How to run an online raffle legally in the UK

by Rebecca Hughes | Oct 08, 2026 | Learn, Stories

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.