Creating a raffle campaign

This article will detail how a raffle campaign can be created in vega. The vega raffle module is available as an add-on for any organisation, please see the overview article for detail on signing up, with the option to include setup by vega support.

 

To create a raffle campaign, you will need to go to the Engage tab and first create a new campaign header. It is recommended that each new raffle you run should be created under a new campaign header.

For the raffle module, the campaign header start and end dates will be checked for ticket purchases so please ensure these are set for the time frame that tickets will need to be processed.

It is optional to set a capacity on the campaign header, this will set an overall capacity for all raffle actions created under this campaign header. If you have multiple ticket-selling channels, such as online and telefundraising, then this capacity will be the joint amount for both channels.

The ticket number seed is an optional field that can be added to set the first ticket number to be used in any raffle actions within this header.

 

Next, click New Action from within your new campaign header.

 

Select Raffle Channel as the action type.

This will open the raffle configuration as shown below and detailed under each heading:

 

Raffle Event Setup

This is the first tab and includes the set-up fields. These fields must be completed for your new raffle action.

Raffle Event Setup field	Explanation
Name	Enter the name of your raffle channel. If your raffle campaign has multiple channels make sure the naming is clear.
Code	Enter a short-hand code for this raffle channel.
Type	This will be locked from editing and shows that this campaign action is a raffle.
Maximum Ticket Capacity	Enter the maximum capacity allowed for this raffle, this is the total number of tickets allowed to be sold in the raffle and this might be restricted depending on your licence.
Target $	Enter the total target income for this raffle channel.
Ticket No. From	Set the lowest ticket number available for this raffle channel. If the ticket number seed was set in the campaign header then this action must not use a lower ticket seed.
Ticket No. To	Set the highest ticket number available for this raffle channel. This field is available to allow for more ticket numbers to be allocated to the raffle channel than the total capacity to account for any cancelled or unfulfilled tickets. It is highly recommended to set the ticket number range higher than the total capacity allowed.
Is Active?	This will be ticked as default and shows that this raffle channel action is active.
Create a Widget	This will be ticked as default and creates an event widget that can be embedded on a webpage to accept online purchases.

 

 

Dates Setup

On the second tab, you will need to set the dates and times of your raffle and its availability. These fields must be completed for your new raffle action.

 

Dates Setup field	Explanation
Event Start Date	Set the date and time of when the raffle draw will take place.
Available From	Set the date and time that raffle tickets will be available to be purchased from. Raffle purchases will not be available from within vega or via the widget before this date and time.
Available To	Set the date and time that raffle tickets will be available to be purchased to. Raffle purchases will not be available from within vega or via the widget after this date and time.

 

 

Response Setup

On the third tab, you can define automatic response coding for transactions associated with this raffle channel action. These settings are optional and not a necessity for creating a new raffle action.

 

Response Setup field	Explanation
Response Document	Select the document to be chosen as default when a payment is created in vega for this campaign action. If a document is chosen here it will also be automatically selected as the acknowledgement and attendee acknowledgement document in the widget configuration for this campaign action.
Response GL Code	Select the GL Code to be chosen as default when a payment is created in vega for this campaign action. If a GL Code is chosen here it will also be automatically selected under the financial section of the widget configuration for this campaign action.
Response Bank Account	Select the Bank Account to be used when a payment is created in vega for this campaign action.

 

Once the above three tabs have been completed you should save your raffle campaign action, click the green Save button on the top right-hand side of the screen.

Once your raffle has been initially saved the iframe code will be available and you will be able to access the widget configuration by clicking the Configure button or going to Admin > Widget Configuration > Event. The Preview button will open the widget in a new tab on your browser but first, you will need to add some raffle ticket options to see this correctly.

 

Products

In vega products is a term used to identify ticket options, these can be used on the standard ticketed event and are also used for raffle ticket options as well. If you have not created your raffle ticket options you will need to go to Admin > Attributes and create your new attributes using the group Products first.

 

Clicking Add under the Products tab will display the fields shown below for you to create your raffle ticket options.

Products field	Explanation
Attribute Type	Select the attribute type for your ticket attributes. This will display all attribute types in the group Products.
Attribute	Select the attribute of your first raffle ticket to add, this will also be used as the ticket name.
Response GL Code	This will display all available GL Codes. Select the relevant GL Code to be used on the payment when this raffle ticket is purchased. It is recommended to have a specific GL Code for raffle ticket purchases, separate from donations. This is a required field.
Start Date	Set the date that the raffle ticket is available to be purchased from, if different from your event available from date set above. For example, you might have early bird tickets available to start with and then general sale tickets available 2 weeks after the event available from date.
End Date	Set the end date the raffle ticket is available to buy until, if different from the event available to date set above. Tickets will only be available to purchase up until the date set here. Using the same example above, the early bird tickets will be set with an end date 2 weeks after the available from date.
Price	Set the price of your raffle ticket.
Label	If you would like to add a label or additional information to your raffle ticket it can be added here.
Active	This will be ticked as default to set your new raffle ticket as active.
Is Merchandise	This will be unticked as default. This setting allows you to use an attribute for any merchandise or a ticket type that should not deduct from the capacity.
Quantity	Set the quantity to be deducted from the capacity here. For example, a raffle book of 10 tickets would be set as 10, or a bundle deal buying 5 tickets would have a quantity of 5.
Max. Amount Per Purchase	Set how many of these raffle tickets are able to be purchased in one transaction. This changes the numbers available in the quantity dropdown in the widget.
Bonus Quantity	This allows you to create offers and bundles to be purchased. For example, if you wanted to include the option to buy 5 raffle tickets and get 1 free then you would set the quantity as 5 and the bonus quantity as 1.
Bonus applies per total purchase	If you are using the bonus quantity above then this setting will only apply the bonus ticket quantity to the whole purchase, regardless of how many of these ticket types are purchased. For example, if 3 of the 'buy 5, get 1 free' tickets were purchased the contact would get 15 paid tickets and 1 bonus ticket.
Bonus applies per product purchase	If you are using the bonus quantity above then this setting will apply the bonus ticket quantity to each of these ticket types purchased. For example, if 3 of the 'buy 5, get 1 free' tickets were purchased the contact would get 15 paid tickets and 3 bonus tickets.
Related Product	This can be used to only show this raffle ticket option in the widget once the related ticket has been chosen. For example, you could have a bundle ticket that then offers merchandise for this ticket type only. The primary, related ticket, needs to be added first.
Save	Click to save the raffle ticket details you have entered.

Once you have added all the raffle ticket options, Save the event using the top right Save button for the whole campaign action as well.

 

The recording below shows the process of adding three ticket options and how they can then be viewed on the widget. Please note, the single ticket option is not yet visible on the widget as it is before the start date of that ticket type.

The screenshot below shows each ticket type that was added:

 

Publish & Clone

Your raffle campaign is now set up and can be published to show this campaign action as an option when adding a payment in vega. A raffle widget can successfully process transactions without the campaign being published.

Click the blue Save Publish button at the top-right of your screen to publish the campaign.

 

A raffle campaign cannot be edited when it is published, you will need to click the Undo Publish button to edit your action.

Once published, there is also an option to Clone this raffle action. This will create a new raffle campaign action underneath the same campaign header with the same event setup, response setup, and products as your original raffle action. You will need to make any necessary changes to these settings and input the dates before saving this new raffle campaign. The clone feature can speed up setup when you have many raffle channels for one raffle campaign. Please note, the option to create a widget will not be ticked as default on a cloned campaign.

 

 

There are also some additional settings and configurations available, please click the links below to see more detail on each of these. 

Ticket Receipting - It is important to acknowledge those who purchase raffle tickets and provide an official ticket to show that they have been entered into the raffle. There may be some necessary details you must include on the ticket to satisfy your licence requirements.

Tags - In the top left of the screen you can add tags to your raffle campaign action to group certain campaigns and filter dropdowns within vega.

Widget Configuration - If you created a widget for your raffle campaign then there are further options available for fields to be included and styling of the widget. You can access these settings from Admin > Widget Configuration > Event or click the Configure button underneath the iframe code above.

Communications - It is possible to schedule different communication types from within your raffle campaign action, to invite contacts to purchase tickets via email, export a list for telefundraising calls, or create a PDF download to mail contacts with information on the raffle. Contacts communicated via these methods will be displayed on the Recipients tab.

 

For information on the Purchased and Donated Only tabs please see the next article, Purchasing raffle tickets.

Further detail on the Insights and Audit can be found in the article, Reporting on raffle campaigns.