A planning guide for nonprofit event teams
Planning a fundraiser alongside your nonprofit association conference
Keep the cause, the attendee experience and the fundraising records clear—from the first committee meeting to the final prize follow-up.
Give the fundraiser a defined purpose.
A professional association’s annual conference brings members, sponsors and volunteers together. It can also provide a setting for an eligible nonprofit’s fundraising campaign: a scholarship fund, a community project or another clearly stated charitable purpose.
Start with that purpose, not the prize list. Write one sentence explaining who benefits and what the proceeds will support. Then name the organization responsible for the fundraiser and the person who will own its records.
Illustrative planning example: a qualifying nonprofit running a training conference wants to support a scholarship program. It plans an optional prize raffle alongside the event. This is a planning scenario, not a customer case study, a revenue prediction or a statement that a particular association is eligible.
Confirm who can run it before promoting it.
Identify the exact legal organization conducting the fundraiser. Do not assume that an association, user group or conference qualifies for a raffle simply because it describes itself as nonprofit. Confirm its status against the platform’s requirements and the rules that apply where the fundraiser operates.
The IRS describes raffles as gaming and notes that gaming is normally regulated under state and local law. Before advertising entry, confirm the relevant permissions, entry restrictions, drawing terms and accounting requirements with the appropriate advisers or authorities. Chance2Win’s organization review does not replace that work.
Keep purchase language accurate, too. IRS Publication 526 says raffle-ticket costs cannot be deducted as charitable contributions. Have your organization’s adviser review acknowledgments and fundraising copy rather than calling every payment a tax-deductible donation.
Planning references: IRS guidance on exempt organizations and gaming · IRS Publication 526 · Chance2Win organization review.
Keep the conference and the fundraiser understandable.
A conference registration answers questions about attendance: who is coming, which days they purchased, which workshops they selected and what credit records they may need. A fundraising entry answers different questions: who entered, how many entries they hold, which prize or drawing they entered and what the published terms say.
| Conference team | Fundraising team |
|---|---|
| Passes, attendee days and personal agendas | Campaign purpose, entry options and prize information |
| Session and workshop rosters | Participant and entry records |
| Attendance and continuing-education review | Drawing terms and winner follow-up |
| Registration balances and event reports | Fundraiser payments, costs and reconciliation |
Connect the public information with a clearly labeled link or QR code. Avoid wording that makes a conference pass look like a raffle entry, or that suggests a fundraising purchase earns attendance credit.
Choose a format your volunteers can explain.
Chance2Win provides nonprofit raffle websites for formats including traditional prize raffles, basket raffles, 50/50 drawings and Queen of Hearts. The right operational choice depends on the organization’s eligibility, the approved rules, the prizes available and the people who will run it.
- A traditional prize raffle: useful to consider when the team has one main prize or a short, clearly defined prize list.
- A basket raffle: useful to consider when sponsors contribute several themed prize packages and the campaign lets participants choose which prizes interest them.
- A 50/50 drawing: requires clear approved terms for the prize calculation and careful reconciliation of entries and funds.
Work through the rules and operating plan before selecting software settings. A format appearing in a platform’s feature list does not establish permission to conduct it in every location.
Use the Chance2Win fundraising demos to review the participant experience with your committee. Follow with the relevant basket raffle or online raffle information once you have narrowed the plan.
Plan the activity around the conference schedule.
Your event has natural points for sharing information: registration communications, a reception, a sponsor area or a closing announcement. Choose a small number of appropriate touchpoints, subject to your event agreements and the fundraiser’s approved terms.
Give each touchpoint one job. A pre-event message can explain the cause and link to the fundraiser. An on-site sign can take supporters to the entry page. A closing announcement can explain the published drawing or follow-up process without interrupting a class or the check-in desk.
If the campaign includes both online and in-person activity, assign a person to reconcile those records. Explain how offline transactions enter the approved process, when entries close and how the final entry pool is reviewed. Test that workflow with your committee before using it with supporters.
Assign the work before the event week.
- Campaign owner: approves the purpose, legal organizer, terms and public descriptions.
- Prize coordinator: records sponsor commitments, prize descriptions, delivery arrangements and any restrictions.
- Fundraising records lead: checks payments, entries and reconciliation.
- Conference liaison: places approved links and announcements into the event schedule.
- Winner follow-up lead: handles the organization’s published notification and prize-fulfillment process.
One volunteer may hold more than one role. The useful part is that each responsibility has an owner and the team knows which records to check.
Finish with a documented closeout.
After the campaign, reconcile entry records and payments, record the drawing outcome through the approved process and track prize fulfillment. Retain the records your organization’s policies and applicable requirements call for. Thank supporters using the communication process the organization has approved.
Do not promise that a platform will email every supporter after the drawing unless you have confirmed that exact feature and configured it. A participant confirmation, winner notification and campaign-wide thank-you are different messages.
Where conference software fits.
ConferenceAxis focuses on professional training events, while Chance2Win focuses on nonprofit fundraising. An organization that needs both should plan the attendee experience and the fundraising campaign as related activities with distinct records and responsibilities.
This guide does not announce an integration. It does not promise shared accounts, a combined checkout, automatic data transfer or a shortcut around the organization’s fundraising obligations.
Show your committee the fundraising workflow.
Start with the demonstrations, then submit the organization’s details for review when the campaign plan is ready.
Explore the Chance2Win demosQuestions about this guide
Can every nonprofit association run a raffle?
Do not assume that it can. Confirm the legal organizer, applicable state and local requirements, and the platform’s eligibility rules before announcing the fundraiser. Nonprofit status alone is not a complete eligibility check.
Does buying a conference pass enter someone into the raffle?
Not in the workflow described here. Keep conference registration and fundraiser participation clearly identified, with their own records and published terms. This guide does not describe a shared checkout or an automatic integration.
Does this guide describe an integration between Chance2Win and ConferenceAxis?
No. They are related products serving different workflows. Use each product’s current documentation to plan its part of the event; do not assume shared accounts, checkout, data transfer or an automated connection.