). Rewards run across the pledge levels: a special thanks in the credits at £10, an early album download at £15, early access to the album and music video at £30, and a one-hour creative mentoring or studio session at £100, limited to 10 places. Bigger backers can become an Associate Producer at £1,000 or an Executive Producer at £2,500. She is using keep what you raise, so she receives every pledge even if she falls short of the target.

What do successful UK creative crowdfunding projects look like?

These arts and creative projects on Crowdfunder raised between about £20,000 and £53,000, mostly from a few hundred supporters each:

Marisa and the Moths raised £23,412 from 221 supporters in 28 days to promote their second album.
Singing with Nightingales raised £22,970 from 190 supporters.
Kirsten Adamson raised £21,700 from 388 supporters for an album campaign.
The Hill, a folk album, raised £25,780 with a match from Creative Scotland.
Benedict Please raised £20,124 for a piano album.
George Connelly: Far From The Madding Crowd had raised £52,913 from 669 supporters at the time of writing, with rewards on offer.

Two independent artists are also crowdfunding right now, and both campaigns are still taking support at the time of writing, so you can see exactly what a live page looks like:

Faye MacCalman, a saxophonist, clarinettist and songwriter from Newcastle upon Tyne, has raised £2,726 from 100 supporters for her debut album. Rewards include album pre-orders, discounted recording sessions where supporters play on the album, an online making-of session and handwritten lyric sheets.
Tobias ben Jacob, a singer-songwriter from Totnes, has raised £6,729 from 124 supporters for his new album. Rewards include CD, vinyl and download pre-orders, a house concert booking and a song written for you.

Three things are worth copying. Fund something clear and specific, such as a recording or a tour. Offer rewards people actually want. And keep asking: the money comes from sharing your page again and again with people who know you, not from the platform itself.

How do you choose the right platform for your arts project?

Choose based on your project type, your target and your audience. Start with the first answer that fits.

You are in Scotland and want match funding. Check whether Creative Scotland Crowdmatch, or other match funding opportunities, are open on Crowdfunder, since it can match up to £10,000 of your target.
Your project is an arts or creative one. Crowdfunder charges no platform fee, which keeps more of your money.
You can manage with less than your full target. Pick flexible funding on Crowdfunder so you keep what you raise.
You need the full amount or the project cannot go ahead. Use all or nothing, on either platform.
You have a funder or major donor ready to back you. Use Crowdfunder and add your own match fund.
Your audience is mostly outside the UK. Kickstarter’s international reach may suit you better.

Frequently asked questions

What happens if my arts project does not hit its target? On all or nothing, supporters are refunded and the project is marked unsuccessful. On Crowdfunder’s flexible funding you keep what you raised, but you still have to fulfil the rewards supporters pledged for.

How long does it take to get the money? On Crowdfunder, funds are transferred to your linked bank account within 7 working days after your campaign ends. The help centre explains how payouts work.

Do I pay fees if my project fails? On Kickstarter, no. Fees only apply if the project is funded. On Crowdfunder, there is no platform fee for arts projects, and payment processing fees apply to the pledges you receive. See the fees page. You can also read what happens if you don’t reach your target.

What rewards work best for arts projects? Limited edition items such as prints or merchandise, discounted or early tickets, signed copies and credits. Offer a range of price points so every supporter has something to choose.

Can I run a prize draw instead of rewards? Yes, Crowdfunder offers prize draws and these often help to widen your audience.

Do I have to pay tax on the money I raise? It depends on your circumstances and whether the project is for profit. Speak to an accountant or check HMRC guidance before you launch.

Where can you learn more before you launch?

These Crowdfunder guides go deeper on the points above:

A complete guide to crowdfunding for musicians: planning, rewards, prize draws and promotion for albums and tours.
Music funding opportunities in the UK: grants, awards and matched crowdfunding alongside your campaign.
Top 10 fundraising ideas for musicians and bands: ideas beyond the campaign itself.
55 reward ideas: examples of rewards that work.
Creating your project: telling your story, offering rewards and setting your target.
Our fees and What can be offered as a reward? in the help centre.

Ready to start your arts project?

Get started on Crowdfunder today | Find match funding | Free webinars

The post Crowdfunder Stories | Watch the series appeared first on Crowdfunder Stories.

How Siren Craft Brew crowdfunded two breweries and became Crowdfunder’s best-backed brewery

Rebecca Hughes — Mon, 26 Oct 2026 12:45:36 +0000

Written: 15 October 2026

Siren Craft Brew has raised £411,617 on Crowdfunder across two campaigns, from 2,193 people. It is more than any other brewery in Crowdfunder’s history, and Siren is the only brewery with two campaigns in the all-time top seven.

The money is only half the story. Here is how a brewery that started on a Berkshire industrial estate got a crowd to fund two bars, and why people kept coming back.

How did Siren Craft Brew start?

Siren was founded thirteen years ago on a small industrial estate in Berkshire. Today it employs more than 80 people and brewed close to 4 million pints in 2026.

The awards came quickly. Siren was named RateBeer’s best new brewery in its first year, and its flagship stout, Broken Dream, went on to win CAMRA’s Supreme Champion Beer of Britain. Its beers now sit on the shelves of Waitrose and M&S.

Crowdfunding has been part of the plan for a long time. In 2018 about 1,500 people invested in Siren. That crowd was the starting point for everything that followed.

Why did Siren want a bar in Reading?

By 2024, Siren’s tap room was in Finchampstead, hard to reach and short on space. The team wanted a flagship bar in its hometown, in a town centre where independent venues are often squeezed out by chains.

The space they found was a 3,800 sq ft unit in the Station Hill development, close to Reading station. The plan was 30 lines of fresh beer, a high-spec kitchen serving street food-inspired dishes, and wine, cocktails and non-alcoholic drinks, so it would work for people who do not drink beer at all.

In spring 2024, Siren came to Crowdfunder to fund Siren RG1, a permanent taproom in Reading, with a target of £250,000.

It was a nail-biter. After 28 days the campaign sat at 88% of target. Then a final-day surge of £52,212, nearly a fifth of everything raised, carried it to £271,732 and 109% from 1,777 people. It remains the highest-raising brewery project Crowdfunder has ever hosted.

What happened in Cheltenham?

Two years later, BrewDog entered administration. According to the campaign page, 38 venues closed, and 484 people lost their jobs. When Siren posted a message of support, readers began suggesting a site in Cheltenham’s Brewery Quarter, where the town’s first commercial brewery stood for over 230 years.

The team visited and liked what they saw. Siren Craft Brew Cheltenham launched on 26 August 2026 with a £100,000 target, and the campaign honoured the affected BrewDog staff and investors along the way.

This time there was no last-day drama. Cheltenham built momentum early, stayed ahead of Reading’s pace for most of the campaign and closed four weeks later on £139,885. That is 140% funded, from 837 backers.

The money went into 30+ lines of fresh beer, three cask handpulls, wines, cocktails, non-alcoholic options, a food menu reshaped with culinary experts and a redesigned space with booths and a private-booking room.

Who came back for the second campaign?

The people who backed Siren the first time.

421 people backed both breweries. That is half of everyone who backed Cheltenham and close to one in four of Reading’s original backers. Together they put in £169,818, or 41% of the £411,617 raised across both campaigns.

The reach was wide. Reading backers came from as far as the Scottish Highlands, 811 km away. Cheltenham backers came from Aberdeenshire, 618 km away. Even so, Cheltenham’s biggest group of backers did not live in Cheltenham. They came from Siren’s Berkshire heartland: 126 people from Wokingham and 54 from Reading pledged £34,733 between them. Cheltenham itself had 54 backers and £6,298.

Siren’s fans followed the brand 48 miles to a new postcode. Your crowd will follow you and grow!

What did backers actually get?

Rewards did the heavy lifting. 99% of Reading’s pledges carried a reward, and 82% of Cheltenham’s did. The median pledge was £100 in both campaigns. Reading’s average was £150.71, with a top pledge of £2,000. Cheltenham’s average was £164.38, lifted by a single £10,000 pledge, the largest either campaign received.

Every reward started in the same place: 150% of your pledge back as credit to spend at Siren’s bar, online shop or existing taprooms. Pledges started at £50. On top of that, the tiers got more personal:

Name on the wall: your name on the supporters’ wall in the new bar.
Early Adopter: early access to the booking system.
Branded Up: an exclusive t-shirt in your size.
Launch Party: an invitation to the launch party. In Cheltenham, backers at the £1,000 tier also got in earlier, on the Friday evening before the public opening.
The Snug: a three-course private food and beer pairing for up to 16 people.
That’s My Beer: ten cases of your own personalised beer.
Head Brewer: the big one, designing and brewing a beer with the Siren team.

None of these are things you can buy anywhere else. A name on a wall, a beer with your name on it and a private dinner in the brewery’s own room are not on a shelf. That is what makes them worth backing.

Why does the 150% credit work so well?

Think about it from both sides of the bar.

For the backer, the maths is simple. Pledge £100, and you have £150 to spend on beer you were going to buy anyway. It feels like a discount, not a donation, which is why most backers were backing to drink, not just to give.

For Siren, the credit is a pre-sale. Siren raised £271,732 in Reading and £139,885 in Cheltenham before opening either door, with no loan to repay and no shares to give away. The credit simply turns into future sales: Siren’s own Cheltenham page says the Reading campaign created over £400,000 in boosted bar tab, and Cheltenham’s pledges work out at roughly £209,800 more. It is delivered after opening, valid for 18 months, and spent in Siren’s own bars and shop, so it pulls people through the door on repeat visits. Backers who come in with credit tend to bring friends, which brings in new customers as well.

It also keeps the whole estate busy. The Cheltenham credit can be spent at Siren RG1, Siren Tap Yard, the George & Dragon in Swallowfield and the online shop. One campaign feeds every venue.

What does Siren’s business plan tell other project owners?

Both their campaigns show a business with a track record, a clear plan for the space and a crowd that has already put its money behind it.

Build the audience before you ask. Siren had thirteen years of customers, awards and 1,500 early investors before it launched its first rewards campaign.

Sell something you already make. Credit for beer from a brewery is a reward that costs Siren what it costs to pour, and is worth the full price to the backer.

Know what the money is for. Reading was a flagship bar with a kitchen and a beer garden planned for year two. Cheltenham was 30+ taps, handpulls and a redesigned room. Backers could picture exactly where their pledge was going.

Give people a reason to come back. 421 people backed twice, and they gave 41% of the money. Look after your backers, and they will back you again.

Plan your last day. Reading sat at 88% with a day to go and finished at 109%. Cheltenham did the opposite and built early. Both ended well, but only because the team had a plan for the final push.

How does Siren compare with every other brewery on Crowdfunder?

Reading’s £271,732 is the highest-raising brewery crowdfund Crowdfunder has hosted. Cheltenham’s £139,885 puts it seventh on the all-time list.

Ready to fund your own venue?

Whether it is a taproom, a pub or a community space, the model Siren used works for projects of all sizes.

Get started

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The Positivity Project, episode three: hedgerow to bottle

Rebecca Hughes — Wed, 14 Oct 2026 10:07:11 +0100

Written: 14 October 2026

Episode three is about something small, patient and circular, working with nature rather than around it. This time we’re in Glynde, East Sussex, at a brewery smaller than most people knew a brewery could be.

A nanobrewery is even smaller than a microbrewery, and in a world that optimises towards profit and output, what could possibly be the role of such small-scale operations? Old Tree Brewery is a shining example of this scale of production and a blueprint for a better food and drink industry.

Foraging the ingredients

Their small team work harmoniously with nature, sustainably foraging local plants to produce brews that are delicious to drink and slot seamlessly into a circular production model that gives back as much as it takes. The episode follows them from plucking fruit and berries directly off the tree, hedgerow plants and orchard windfalls included, all the way through to a bottled finished product. Nothing is grown to a schedule, the season sets the ingredients list.

Nano, not micro

A nanobrewery and a microbrewery aren’t the same thing, and the difference is the whole point. Old Tree Brewery sit a size down from even the small end of brewing, by design. Staying nano keeps the production circular and the ingredients genuinely local and seasonal, rather than scaling into the volume game that pushed them out of supermarket shelves in the first place.

Inside the brewery: Fermenting, bottling, capping

What makes Old Tree Brewery unusual isn’t the foraging; it’s what happens to everything that doesn’t end up in a bottle. They call it garden to gut and gut to garden: the drinks are fermented the traditional way, live and unpasteurised, kombucha, seasonal wines and botanical elixirs among them, and the leftover organic material goes straight back into the ground. They compost 100% of it. They’re also saving for a bottle-capping machine that would let them swap plastic caps for aluminium and go fully zero waste.

It’s a direct answer to an industry that doesn’t work for small producers. As the team put it when they hit their first crowdfunding milestone: “Supermarkets want products that sit on shelves for months”, and once VAT, duty and distribution are taken out, “we’re left with less than 10p in every pound.” Old Tree Brewery’s answer is to skip that route and sell straight to the community that drinks what they make.

The taste test

The episode ends where it should: tasting what all that foraging and fermenting actually produces, before Old Tree Brewery and The Positivity Project close out what nanobreweries like this one can teach the rest of the food and drink industry.

Drink The Seasons

That’s where Drink The Seasons comes in: a quarterly subscription box of six small-batch, seasonal, botanical drinks, not sold anywhere else. Spring means birch and nettle, summer elderflower and honeysuckle, autumn hedgerow fruit and orchard apples, winter oak, pine, roots and spice. Subscribers get first access to each new brew, and some get to join the harvests that make it.

What’s funding it

Crowdfunding has enabled Old Tree Brewery to launch Drink The Seasons, and their total raised through Crowdfunder is approaching £60,000, £59,781 from 331 supporters on their campaign, Drink the Seasons! Brewing a Biodiversity Revival. Aviva Communities Fund matched donations to help the brewery past its £50,000 milestone, the point the campaign describes as the brewery becoming stable.

“We are a small team of five, rooted in a community of hundreds,” the brewery said when they passed £58,000. “This affirms beyond any doubt that we are a community supported brewery, and we are so, so grateful.”

Watch it, then raise a glass. Cheers to brewing for biodiversity

The Positivity Project exists to show the positive projects people are building when the news and the internet are dominated by negativity. This episode, that’s five people in a Sussex village proving a nanobrewery can be a blueprint, not just a curiosity.

Useful links

Watch The Positivity Project on YouTube
Learn more about Old Tree Brewery
Support Old Tree Brewery on Crowdfunder

Get started

The post Crowdfunder Stories | Watch the series appeared first on Crowdfunder Stories.

October launch notes: a new Payouts page

Rebecca Hughes — Tue, 13 Oct 2026 16:21:21 +0100

This month we’ve rebuilt the Payouts page in your project dashboard. It now shows every pound from pledged to banked, so you can see where your money is and when it will arrive.

A clear view of your money, from pledge to bank

Example payout states, and history page with placeholders.

The old page showed you what has already happened. The new one also gives you a full picture of what’s happening now and what’s coming next with your money. The new one is a full picture of what’s happening with your funds.

Total balance and fees. You can see your overall earnings and the fees taken, laid out clearly in one place.

So what: you know exactly what you’ve raised and what you’ll receive.

Pending and Available. Pending shows pledges still in the seven-day clearing period. Available shows cleared pledges that are ready to be paid out.

So what: if money hasn’t reached you yet, you can see why.

Next payout. You’ll see the amount, the status, the last four digits of the bank account it’s going to and an estimated arrival date.

So what: you can plan your spending around a date, not a guess.

Match funding gets its own card

If your project has match funding, it now has a dedicated card, separate from your crowd pledges. You’ll need an active funding wallet for it to show. If your wallet set up isn’t finished, the card will tell you.

Some match funding is paid by our partners rather than by Crowdfunder, for example, Sport England or a fund you’ve brought yourself. Those payouts appear on the Match Funding card and in your Report History. Every payout shows its source: the fund name for match funding and “The crowd” for crowd pledges. Payouts sent through Stripe, such as Aviva Community Fund, also show the last four digits of the bank account. Payouts from manual wallets show the fund name but leave the bank account field blank, because that money doesn’t come directly from Crowdfunder. Estimated arrival dates depend on the wallet type:

Crowd pledges: the date comes from Stripe
Stripe wallets: three days after the payout starts
Manual wallets: 14 days after the payout starts

So what: you can tell at a glance which money is coming from us and which is coming from a funder.

Offline pledges are kept separate

Offline pledges now sit in an Other funds section, apart from your online balance.

So what: your online and offline totals no longer get mixed up.

Where to find more help

The page has quick links to your reports, our guide on when you’ll receive the money pledged on your project and our guide on setting up your wallet and receiving your match funding.

If your payouts aren’t switched on yet, you’ll see a prompt to start them or complete ID verification. If there’s nothing to pay out, the page will say so.

Coming soon

We’re already working on the next set of improvements:

A Pay out now button, so you can withdraw available funds sooner
Payouts for additional individual fundraising projects set up to raise money for your charity or organisation appear in your main balance cards.
Manual wallet details moved into the Other funds section

Tell us what you think

We’d like to hear how the new page works for you. Take our short survey →

The post Crowdfunder Stories | Watch the series appeared first on Crowdfunder Stories.

How to secure a corporate charity partnership: Lessons from the CCP conference

Rebecca Hughes — Tue, 13 Oct 2026 14:03:35 +0100

Written: 13 October 2026

Wondering how your charity can secure a corporate partnership? Last week, our team headed to London for the Corporate Charity Partnerships Conference. We spent the day listening to CSR leads, charities and partnership professionals talk about what makes a corporate charity partnership work, and what stops one before it starts. Here is what stayed with us, and what it means if you are hoping to build one.

Prove your cause fits their mission

The first lesson is to read a corporate’s mission properly. Then show, specifically, where your cause and their mission meet.

It is rarely as simple as “we’re a digital inclusion charity and you’re a tech company”. The strongest corporate partnerships for charities have a link that is more specific and harder to argue with.

Crisis and Specsavers are a great example. Specsavers’ mission is eye and ear care for all and Crisis were able to prove how homelessness increases risk of sensory deterioration. Together they have conducted research which found that 50% of people experiencing homelessness reported a reduction in their hearing and sight. Of those, 40% went on to develop a condition. That is an incredibly specific connection. Supporting Crisis directly supports Specsavers’ mission, and nobody has to take that on trust, because the evidence is there.

Research your corporate partner’s priority

Missions are one thing, but priorities are another. One of the corporates at the conference said their CSR priority is employee engagement, and that everything they do is built around it. If a charity partnership does not give their colleagues plenty of ways to get involved, it is a non-starter for them. Other companies will care most about funding, volunteering, or sponsorship. Many make this information public, so do your homework before you reach out. A brilliant pitch aimed at the wrong priority might still fall flat.

How to pitch your cause

One of the best moments of the day was a live demonstration pitch from Trussell, followed by feedback from the corporates in the room. Three lessons came out of it for any charity pitching to a corporate.

Be clear about your ask. Whether you are asking for exposure, money, volunteers or a blend of the three, a corporate shouldn’t have to guess, because the more they have to work out for themselves, the harder you make their decision.

Tell a human story. Many of the charities followed one person’s journey through their work, and it was effective because it humanises what you do and explains why it matters in a way that feels real and grounded.

Don’t cram in the statistics. Statistics are valuable, but telling a clear and gripping story matters more, and if you pack in every number you have, the important ones tend to get lost along the way. The aim is to find a balance where the story does the heavy lifting and a few well-chosen figures back it up.

Top tip

This was one of our favourite takeaways, and it came from Donkey Business Consulting. Once you secure a corporate charity partnership, you will naturally share your impact with the corporation, but you should also ask them for a statistic in return about what the partnership has done for their business. That might be revenue growth, an increase in employee engagement or a greater sense of pride in working for the company. Those corporate stats are invaluable, because it strengthens your case when it is time to renew and it helps you win other corporate partners as well. So when you are negotiating, try to secure at least one statistic for yourself.

How corporate charity partnerships thrive on Crowdfunder

Our co-founder Dawn Bébe spoke at the conference about exactly this. When a charity fundraises on Crowdfunder while its corporate partners provide match funding, employee giving vouchers and/or volunteers, those partnerships really thrive. Colleagues get involved, the community gets behind the project, and the impact is easy to see.

She also introduced Bring Your Own Match, which is worth knowing about even if you don’t have a corporate partner yet. It gives you a way to secure match funding and support from anyone who is willing to offer it. That might be your local solicitor, or a larger organisation that isn’t able to commit to a full partnership right now but can give you something in the meantime.

There is a bonus. Every project you run is a case study. If you secure support from other organisations, you have real proof of community backing to take into your next corporate ask.

Speak to the partner team

The post Crowdfunder Stories | Watch the series appeared first on Crowdfunder Stories.

How to run an online raffle legally in the UK

Rebecca Hughes — Thu, 08 Oct 2026 10:53:49 +0100

Written: 8 October 2026

TLDR: Most charities and community groups can run a prize draw (similar to an online raffle) without a gambling licence. Because anyone can enter for free alongside paying supporters. It isn’t classed as a lottery. The free entry route is the key, and Crowdfunder requires every prize draw to include one. A traditional paid raffle is a lottery, so unless it falls within an exemption, such as registering as a small society lottery with your council, running it is a criminal offence.

Quick answer: do you need a gambling licence or registration?

Not if you run a prize draw on Crowdfunder. Here’s what matters:

An online raffle where everyone must pay to enter (i.e. there is no free entry route offered) is legally a lottery under the Gambling Act 2005
Running a lottery is a criminal offence unless you’re registered with your council as a small society lottery or hold a Gambling Commission licence
The simplest legal alternative: a raffle style prize draw that includes a free entry route — anyone can enter by the free entry route (usually postal entries) without paying and with the same chance of winning as paid entries
With a genuine free entry route, the draw isn’t a lottery, so no licence or registration is needed
Crowdfunder requires every prize draw to include a free entry route, making it compliant to run without any registration

If you want to run a traditional paid ticket raffle with no free entry option, you need to register as a small society lottery with your local council first. See the section below.

Is a raffle style prize draw the same as running an online raffle?

Both have one or more prizes, most people pay to enter, and you raise funds for your cause. The difference is that a raffle needs registration or a licence before you start, whereas a raffle style prize draw doesn’t, so you can get going straight away.

A raffle, legally speaking, is a form of lottery. Under the Gambling Act 2005, a lottery exists when three things combine: payment, chance, and a prize. All three together = lottery = needs a licence or registration.

A ‘raffle style prize draw’ removes one of those elements. Because anyone can choose to enter for free, the law treats the draw as not requiring payment, so it isn’t a lottery. The Gambling Commission’s own guidance confirms that prize draws with a genuine free entry route sit outside lottery classification and need no licence to operate.

What this means in practice: your supporters can still pay £5 or £10 to enter, while anyone who wants to enter for free can do so via the free entry route (usually post). Every entry goes into the same draw with equal odds of winning.

You can offer one prize or multiple prizes in a single draw.

The table below sets out the key types:

Type	Payment required to enter	Winner by chance?	Licence/registration needed?	What’s involved
Large society lottery (paid online raffle over £20,000 per draw or £250,000 a year)	Yes	Yes	Yes — Gambling Commission	Licence application and ongoing compliance with the Commission’s licence conditions
Small society lottery (paid online raffle)	Yes	Yes	Yes — Local authority registration (£40)	Register before selling any tickets; every ticket the same price (no bundles); required information on tickets; at least 20% of proceeds to your cause; return to your council within three months of the draw
Raffle style prize draw hosted on Crowdfunder (with free entry route)	Optional	Yes	No	Set up and go live; free entry route included; bundles allowed

Do you need a gambling licence or registration to run a raffle style prize draw?

No. As long as your draw includes a genuine free entry route, you do not need a Gambling Commission licence or registration with your council.

The Gambling Commission confirms that prize draws with a genuine free entry route sit outside the regulatory framework for lotteries. This is the legal basis for Crowdfunder’s prize draws.

The key word is genuine. A free entry route that is buried in the small print, technically available but practically hidden, or that gives free entrants a lower chance of winning than paid entrants, does not satisfy the legal requirement. The free route must be:

Available by post, or another way that costs no more and is no harder than paying to enter (for example, a standard stamp, not special delivery or a premium rate number)
Clearly shown so that anyone entering will see it, not tucked away in the terms
Open for the same period as the paid entry route
Added to the same draw pool as paid entries, with equal odds of winning

Crowdfunder requires every prize draw to include a free entry route, and our terms template shows you how to set it out.

What if I want to run a traditional paid ticket raffle?

An online raffle where everyone pays and there is no free entry route is a lottery. To run one lawfully, you’ll need to register with your council as a small society lottery before you sell a single ticket (or, for very large charities raising more than £20,000 per draw or £250,000 a year, get a Gambling Commission licence, which comes with its own requirements).

Who can register for a small society lottery: Non-commercial societies such as registered charities, community groups, sports clubs, PTAs, village halls, and most voluntary organisations.

Registration is only the start. Small society lotteries have ongoing rules on how tickets are priced and sold, who you can sell to, what tickets must say, how much of the money goes to your cause and how much you can raise and give away in prizes. You must also report to your council after every draw.

The Gambling Commission’s full guidance on small society lotteries is at gamblingcommission.gov.uk.

Examples of raffle style prize draws on Crowdfunder.

Hope Blamire has run a Christmas raffle style prize draw on Crowdfunder every year since 2022, raising £136,504, £138,514, £133,930 and £116,558 across four draws, over £525,000 in total with no gambling licence and no local authority registration.

Nordoff and Robbins, the music therapy charity, ran a raffle style prize draw for a guitar signed by Mark Knopfler, raising £28,035.

Patchwork CIC has run monthly raffle style prize draws on Crowdfunder since 2020, raising £347,066 across 41 consecutive monthly draws.

War Child runs multiple raffle style prize draws each year; Foo Fighters tickets, signed Rega turntables through Record Store Day, and festival ticket bundles, using each draw to reach new supporters as well as raise funds.

What makes a free entry route compliant?

This is the key part to get right. A free entry route that is technically present but hard to use in practice doesn’t meet the Gambling Act 2005 requirements, so it risks being an illegal lottery. The Gambling Commission looks at the substance, not just the form.

The Gambling Commission says a free entry route must meet four requirements:

People can genuinely choose to enter without paying
The free route costs no more and is no less convenient than paying to enter
The free route is publicised so that anyone planning to enter is likely to see it
Free and paid entries are treated the same when the winner is picked

Common pitfalls to avoid:

A free route that costs more than the normal rate, such as requiring special delivery or recorded post, or using a premium rate phone number or text
Free entries not checked or not added to the draw before the winner is picked, even by mistake
Free entry details only in the terms and conditions, where people are unlikely to see them
Unclear instructions, or strict rules that lead to free entries being rejected (for postal entries, asking for a name, contact details, prize draw reference and a standard stamp is usually enough)
Bonus entries, early bird draws or extra prizes only for paying supporters
Free entries limited when paid entries aren’t
The free route closing earlier than paid entries, or not leaving enough time for entries to arrive
Showing the free route so small or out of the way that people are unlikely to notice it
Asking free entrants for anything paid entrants don’t have to do, e.g. account creation or paying to get the free entry details

What compliance looks like:

Free entry route displayed clearly on the prize draw page, not just in the terms
Same closing date for free and paid entries
Free entrants added to the same draw with equal odds
Entry method clearly explained (name, contact details, competition reference, first class stamp)

On Crowdfunder, every prize draw must include a free entry route before it can go live, and our terms and conditions template shows you how to set it out. When the draw closes, you can download your list of entrants, add any free entries, and pick your winner using our number generator.

You can also read Crowdfunder’s prize draw guidelines.

Data protection obligations

Running a prize draw means handling entrants’ personal data, so UK data protection law applies. Only use entrants’ details to run the draw and contact the winner, unless they’ve agreed to hear from you about other things. Tell entrants in your terms how their details will be used, including if you’ll publish the winner’s name, and don’t keep the data longer than you need. When entries come through Crowdfunder, we handle the data under our own privacy notice, and you’re responsible for the entrant details you download.

What your terms and conditions must include

Whether you use Crowdfunder’s template or write your own, your prize draw terms and conditions must include as a minimum:

Promoter details: your name and contact details. You are the promoter, not Crowdfunder
Who can enter: entrants must be 18 or over, where they must live, and anyone excluded (such as employees or family members)
How to enter via Crowdfunder: the cost per entry and any limit on entries per person
How to enter for free: the method, what to include, how multiple or incomplete entries are handled, and confirmation that free entries have the same chance of winning
Entry period: start and end date and time
Prize details: a full description, how many of each, and approximate retail value
Funding model: if you choose All or Nothing, that the draw depends on reaching your target and entries will be refunded if you don’t
How the winner is picked: a statement that winners are selected at random, and the method you’ll use
Awarding prizes: how you’ll verify winners (including that they’re over 18), when and how they’ll be announced, and what happens if a winner can’t be contacted
Prize claims and delivery: how and when prizes will be delivered, and any conditions
Data protection: how you’ll handle personal data, with a link to your privacy policy

How to pick a winner

The winner must be selected fairly. Crowdfunder’s number generator can help with this.

Before you run the draw:

Confirm all free entry route entries have been added to the pool
Record the total number of entries
Run the generator and record the inputs and outputs as evidence of a fair draw
Notify the winner promptly and announce the result publicly (with their permission)

How to promote your raffle style prize draw

Prize draws reach further than standard donation appeals because the entry barrier is lower, supporters give a small amount for a chance to win something meaningful.

Pricing: We recommend £10 or less per ticket entry, with bundle incentives to increase average transaction value. Average entry on a Crowdfunder prize draw is around £18, achieved through bundles like £10 for one ticket and £20 for three. Match the price to the prize, a higher-value, genuinely exclusive prize can justify a higher entry point.

Bundles of tickets are also something only available to prize draws; they are not legally allowed to be an element of lotteries.

Timing: Two to four weeks is the standard campaign window. The closing deadline is your strongest promotional asset, the urgency drives the final surge of entries.

Channel order:

Inner circle first; committee, regular volunteers, your most engaged supporters, before any public launch. Aim for 20–30% of your target from your existing network in the first 48 hours.
Email to your full list once you are live.
Social media, make the prize the hero; show it, describe it, make people want it.
Ask the prize donor to promote it to their own audience, this is often the highest-converting single piece of promotion.

Penalties for running an unlicensed lottery

Under Section 258 of the Gambling Act 2005, operating an unlicensed lottery is a criminal offence. On summary conviction: up to 51 weeks’ imprisonment and an unlimited fine.

Practical consequences beyond the criminal exposure include account closure by payment processors, advertising account restriction or permanent ban by Meta, and significant reputational damage in the communities where your organisation operates.

A raffle style prize draw with a properly implemented free entry route avoids all of this.

Key contacts and resources

Gambling Commission — free draws and prize competitions: gamblingcommission.gov.uk
Gambling Commission — small society lotteries: gamblingcommission.gov.uk
Fundraising Regulator — code of practice on lotteries: fundraisingregulator.org.uk
ASA — prize draw advertising rules: asa.org.uk
Find your local council for small society lottery registration: gov.uk/find-local-council

Frequently asked questions

Can I run a raffle online without registering with anyone?
Yes, if you run a raffle style prize draw with a genuine free entry route. It is not a lottery under the Gambling Act 2005 and requires no registration or licence.

Does the free entry route have to be postal?
No. It can be by post, email or an online form, as long as it’s no more expensive or less convenient than paying to enter. Post is the most common choice on Crowdfunder.

Can I cap the number of free entries?
Only if the same limit applies to paid entries. Free entrants must be able to enter as many times as paid entrants.

Do free entries have to have the same chance of winning as paid entries?
Yes. Every valid free entry must go into the same draw as paid entries, with exactly the same chance of winning.

Can I accept entries from under-18s?
On Crowdfunder, prize draws are restricted to entrants aged 18 and over.

What if my draw doesn’t reach its target?
Your terms and conditions should state what happens, whether you extend the campaign, adjust the prize, or refund entries. Be clear about this before you launch.

Is a prize draw on Crowdfunder legal?
Yes, as long as it has a genuine free entry route and follows our guidelines. As the promoter, you’re responsible for making sure it complies, and our guidelines and template help you get it right.

This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Prize draw law is complex and individual circumstances vary. If you are in any doubt about your specific situation, seek independent legal advice.

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Save the Traf: The community share offer turning a threatened Wimbledon pub into a community-owned local

Rebecca Hughes — Fri, 02 Oct 2026 13:02:21 +0100

Written: 2 October 2026

The Trafalgar in South Wimbledon has raised £325,890 from 203 supporters towards saving itself from demolition, with 49 days left to hit its new stretch target of £530,000.

View project on Crowdfunder

Community Benefit Society Cabo Trafalgar Ltd is buying the pub’s freehold outright through a community share offer, the same model that’s kept over 200 pubs across England open under local ownership.

A pub that’s been serving Wimbledon since 1868

The Trafalgar, known locally as the Traf, is Wimbledon’s oldest freehouse. It’s been pulling pints on High Path since at least 1868 and has built the kind of reputation most pubs never get close to: CAMRA South West London Pub of the Year in both 2024 and 2026, and a place on the Telegraph’s Top 500 Pubs in England.

Under current landlord Oli Carter-Esdale, the Traf has re-established itself as an independent freehouse loved by long-time regulars and newer visitors alike.

Three years of fighting off the bulldozers

The Traf sits on the edge of a major regeneration zone in Merton, which has made it a target. Since 2023, the pub’s freeholder, a property developer, has submitted repeated planning applications to demolish it and build housing. Every application has been rejected. When the developer appealed, the Planning Inspectorate dismissed that too, explicitly recognising the pub’s cultural and social value and its right to keep operating.

Winning at planning doesn’t make a pub safe forever though. The Traf’s lease is coming up, and the only way regulars can guarantee no developer gets another shot is to own the building outright.

Community ownership, or nothing

That’s what Save the Traf is about. Supporters formed Cabo Trafalgar Ltd, a Community Benefit Society, to buy the £500,000 freehold and hold it for the community, permanently. As one campaign organiser put it: “The only way to protect the Traf for generations is community ownership.”

“The only way to protect the Traf for generations is community ownership.”

The minimum target is £250,000. The campaign has since set an extended stretch target of £530,000, covering the full purchase and completion costs. £325,890 is in from 203 people so far, 61% of that stretch goal, with 49 days left before the share offer closes on 17 November 2026. Completion is targeted for Christmas Eve.

Investment starts at £250 (250 shares at £1 each), and every member gets one vote regardless of how much they’ve put in, true to the community shares model. Interest accrues at 3.5 to 4% depending on investment tier. Supporters also get a birthday drink each year, their name on the pub’s wall of honour and ongoing drink discounts, with brewery visits for anyone investing £1,000 or more.

Why this one’s different

The crowd really came through for this project and made it one of the fastest-funding pub crowdfunders on the platform. The share offer launched on 9 September, backed by a community meeting that drew nearly 140 people. Within 24 hours, the campaign had already passed 20% of its target. Inside a week, it had cleared 50%. Two weeks after launch, Cabo Trafalgar Ltd had hit its minimum £250,000 target in full, which is what triggered the move to the £530,000 stretch goal that’s still open today.

That’s the kind of local density most fundraisers spend months trying to build, and it’s why this is shaping up to be the biggest pub crowdfunder of the year: not just the size of the target, but the speed the community hit it at. If it succeeds, the Traf becomes Merton’s first community-owned pub, joining a growing list of pubs across England that have swapped a developer’s spreadsheet for a share register.

What it says about community shares

Community shares work because everyone with a stake becomes an advocate. Businesses funded this way have a strong track record: 92% of companies that raise through community shares are still trading, against 55% for the average business. When 203 people each own a piece of the pub, none of them are hoping someone else saves it. They’re the ones saving it.

Regulars and anyone who believes locals deserve a say over their local have 49 days left to add their name to that wall of honour. Invest now at crowdfunder.co.uk/p/save-the-traf, or look into how a community share offer could protect a place you care about.

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