Great charity auction donations come from those “doing it anyway.”

Here are some ideas:

1. Letter of the alphabet theme – Everything in the basket starts with the same letter. Include something that displays the letter prominently, such as a notepad or monogramed item.

2. Holidays – a basket devoted to one particular holiday

3. Movie theme – DVDs, popcorn, sodas

4. Chocolate – all fine chocolates

5. Wine and cheese – 2 bottles of wine, cheese, crackers, nuts

6. Kid’s coloring and art supplies

7. Electronics – iPod with iTunes gift cards, case, or portable DVD player, with movies

8. Travel – travel books, travel magazines, airmile certificate, VISA giftcard, hotel stay, gift card for online travel site

9. Sports – everything related to one particular team: t-shirt, hat, coffee mug, throw (or snuggie), bumper stickers, books, tickets to a game

10. Candles – several varieties of candles, gift card to Bed Bath and Beyond, Yankee Candle or other store where more candles can be purchased

Links with more gift basket theme ideas:

Halloween Gift Basket Ideas

Baby, Food, Color, Holiday, and More Great Themes For Your Gift Baskets

Gift card baskets with the wow factor

Book Themed Gift Baskets

Homemade Gift basket theme ideas

How to make a Christmas gift basket

Community Action Marin gives away numerous prizes in their big raffle. Not only do they give away a multi-million dollar home, they offer early bird cash drawings! The countdown clock on their website right now counts down to the early bird drawing. In Raffle Secrets we talk have a whole chapter on early bird and other drawings that can add excitement and revenue.

So could your raffle do something like this to build excitement? Sure!

If you don’t have access to a programmer who can make the countdown for you, that’s okay. There are websites where you can build a countdown clock in just a few clicks. You specify the date and whether you want it to just count down to the day, or also show hour and/or seconds.

Here is an example of a countdown clock that goes to one year from today!

Just go to the countdown clocks website and give it a try!

If the charity operating the raffle in California, could people buy tickets online?

Unfortunately it is not legal to do this in California.

According to California penal code 320.4 organizations are not allowed to sell raffle tickets online. The good news is that organizers can post call in or mail in options on their websites. They can keep supporters informed about the progress of the raffle, the winners of early bird drawings on their website too.

As with any kind of fundraiser that could have major legal issues, like raffles or bingo, it is so important to check all of the laws before planning a raffle. If you don’t there could be fines or other penalties. So whether you are in California or Kalamazoo, be sure to follow all the laws regarding buying and selling raffle tickets. And that includes online sales too.

St. Joseph’s has made several videos to promote their raffle. All of them are available to view on their YouTube channel. What a great way to build excitement — and bring in more ticket sales!

Today they gave an amazing Early Bird prize:

A 91-year-old Phoenix man has 32,000 reasons to be happy today. Chester Dorr was the big “early bird” winner in this fall’s Saint Joseph’s Health and Wealth Raffle. He won a brand-new Mercedes, plus $12,000 in cash.

Can you imagine? A car plus cash — and that’s just the early bird drawing! Actually Mr. Dorr decided to take the all cash option for $32,000. What a nice check that must have been!

The Health and Wealth Raffle benefits St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center and Barrow Neurological Institute.

In addition to the prize awarded to Mr. Dorr, another lucky winner recieved an 8-day Cruise for 2 plus $6,000 as an Early Bird prize.

The Grand Prize is $1 Million in CASH. The last day to buy a ticket is this Thursday, September 22nd at Midnight.

A Mission couple had bought tickets for a raffle and found out they won.

The family says the raffle was supposed to go towards scholarships for high school students. The woman who organized the raffle says it lost money, which is why the family still hasn’t received their prize.

The drawing was held on May 28. Pedro and Fela Marin say they won a 2011 Dodge Caliber.

“‘You win the car.’ Wow, OK, so we go over there and talk to Isabel. She says, ‘Congratulations, but the car is not there,’” says Pedro Marin.

The fact is the raffle didn’t raise the money it took to purchase the car.

Isabela Flores is the person who organized the raffle. She says people she thought would help ended up ruining the event.

“A lot of people tried to help us to sell tickets. They never came back with the tickets. They never came back with the money. It was something that went bad. I’ve been responsible since day one,” she says.

The Marins received a signed affidavit from Flores saying she would get the car within 60 days. When that didn’t happen they filed a police report. Flores was arrested on a Class A misdemeanor charge of gambling promotion. She is free on a PR bond and still needs to go to court.

This is a word of warning for anyone getting into raffle planning. These kind of legal problems are the reason we made the first chapter of Raffle Secrets all about staying within the law.

Rotary car raffle:

A Mercedes Benz could be yours for $100 if you win the 10th annual car raffle sponsored by the Rotary Club of Lakeway/Lake Travis. Tickets are being sold online at the Rotary’s website and via Rotary Club members through Nov. 11.

On Nov. 11 a drawing party will be held at the Lakeway Resort and Spa, 101 Lakeway Blvd. at 7 p.m. Music, a silent auction, appetizers and a cash bar takes place from 7–8:30 p.m., with the drawing for runner-ups and overall winner from 8:30–9:30 p.m.

Purchase of a $100 raffle ticket includes more than $100 in coupons from local restaurants and businesses.

Proceeds go toward scholarships for Lake Travis High School students, ShelterBox and other local and International charitable projects.

A car for a Shriners raffle was stolen — and returned!

Members of the Mount Mitchell Shrine Club have been making their rounds across the county recently, selling tickets for a 1965 Rambler American. All the proceeds from the tickets will benefit Shriners Hospitals for Children.

But the Shriners’ good deed almost came to an abrupt end last week. Sometime between 1 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 26 and 4 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 27, suspects broke into a storage building on Quality Way and stole the $6,500 Rambler, along with a 1961 green Schwinn boy’s motor bike, valued at $2,000.

McDowell County sheriff’s deputies spotted the car in a ditch on Old Greenlee Road around 4 a.m. Saturday, before the break-in was even known.

A homeless shelter will benefit from this car raffle. A local auto dealer even donated the car, so all of the proceeds to to the shelter.

Baumann Auto Group has donated a vehicle for this charity raffle and is offering the winner a choice of three new 2011 vehicles: a Chevrolet Cruze, Chrysler 200 or a Hyundai Elantra.

Tickets cost $5 each, and 100 percent of the proceeds will benefit the Liberty Center. All tickets must be purchased by Sept. 8. An initial drawing is scheduled for Sept. 17 to choose 50 finalists. The final drawing will be at Baumann-Norwalk Hyundai in Norwalk on Sept. 24. Tickets are available from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at the Liberty Center office, 1421 E. State St. For information, call 419-332-8777.

For the raffle winner, it’s one of the best prizes. Some house raffles even offer cash prize instead. Either way, it’s a great prize.

At Community Action Marin the excitement is building as they are on their fifth annual Marin County Dream House Raffle. Would you believe that this year they offer a $2 million, 3,600-square-foot house for a prize! Or the winner could take $1.5 million in cash. Nice!

This year the website offers many pictures and a video of the dream house. It’s a grand prize that anyone would really love to win. Though you have to be committed enough to pay the $150 per ticket. Either you really want that house, or you believe in the cause that Community Action supports.

Check with the state laws in the state in where you live.  Most states have information about this online.  You can view a list of laws by US state here.

Before you proceed further with considering planning a raffle, you can get a quick start by answering these two questions:

1. Will your raffle be run by and benefit a registered charitable organization?
2. Have you checked with the state and local laws?

If you can you answer yes to these two questions then a raffle may be a possibility for your organization.

Raffle Secrets has an entire chapter on raffle legalities that goes beyond these two basics. It includes a checklist to use when contacting the state attorney general, how to write the raffle guidelines, and ideas for getting help with planning your raffle. So, for both legal and practical reasons, contacting legal authorities in your area about charitable gambling laws is the first step for planning your raffle.

Understanding the legal landscape is so important that we made the second chapter of the book all about raffle legalities.  In “Step One” of Raffle Secrets we cover:

• The basics about raffles, gambling and legal issues
• Consulting with your state Attorney General
• The importance of checking with local authorities
• How to get legal assistance
• How to write the raffle terms and conditions
• If you need to Apply/Register for a Gaming License
• The dangers of unlicensed 50-50 Raffles
• Political fundraising gone wrong
• Understanding non-governmental policies

Find out more about Raffle Secrets and how it can help you successfully raise funds for your charity.