Running Raffles using PayPal, or Not!
A couple of weeks ago some of my friends decided to run a raffle ($10,000 grand prize) as a fundraiser for my growing synagogue. The easiest way to collect the money was to use paypal. It literally took a couple of minutes to get the form on the website to accept purchasing the raffle tickets. The system really worked well until I got an email from PayPal asking me to remove the raffle purchasing; they said it broke their terms of use policy. I figured they might be sympathetic that we were a non-profit organization that already spent money to advertise the raffle and online payment. I was wrong. Before it’s too late, I will put up a message on the site saying that paypal won’t let us do the raffle tickets, but if you want to give us a donation, we will give you tickets in exchange. Wish me luck or just buy some tickets before they shut us down :)
Published August 26, 2009 by:
Ronnie
Ronnie Schwartz is the CTO and founder of RustyBrick, an agile web development firm that creates effective web applications and focuses on finding the right balance between time to production and software quality to get clients in front of their customers quickly and effectively. Ronnie brings over ten years of innovative design, programming and web management expertise to the table.
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9 COMMENTS
posted by NANCY RUGGERI on: Dec 31, 2011 11:04pm
SHALOM! i am preparing an on line raffle for my spca argentina...you can get some other gateway processor instead of paypal..or get one that in the carribean. Paypal and so many others are full crap! if banks and wall street can swindle at will and not go to jail...why shouls non profits that are trying to help people be limited!!! makes me sick...hope you are able to raise your money...HAVE FAITH!
posted by jenny on: Jan 17, 2010 02:58pm
I found this through google and had the same thing happen to me.... what did you end up doing? jenny@simplydelightfuldesigns.com
posted by Fancysweets on: Aug 26, 2010 02:13pm
Hi guys, Use a paypal raffle script "found here at" www.AutomaticTurnkeyscripts.com for around $1 bucks - Works fine for me !!
posted by Fancy Sweets on: Aug 26, 2010 02:21pm
Sorry Thats $12.99 USD to be excact for the raffle script comes with 3 different templates.- Buy Now at http://www.automaticturnkeyscripts.com/products.php?product=PayPal-Raffle-Script See the Real Paypal Raffle Website at www.PaypalRaffle.com
posted by Barry Schwartz on: Aug 27, 2009 12:45am
To give a bit more perspective on this. PayPal classifies a "raffle" as a form of gambling. PayPal has to take a hard line on this, because the gray area can be pretty big, I would imagine. Here is actually a funny and recent story about this at http://www.examiner.com/x-17034-Chicago-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m8d2-PayPal-suspends-Soldiers-Angels-charity-over-gun-raffle
posted by Alex Fierro on: Aug 27, 2009 12:49am
"Give me a donation and I'll give you a free ticket" probably won't help you. I remember eBay having rules against selling certain products, like game accounts and keycodes. So sellers got smart and said "Buy a pencil: $49. You get a free keycode." eBay/PayPal were not amused.
posted by on: Aug 27, 2009 02:02am
Exactly...I remember those days...We are really selling this "ballcap" for $1,500. It's a really nice ballcap.
posted by Ronnie Schwartz on: Aug 27, 2009 12:44pm
It's upsetting. We are a small struggling congregation that just need an easy way to collect money. I was just reading how IKEA is abusing the system by wrapping itself around a non-profit organization . This is why PayPal is so tight. I wish people would be honest and not swindle every good thing in this world.
posted by on: Nov 22, 2009 02:17am
Yep! Just got an email for our 501(c)3 organization about the raffle we were having too. PayPal said it violated their terms of use. OK....so HOW do we collect money for these raffles if not through PayPal??? Any ideas???