Thanks so much for your comments. I will talk to our committee about separating the levels even more. You are right there is a huge jump between levels 2 and 3. Do you have any suggestions on how many tickets and what price you would offer for each of the following:
We have Tricky Trays (Chinese Auctions) in northern NJ. They are fun, but fundraisers and a serious business! We worked on ours for MONTHS soliciting donations.
Don't sweat the pricing. At our Tricky Tray we had FIVE price levels for over 300 baskets, and we cleared just about $12,000! I think levels aren't confusing, but how many tickets you get for the price. Thank God we had the world's most organized person with a lot of common sense running the show for us!
Small:Worth $10-$24 -- 25 tickets for $3 (a Tricky Tray Entry Sheet has your admission ticket, door prize and 25 tickets on it and your initial sheet is anywhere from $5 to $10 without a dinner. These sheets also double as "Small Ticket" sheets once you're in the door in most cases). We had well over a 100 baskets in this level alone.
Medium: Worth $25 - $49 and had 15 tix for $5. Again--100 baskets or so.
Large: Worth $50 - $99 and tix were 10 for $5. I guess around 75 baskets.
Grand: $100 - $149--tix were 3 for $5. 15 baskets. Around 25 baskets.
Supers: $150+ and were 2 for $5. I think we had 10 baskets.
I don't know Liverpool (though I did live in Rochester and Geneseo for a while!), so it's hard to gauge what people are willing to pay. Ours had a LOT of baskets, so we could afford to be generous with the number of tix. If we'd had only 100 or so baskets we would have charged more and given way less tickets.
We found you make better money if you narrow down your price ranges and keep prices level but adjust the number of tickets per prize level. People will spend $25 in $5 tickets, but think twice about spending $20 on $10 tickets. Make them think they're getting a bargain. I think $25 - $75 and $100 - $350 is selling yourself short. A ticket for a $75 and a $350 item is worth more than a ticket for a $25 and a $100 item.
To keep confusion down color coordinate! Each level is assigned a color (keep the colors apart--we had a small issue with the red tickets looking pink and they were right next to each other), and then either decorate the baskets with colored ribbon, or have signs with each level with the matching color. Make sure you have price signs EVERYWHERE. It's a lot of work, but worth it in the end.
HELP!! How much do you charge per basket? Our elementary (K-6) school is hosting a huge "Treasures Night" basket raffle night in March and we have the prizes separated into three categories:
1) Just for the Kids -- all items are valued at $15.00 or less (single items of games, toys, CDs, DVDs, puzzles, etc.) -- these are the RED TICKETS SOLD 2 FOR $1.00;
2) Family Fun baskets -- all baskets/items are valued at $25.00-$75.00+ (family movie night, family games night, junk food, restaurant gift certificates etc.) -- these are the BLUE TICKETS SOLD FOR $1.00 EACH; and
3) Premium baskets -- all items are valued at $100.00-$350.00 (overnight stays; moutain bike; large gift certificates etc.) -- these are the GREEN TICKETS SOLD FOR $2.00 EACH.
I am concerned 3 sets of tickets may be too confusing for the families. Also I am concerned that the pricing is "too high" considering we are raffling 100+ items. This event is not a fundraiser per se -- it is more like a family fun night where you can win great prizes -- but we still want to make money on the event for the PTO. Please let me know what your school does in terms of pricing baskets -- and whether or not you separate them out by value. I would appreciate any thoughts/comments that you may have. You can also e-mail me directly at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Thanks, MJ Guard [img]smile.gif[/img]
