How to Run a Fair Raffle
A raffle needs more than an animated draw. The organizer must define who can enter, how tickets are counted, what happens after a win and what records are required. This guide focuses on the practical selection process for an activity you are already entitled to run; it does not determine whether a paid or public raffle is permitted in your location. SpinAndDecide can select from a prepared list, but it does not sell tickets, verify entrants, take payments or certify compliance.
By SpinAndDecide · Updated November 4, 2026
Establish the activity rules first
Write the entry deadline, eligibility conditions, prize description and selection method before collecting entries. Explain whether one person can hold several tickets and whether a person can win more than once. These choices determine how the list must be represented. Where legal or platform requirements apply, verify those through appropriate sources for the particular activity. Do not assume a browser wheel or this general guide supplies approval to conduct a regulated promotion.
Choose ticket-level or person-level chances
One line per ticket gives each ticket an equal chance. Someone holding three tickets then has three times the chance of someone holding one, provided those are all equally eligible tickets. One line per person instead creates equal person-level chances. Neither representation should be substituted silently for the other. Use distinct ticket identifiers when several tickets belong to one person, and maintain the private identity mapping outside a publicly shared configuration.
Validate the final entry pool
Close entries at the stated deadline and reconcile the list against your own appropriate records. Remove test rows, blank placeholders and ineligible entries before presenting the wheel. Check that distinct ticket IDs are genuinely distinct and that repeated names reflect the intended policy rather than copying errors. The tool treats lines literally; it does not deduplicate identities, validate purchases or determine whether a ticket was issued legitimately. That verification remains an organizer task.
Decide what a win removes
Remove winner deletes only the selected line. In a ticket-based list, that usually removes one ticket, leaving the same person’s other tickets eligible. If the rules permit only one prize per person, the organizer needs to remove every associated ticket before drawing again. Weighted lines behave differently: removal deletes the entire selected weighted entry. Choose and explain the representation before the first draw, because changing it afterward can materially change subsequent odds.
Show the process clearly
For a shared event, present one organizer-controlled screen and explain the entry count and removal policy. Allow participants to understand the pool without exposing private contact information. The animation reveals a choice made by the browser’s random method; it is not independent oversight. A local browser operator can edit entries or code and can rerun a selection. Do not describe a screenshot or colorful animation as proof of an independently audited raffle.
Follow a consistent winner-contact policy
Record the selected ticket label and use your private mapping to contact the entrant through the process already announced. Define how long a person has to respond and what happens if eligibility cannot be confirmed. The wheel does not send notifications or deliver prizes. Avoid improvising a different rule because a particular winner is inconvenient. If a redraw is required under the published process, record why it occurred and preserve the relevant context appropriately.
Preserve the records the activity needs
Copy result records the displayed label, but it is not a complete event log. Keep the final eligible pool, rules, draw sequence and any required verification through a suitable recordkeeping process. Limit access to personal information and use a retention period appropriate to the actual activity. A shared configuration link is not an appropriate private ticket database. Local browser saves may be cleared and should not be the sole copy of essential event records.
Use a different system when oversight matters
A casual no-stakes draw may need only a clearly explained list and visible process. A formal promotion may require independent oversight, stronger records or other safeguards that this local tool does not provide. Match the system to the activity rather than stretching the wheel’s claims. If you cannot explain how eligibility, duplicates, redraws and person-level prize limits will be handled, finish those rules before selecting anyone. Randomness is only one part of a fair selection process.
Frequently asked questions
Does Remove winner stop a person winning twice?
It removes one entry line. With multiple tickets per person, other tickets remain unless the organizer removes them under the announced rules.
Does this tool sell or verify raffle tickets?
No. Ticket administration, eligibility and identity mapping happen outside the wheel.
Are equal ticket chances equal person chances?
Only when every person has the same number of eligible tickets. Multiple tickets increase a person’s combined chance.
Is a browser wheel an audited raffle system?
No. It is a local selection utility. Formal oversight and record requirements need an appropriate separate process.