Tricky Tray fundraisers remain one of the easiest and best-performing fundraising formats for schools, PTAs, churches, and neighborhood groups to engage their communities and raise funds from a broader group of donors who may not be able to donate large amounts.
What is a Tricky Tray?
The Tricky Tray, also known as a basket raffle or penny sale, is a common fundraising game that attracts donors who cannot make large donations but enjoy the art of competition and games of chance. Essentially, the Tricky Tray combines a silent auction and a raffle.
The value of these fundraisers for small to medium-sized nonprofits cannot be overstated. A low barrier to entry means you can reach more donors than you would with an auction of higher-priced items. The mix of raffle and auction psychology encourages competition without scaring donors away with hefty price tags. And your ability to source prices from various restaurants, businesses, and vendors broadens your donor appeal.
How it Works
Donors can purchase any number of raffle tickets or raffle entries for the Tricky Tray, then peruse a catalog of items available to win. For each item, there is a basket, jar, or other container (even Manila envelopes) where tickets can be placed to win that item. The donor can put all their tickets in one tray or separate them according to their level of interest. The items are displayed online or live, depending on your event, and can be perused throughout the event or even before the event (with the right platform).
At the end of the raffle or event, the winners are selected from the raffle tickets submitted for each item, and they pick up their items as any auction winner would.
How to Run a Tricky Tray Virtually
If it is a virtual event or an event online, you can set up a Google sheet to manage submissions as well, which allows you to randomize selections of the winners with any of the random number-generating tools out there.
When offering your Tricky Tray virtually, you can set up items as Instant Buy Items or Vote Items. Instead of selling a physical sheet of tickets, you can allow donors to pay for each “ticket” they drop into the online “bucket” of their choice. For example, if you pay $1 per vote for an item you want, $10 will add 10 entries to the selection pool for that item. Let us know here if you want us to show you what that looks like with GiveSmart’s software.
Sourcing Prizes and Displaying for Maximum Impact
When you’re looking for prizes or items to fill a themed raffle basket, start with your network. Many people already involved with your nonprofit likely work for businesses or venues that can donate to your event. Bonus if it’s a local business, as a. People want to support their communities, and b. Local shops and businesses often donate to attract more people to their establishments. Win-win!
Display your items in a way that draws people in. Make sure there is enough space between items to ensure that your donors don’t miss any. Theme baskets are often successful and help fill the value gaps between baskets. Higher- and lower-value items can be grouped into a theme basket, such as toys, cooking supplies, date-night ideas, sports memorabilia, etc., to maximize the value for donors. Display items with descriptions, so no one has any questions about what’s in the basket.
Why Should My Nonprofit Host a Tricky Tray Fundraiser?
If you are trying to incorporate new donors or younger donors who can’t afford to make large donations, but they would be interested in some of your fun or unique auction packages, this is a great chance to add them to the fold by selling them something they can afford and rewarding them with something they enjoy. That’s a great donor stewardship opportunity, and it also allows larger donors to give a little bit more on the fly at an event or through a campaign.
Show Me the Money: Tricky Tray Revenue Strategies
There are several strategies to get the most from your Tricky Tray fundraiser:
- Include multiple pricing tiers for tickets to differentiate the higher-value items.
- Encourage bulk ticket purchases with discounts ($5/ticket or 5 tickets for $20).
- Offer small incentives for early buyers (Buy 2, Get 1 Free for tickets purchased before event day).
- Drive engagement during the event by offering a discount sale in the last five minutes or by holding multiple drawings throughout the event.
As always, consult your local gaming commission about raffle rules and regulations.
GiveSmart Can Help!
GiveSmart offers solutions for all your in-person and online fundraising needs. We can modernize your Tricky Tray fundraiser with our tools for online ticketing, instant-buy items, vote-style entries, and randomized drawings. See what GiveSmart can do for your next fundraising event! Get started today by requesting a demo.
FAQs
What prizes work best for a Tricky Tray?
Variety is the spice of life, as they say. Reaching a broad donor base requires sourcing a veritable buffet of options. From sporting event tickets to restaurant gift cards to packages with cooking supplies or art supplies, make sure you’re gathering prizes that appeal to different segments of your donor base. Sourcing and organizing like-valued prizes is key.
How do you choose winners in a Tricky Tray?
As we’ve noted above, if your event is virtual, you can utilize any number of online number generator tools. If your event is in-person, then having a designated “picker” to choose the winners by picking a ticket from each basket can be beneficial.
Do you need a permit for a Tricky Tray?
Always consult your local gaming commission about raffle rules and regulations in your area.
How do you price Tricky Tray tickets?
This depends on your basket value and your donor base. If you have several highly sought-after prizes in high-value categories, your ticket prices should reflect this accordingly. You want to raise at least the basket value from ticket sales.
For example, if a basket contains a Jersey and four tickets to a game, valued at $600, your ticket price would reflect the number of tickets you expect to be “dropped” into the basket. If your fundraising event will have many sports fans, you may expect at least 60 people to enter the raffle, so that you can price the tickets at around $10.
Assuming your packages have been donated, it’s all money for your cause. But if your variously valued items all have the same ticket price, you’ll find a disproportionate amount in some baskets versus others, which could actually raise less money overall. Just make sure you have tickets available in price ranges that appeal to all donors to maximize the funds raised at your event.
How do you promote a Tricky Tray event?
Encourage the viewing of prizes ahead of time. Utilize a fundraising platform that allows for pre-event viewing of the raffle baskets. Write up enticing descriptions and encourage pre-event ticket sales with discounts or other promotions. For example, “Buy the 100th ticket, and you’ll be our first picker!”
