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