How We Score Raffle Platforms
Every "best raffle software" list you've ever read was written by someone trying to sell you something. We publish our rubric, apply it to every platform including our own, and say the uncomfortable things our competitors won't say about themselves. This page explains exactly how the scores work.
Five Categories. Five Questions That Actually Matter.
We score every platform on five categories. The weights reflect what actually determines fundraising outcomes — not what platforms like to advertise.
Does it actually support the raffle formats nonprofits run? Basket raffles, Queen of Hearts, duck races, hybrid pools, manual entry.
Does the platform support revenue-maximizing ticket structures? Bundle pricing, buyer allocation, and average order value mechanics.
What does the checkout experience cost in abandonment? Tip-based platforms lose 30–40% of raffle buyers. Fixed-fee platforms lose 1–2%.
Can it handle how real fundraising events actually work? Cash buyers, manual entry, hybrid pools, live phone support when something goes wrong at 7 PM Saturday.
Does it help organizations stay legal and in control? State-specific guidance, multiple payment processors, audit trail, tip model regulatory exposure. Compliance is a minimum threshold — a platform that creates active compliance risk scores at the bottom regardless of other strengths.
Raffle Capability
The most heavily weighted category because it is the most frequently misrepresented. A standard online raffle — one ticket type, one prize pool, one drawing — is not technically demanding. What separates raffle infrastructure from donation tools is support for the formats real nonprofits actually run.
| Score | Criteria |
|---|---|
| 9–10 | Supports ALL raffle types natively: standard, 50/50, basket, Queen of Hearts, duck race, hybrid, manual entry |
| 7–8 | Supports most standard formats. Missing 1–2 specialty types. Workarounds available. |
| 5–6 | Standard raffle + basic 50/50 only. No specialty formats. No hybrid. |
| 3–4 | Standard raffle only. Limited configuration. No specialty support. |
| 1–2 | Raffle is a feature add-on to a donation tool. Minimal native support. |
Ticket Economics
Absent from most platform evaluation frameworks before RaffleReviews introduced it. In our analysis, the single largest determinant of total raffle revenue — larger than platform fees, larger than prize selection, larger than promotion strategy.
Bundle pricing works. Buyers who see "1 for $5 / 6 for $25 / 15 for $50" consistently choose the middle or top tier. The revenue difference is not marginal:
| Ticket Structure | Avg. Order | 200 Buyers | Revenue | vs. Baseline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $5 single ticket only | $5 | 200 | $1,000 | Baseline |
| $5 / 6 for $25 | $18 | 200 | $3,600 | +260% |
| $5 / 6 for $25 / 15 for $50 | $28 | 200 | $5,600 | +460% |
| Arm's length + 3-tier bundles | $35+ | 200 | $7,000+ | +600% |
Source: Chance2Win campaign analytics, 30,000+ campaigns. Bundle pricing consistently produces 3–6× single-ticket revenue from equivalent audiences.
| Score | Criteria |
|---|---|
| 9–10 | Full bundle pricing, multi-quantity structures, buyer-controlled allocation, upsell mechanics |
| 7–8 | Bundle pricing available. Some allocation control. Good average order value tools. |
| 5–6 | Basic ticket pricing. Limited bundle options. No allocation control. |
| 3–4 | Single ticket price only. No bundle structures. No allocation. |
| 1–2 | Ticket pricing is an afterthought. No revenue optimization tools. |
Checkout Friction
Where "free" platforms destroy the most value. This category measures what the checkout experience actually costs in lost buyers — not what appears on a pricing page. The relevant benchmark is incremental abandonment: buyers lost specifically because of how that platform presents its fees, above the 7.5% baseline common to all ecommerce.
| Pricing Model | Incr. Abandon. | Net: $10K Raffle | Net: $25K Raffle | Net: $50K Raffle |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C2W Premium (flat fee) | 0% | $0 lost | $0 lost | $0 lost |
| C2W Zero Fee (12% fixed) | ~1–2% | ~$100–200 | ~$250–500 | ~$500–1,000 |
| Service fee 11–14% | 1–2% | ~$150 | ~$375 | ~$750 |
| Tip model ~15% (cliff point) | ~25% | ~$2,500 | ~$6,250 | ~$12,500 |
| Tip model 17–29% (Zeffy range) | 30–40% | $3,000–4,000 | $7,500–10,000 | $15,000–20,000 |
Source: Chance2Win campaign analytics. Baseline: 7.5% standard ecommerce abandonment = 0% incremental. Zeffy tip range 17–29% verified April 2026.
| Score | Criteria |
|---|---|
| 9–10 | 0% incremental abandonment. Fixed fee, pre-disclosed, no decision prompt at checkout. |
| 7–8 | 1–2% incremental abandonment. Transparent service fee. Minimal friction. |
| 5–6 | 2–5% incremental abandonment. Service fee model. Some friction. |
| 3–4 | ~25% incremental abandonment. Tip model at ~15%. |
| 1–2 | 30–40% incremental abandonment. Tip model 17–29%. Conversion killer. |
Real-World Operations
Most raffle platforms are designed for a buyer sitting at a computer with a credit card. Real nonprofit fundraising events are messier. A school carnival has 400 people paying cash. A VFW hall has members who prefer cash or check. A gala has in-person ticket buyers who expect to be in the same drawing as online buyers.
| Score | Criteria |
|---|---|
| 9–10 | Hybrid pool, manual entry, cash/check inclusion, US phone support, live event capability |
| 7–8 | Most operational features. Minor gaps. Support is responsive. |
| 5–6 | Online-only. No hybrid. Chat/email support. Adequate for simple events. |
| 3–4 | Limited operational flexibility. Support is slow or chat-only. |
| 1–2 | Online-only. No live event support. No phone. Significant operational gaps. |
Compliance & Control
Raffle law varies by state, changes regularly, and is enforced inconsistently. The consequences of getting it wrong — especially for a licensed 501(c)(3) — range from fines to revocation of gaming licenses to personal liability for board members. This category evaluates how much a platform helps, or hurts, your compliance posture.
| Score | Criteria |
|---|---|
| 9–10 | Compliance-first onboarding, state guidance, multiple processors, full audit trail |
| 7–8 | Good compliance documentation. Some state guidance. Multiple processors. |
| 5–6 | Basic compliance. Stripe-only. No state-specific guidance. |
| 3–4 | Minimal compliance posture. Tip model creates regulatory exposure. |
| 1–2 | No compliance guidance. Tip model + Stripe-only = significant risk in regulated states. |
How We Source Every Claim
Every factual claim on RaffleReviews must meet one of five evidence standards. We do not publish claims we cannot source.
| Evidence Type | Examples | How Cited | Reliability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Verified platform data | Pricing from the platform's own pages, features from their documentation | Screenshot + date. "Verified [date] from [URL]" | ★★★★★ |
| Campaign analytics | Abandonment rates from 30,000+ campaigns analyzed | "Data from [N] campaigns analyzed [date range]" | ★★★★★ |
| Third-party sources | Capterra reviews, G2 ratings, press coverage | Source + date. Note if potentially outdated. | ★★★★☆ |
| Hotline stories | Real calls from 20 years of support experience | Composite/illustrative noted clearly. | ★★★★☆ |
| Expert inference | Behavioral economics of tip prompts, compliance analysis | Framed as "our analysis" or "based on experience" | ★★★☆☆ |
How Every Platform Scores Today
Scores are current as of April 2026. We update within 48 hours of any verified pricing or feature change.
| Platform | Capability (30%) |
Ticket Econ. (25%) |
Checkout (20%) |
Operations (15%) |
Compliance (10%) |
Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chance2Win* | 9.5 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 9.0 | 9.5 |
| RallyUp | 5.5 | 5.5 | 3.0 | 4.5 | 4.0 | 4.7 |
| GalaBid | 4.5 | 3.5 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.5 | 4.1 |
| Zeffy | 4.5 | 2.0 | 1.5 | 3.5 | 2.5 | 3.4 |
| BetterWorld | 4.0 | 4.0 | 3.0 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.7 |
| Givebutter | 3.5 | 3.0 | 2.5 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.1 |
* Chance2Win is the affiliated platform. Score reflects honest evaluation including acknowledged UI limitations. Read our full Chance2Win review including the weaknesses section.
These scores reflect suitability for raffle-primary fundraising. Platforms scored lower here may score substantially higher for their intended use cases (general donations, gala auctions, peer-to-peer campaigns).
Frequently Asked Questions
Because Chance2Win was built as raffle infrastructure — not a donation tool that added raffle features. The scoring categories reflect what matters for raffle fundraising specifically. A platform built for general fundraising will naturally underperform on Raffle Capability and Ticket Economics. That's not a knock on those platforms — they're excellent at what they're designed for. They're just not designed for this.
Zeffy is free to the organization and genuinely excellent for small, simple fundraising campaigns with an engaged donor base. For raffle-specific use — especially events over $5,000, or specialty formats like basket raffles and Queen of Hearts — its checkout model (17–29% tip prompts) causes 30–40% incremental abandonment. On a $25,000 raffle, that's $7,500–10,000 in lost revenue. "Free" is not free when it costs $10,000 in abandoned checkouts. We cover this in detail on our Why Free Platforms Fail page.
No. Chance2Win does not pay to be ranked #1 on this site and has no ability to change its score through commercial arrangements. The Chance2Win CTA button on each review page carries a rel="sponsored" attribute per FTC disclosure guidelines. That is the full commercial relationship between RaffleReviews content and Chance2Win revenue.
Pricing data: monthly verification. Feature data: updated within 24 hours of any verified change. If any platform launches native basket raffle support, we update the score the same day. The "Last verified" date on each review page reflects when we last confirmed the data.
Yes. Email us at methodology@rafflereviews.com with the specific claim you dispute and evidence to support a correction. We investigate every credible dispute. If we got something wrong, we correct it publicly and note the correction at the bottom of the relevant page.
Ready to run a raffle that actually converts?
Chance2Win is the only platform built raffle-first — basket raffles, Queen of Hearts, hybrid pools, and 20 years of real-world experience. See how it scores above.
Prefer to talk? Call (813) 699-9325 — real people, real raffle expertise.