From application to live raffle in 24–48 hours.
Most fundraising websites take weeks to set up. Ours takes a day or two. Here's exactly what happens from the moment you apply to the moment your first supporter buys a ticket, and why we do it this way instead of the instant, no-vetting approach everyone else sells.
The 5pm Friday Setup
Caller: "We have our raffle starting tomorrow. We need to set up the site."
Support: "What time tomorrow?"
Caller: "10am."
Support: "It's 5pm Friday. Have you secured the prize?"
Caller: "Almost."
Support: "Do you have your payment processor set up?"
Caller: "…what's a payment processor?"
— Mary Ann "The calls we get at 5pm Friday are shocking. Fundraisers and raffles require a little effort. Don't start on Friday for Saturday."
Four steps from idea to launch.
We've run so many raffles we honestly stopped counting. What we never stopped doing was building a process that protects both your organization and your donors. Here's what it looks like, no surprises.
Apply and tell us about your organization.
You fill out our intake form at Chance2Win.org. It takes about five minutes. We ask for the basics: your organization name, 501(c)(3) EIN, what state you're in, what raffle format you want to run, your target launch date, and a brief description of your cause.
This is also where you tell us about your prize, what it is, whether you physically have it in your possession (this matters more than most people realize), and your goal amount. If you're not sure which raffle format is right for you, that's fine. We'll talk through it on the phone.
One thing that surprises a lot of first-time callers: we actually read these forms before responding. We're not pushing you into an automated queue. A real person reviews every application.
We get calls every week from organizations that applied with a prize they don't actually control yet. "My uncle said we could probably use his motorcycle." "The car dealer seemed interested." If you don't have the prize secured in writing before you apply, slow down. An unconfirmed prize is not a prize, it's an intention. Your donors will expect to win something real.
We review your application, usually same day.
Here's the part that makes us different from every self-serve raffle website on the internet: we actually look at your application before you go live. Not an algorithm. Not an auto-approve. A human being with raffle experience reviews your organization, your state, your format, and your prize.
What are we checking? A few things. First, whether your organization is eligible, we work exclusively with 501(c)(3) nonprofits and don't serve for-profit businesses or individuals. Second, whether your state allows online raffle ticket sales for nonprofits (most do; Utah and Hawaii do not). Third, whether there are any compliance flags specific to your raffle type, some states, like Colorado and Kentucky, have requirements that affect how your drawing must be conducted.
If everything checks out, and for most legitimate nonprofits, it does, we'll give you the green light and walk you through payment setup. If there's something we need to sort out first, we'll tell you exactly what it is and how to fix it. No mystery, no ghosting.
The Surprise State Deadline
Caller: "We've been selling tickets for two weeks and just found out we needed to register with the state."
Support: "Which state?"
Caller: "Florida."
Support: "Yes. You needed to register before selling."
Caller: "…before?"
Support: "Before."
Caller: "We didn't know."
— Mary Ann "Ignorance isn't a strategy. It's just a delayed problem. Our vetting step exists precisely to catch things like this before they become your problem."
Build your raffle website using the wizard.
Once you're approved, you get access to the Chance2Win wizard, the same setup tool that tens of thousands of nonprofits have used to build their raffle websites. It guides you through the setup step by step: add your prize information, set your ticket pricing and bundle options, configure your drawing schedule, upload your organization's logo and images, connect your payment processor (Stripe on the Zero Fee plan; Stripe, Square, or Authorize.net on Premium).
For most organizations, this takes anywhere from 30 minutes to a few hours depending on how many prizes you're listing and how detailed you want your raffle page to be. A traditional single-prize raffle can be set up in under an hour. A full basket raffle with 20+ individual prizes naturally takes longer.
You set up the raffle. We provide the website. That's the legal distinction that matters, your nonprofit is the operator of the raffle, and Chance2Win provides the infrastructure. This is attorney-approved language, and it's the reason we can serve nonprofits across ~45 states without triggering the electronic raffle system licensing requirements that would cost upwards of a million dollars a year.
Payment processor setup is almost always where people get stuck. "I think we have Square, or Stripe. Heck we don't know. I think Mary had it and she quit." actual call, every week. If your organization doesn't have an active payment processor account with your EIN and a bank account attached, do that before you apply. It's not something we can rush. Stripe approvals typically take minutes; Square and Authorize.net can take 1–2 business days for full approval.
Launch, sell tickets, run your raffle.
Your raffle goes live and your supporters start buying tickets. The website handles everything automatically: digital ticket delivery by email (with ticket numbers your supporters can verify), real-time sales tracking, a donor dashboard, and automated drawing when the time comes. Ticket sales data, including names, emails, and ticket numbers, is available for you to download at any time.
If you're running a hybrid raffle (which most organizations eventually do), you can accept cash and check entries in person and add them manually to the drawing pool. The pool belongs to your organization, not your payment processor. No competitor handles this correctly.
And if anything breaks, or if you just have a question at an inconvenient time, you call (813) 699-9325. A real person answers. That person knows raffle mechanics. That is not a small thing. We have seen raffles go sideways because of a timezone miscommunication, a prize that fell through 48 hours before the drawing, a volunteer who changed the ticket price mid-campaign without telling anyone. We've handled every version of these scenarios. Having someone to call who has actually dealt with your specific problem before is worth more than any feature list.
The Assumption Disaster
Caller: "Nobody knows who won our raffle!"
Support: "When was the drawing?"
Caller: "Three days ago."
Support: "Did you announce the winner?"
Caller: "We thought the website would do it automatically."
Support: "Did you read the instructions?"
Caller: "…there were instructions?"
— Mary Ann "You didn't lose the winner. You ignored the map. The winner is in your dashboard. The dashboard you didn't read the instructions for."
The vetting step isn't a hurdle. It's the point.
Every self-serve raffle website offers instant setup. Sign up, enter a credit card, and you're live in five minutes. That sounds good until you realize why it actually creates problems, for your organization, your donors, and sometimes for you legally.
Five minutes to live. No questions asked.
Stripe processes the account. The website goes live. Nobody checked whether your state allows online raffle ticket sales. Nobody checked whether you have a secured prize. Nobody checked whether your payment processor is configured correctly for your EIN. When something goes wrong, and something always goes wrong, you call a chatbot or file a support ticket and wait three days for a response.
We have rescued multiple organizations mid-campaign after their "instant" raffle platform suspended their account because the prize was a bottle of bourbon, which Stripe flags as restricted. Legal in their state. Legal raffle. Stripe didn't care. Their "platform" had no one to call.
24–48 hours to live. Someone actually looked.
A human reviewed your application. Your state eligibility is confirmed. Your payment processor is connected and tested. Your prize is documented. Your raffle type is configured correctly for your state's requirements. When you go live, you know it's right.
And when your volunteer coordinator calls us at 8pm because she changed the ticket price and now doesn't know how to adjust the bundle math, which happens weekly, someone picks up and walks her through it in ten minutes.
We work exclusively with eligible nonprofits.
Chance2Win is built for 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations. We don't serve for-profit businesses, individuals, or organizations without active IRS nonprofit status. This isn't gatekeeping, it's the legal and ethical foundation that allows us to operate in ~45 states.
Here's who typically gets approved quickly and who hits a speed bump.
Fast approval, usually same day
Established 501(c)(3) with active EIN. Schools, PTOs, churches, sports boosters, veterans groups, fire departments, hospital foundations, and community nonprofits with documented fundraising history typically sail through. The more clearly your application documents who you are and what the prize is, the faster this goes.
Takes longer, needs extra documentation
Newly formed 501(c)(3)s (less than 12 months old), organizations in states with specific raffle registration requirements (Illinois, New York, California have their own processes), and organizations planning high-value prizes ($10,000+) that need tax disclosure language added to the raffle rules. None of these are automatic disqualifiers — they just take a bit more back-and-forth.
Not eligible
For-profit businesses, individual fundraisers, and organizations based in Utah or Hawaii (both states prohibit paid-entry raffles entirely, regardless of nonprofit status). If you're in one of these categories, we'll tell you upfront rather than waste your time.
What to have ready when you apply
Your 501(c)(3) EIN, a brief description of your organization and cause, your prize (what it is, current estimated value, whether you physically have it or have it in writing), your target launch date, and your preferred raffle format. That's it. The more complete your application, the faster we can get you live.
Raffle Mastery — The Guide to Modern Online Fundraising
Before you apply, it's worth 20 minutes with this book. It covers raffle format selection, prize strategy, ticket pricing psychology, checkout friction, and everything the hotline hears weekly from organizations that didn't know what they didn't know. Written by the Chance2Win team after 20 years of real raffles. Free.
Get the Free BookThings people ask us before applying.
The honest answers. No marketing copy.
Ready to apply? Most organizations launch in 24–48 hours.
Fill out the intake form at Chance2Win.org. A real person will review your application — usually same business day — and tell you exactly what happens next.
Start Your ApplicationRaffle and charitable gaming laws vary by state. This is not legal advice. We confirm your organization's eligibility as part of the vetting process before you go live.