How to Make Raffle Tickets: A Guide for UK Charities (2026)

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In this article:

• Why most charities do not need to make raffle tickets anymore

• How to create raffle tickets online, step by step

• How to make raffle tickets with numbers

• 4 ways to make raffle tickets compared

• What information must be on raffle tickets

• How UK charities run fee-free raffles on Zeffy

• Frequently asked questions

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Why most charities do not need to make raffle tickets anymore

In 2026, "how do I make raffle tickets?" is mostly the wrong question. The real question is: do you even need to design and print paper tickets?

For most UK charities, no. Your raffle platform should auto-generate a numbered e-ticket with a unique QR code and the supporter's details the moment someone purchases, and email it to them automatically.

That said, the right approach depends on which type of UK raffle you are running. Here are the three paths:

• The modern default: numbered e-tickets, generated automatically by your raffle platform.

• The legal fallback: paper tickets via Canva, Word mail-merge, or a print shop, for draws conducted entirely at an event.

• The compliance layer: UK raffle rules, which decide whether you need path one, path two, or both.

Before you choose, do one thing: check the UK small society lottery rules.

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The UK compliance layer: small society lotteries

In the UK, a charity raffle is legally a lottery under the Gambling Act 2005. Two routes cover almost every small charity.

Incidental non-commercial lottery: tickets sold and drawn entirely at a single event (a fete, dinner, or quiz night). No registration is required. This is your school fete raffle or your Christmas party draw.

Small society lottery: tickets sold in advance to the public, online, by post, by telephone, or face-to-face. You must register with your local licensing authority (your council). The registration fee is £40 in the first year and £20 for each annual renewal. Key limits: single-draw ticket sales are capped at £20,000; annual aggregate across all your lotteries is capped at £250,000; at least 20% of proceeds must go to your cause; the maximum single prize is £25,000.

Anything above those caps requires an operating licence from the Gambling Commission itself.

The Gambling Commission expressly permits online ticket sales for small society lotteries, which means digital numbered e-tickets are legal and perfectly fine for most UK charity raffles. You do not need paper tickets unless you prefer them or you are running an incidental non-commercial lottery where a physical stub makes sense for the draw.

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How to create raffle tickets online, step by step

Here is what the modern flow looks like on Zeffy. You build the raffle form once, and every ticket is generated for you.

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Step 1: Create your free raffle form

Sign up for a free Zeffy account and create a new raffle form. Add your prize description, your charity's name, the draw date, and your ticket prices (single tickets and bundles, for example 1 for £5 or 3 for £10). The form is your raffle's home page, where supporters land to purchase.

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Step 2: Enable numbered tickets

Zeffy handles the numbering automatically, eliminating spreadsheet faff, mail-merge setup, and the risk of duplicate numbers. Each ticket also gets a unique QR code, which makes draw-day scanning and tracking simple. Sequential numbering also helps satisfy the record-keeping expectations for the return you submit to your local authority within three months of the draw.

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Step 3: Customise the form, not the ticket

This is where the workflow differs from Canva. On Zeffy, customisation happens at the form level: you set colours, upload your logo, add prize images, and write the prize copy. The individual e-tickets are generated automatically in a consistent format. You are not dragging fonts onto a ticket; you are styling the page that sells them.

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Step 4: Share the form and let tickets generate

Share your raffle form link by email, on social media, or as a QR code on a flyer at an event. Every time someone buys, Zeffy emails them a numbered e-ticket with their unique number, QR code, and supporter details. You see real-time sales in your dashboard.

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Step 5: Sell in person too, if you want

If you also want to sell at an event, in a village hall, or door-to-door, you can sell tickets in person with Tap to Pay, no terminal needed. Tap a supporter's card or phone to your iPhone or Android, and the same numbered e-ticket gets emailed to them on the spot.

Many UK fete and quiz-night organisers find that supporters no longer carry cash, so a phone-based card option fills that gap without expensive hardware. One thing to note: small society lottery tickets may not be sold in a street, including passages through shopping centres. Door-to-door, online, by telephone, and at an event are all permitted; pavement sales are not.

You skip the printer, the scissors, and the lost-ticket conversations on draw day.

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How to make raffle tickets with numbers

The most common version of this question online is "how to make raffle tickets with numbers." There are three real answers in 2026, in order of how much work they cost you.

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1. Let your platform number them for you (default)

Zeffy auto-generates a unique number on every e-ticket. There are no spreadsheets to maintain, no mail-merge to run, and no risk of two supporters receiving the same number. If you are running a small society lottery and selling tickets online or in advance, this is the answer.

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2. Word mail-merge with a number sequence (paper fallback)

If you are running an incidental non-commercial lottery where physical stubs are practical for an event-night draw, the cheapest DIY path is Microsoft Word's mail-merge feature paired with an Excel column of sequential numbers (1, 2, 3, and so on up to however many tickets you need). Design one ticket layout in Word, merge in the number column, and print on perforated stock or a standard sheet you cut down. Plan for an hour of setup and a printer that does not jam.

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3. Canva's bulk-create feature (paper fallback)

Canva's bulk-create feature lets you upload a CSV of ticket numbers and generate a Canva design per number in one batch. It is more visual than Word and easier if you want a designed ticket, but the bulk-create feature is on Canva's paid tier. Useful for a one-off large raffle; overkill if you are running raffles regularly.

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How to print raffle tickets, if you have to

If you need physical tickets for an event-night draw, print on perforated raffle ticket paper (Ryman, Staples, and Amazon all stock it) or on standard card that you cut down. Two practical notes:

• Size: 50 x 140 mm and 50 x 180 mm are common in practice (roughly 2 x 5.5 inches and 2 x 7 inches). There is no legal standard in the UK. Whatever you choose, make sure it fits standard ticket-holder bowls if you are drawing in person.

• Numbering: print sequentially, not randomly, so you can confirm no numbers were skipped or duplicated.

If you want a hybrid (physical tickets at the event, online sales the rest of the time), you can run the online form on Zeffy and use printed tickets only on the night.

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4 ways to make raffle tickets compared

The four methods UK charities use in 2026, side by side.

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Recommendation for charities: start with an online platform unless your raffle is an incidental non-commercial lottery drawn on the night. The free, automatic numbering and emailed e-tickets eliminate the operational drag that makes most raffle organisers dread the next one. If you need physical tickets for an event-night draw, layer Word mail-merge or Canva on top, and keep the online form for any sales you can do in advance.

A small UK charity currently running a Christmas raffle on a separate lottery platform, selling fete tickets on Eventbrite or Ticket Tailor, and chasing Gift Aid on a spreadsheet is paying for three or four tools to do what Zeffy handles in one place, free.

Whatever ticketing method you choose, remember that as the promoter of a small society lottery you must submit a return to your local licensing authority within three months of the draw, showing ticket sales, expenses, prize spend, and proceeds to the cause. Keep your records from the start.

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What information must be on raffle tickets

Requirements for a small society lottery come directly from the Gambling Commission, so check the guidance before you sell a single ticket. If your raffle platform handles the digital ticket for you, most of these fields populate automatically from the form.

Required on every small society lottery ticket:

• Name of the promoting society (your charity's registered name)

• Ticket price (must be the same for every ticket in the lottery)

• Name and address of the person responsible for the promotion (the lottery promoter), or the name of an External Lottery Manager if you have appointed one

• Date of the draw (or information from which the date can be determined)

• Unique ticket number

• The society's local authority registration number

• Minimum age: 16 (the minimum age to buy a small society lottery ticket or claim a prize under Gambling Commission rules)

• Prize description

A note on Gift Aid: Gift Aid does not apply to raffle tickets. HMRC treats the ticket price as payment for a chance to win, which counts as a benefit, so the purchase falls outside Gift Aid rules. If a supporter wants to make a separate, Gift Aid eligible donation alongside their raffle entry, collect it separately with its own Gift Aid declaration.

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How UK charities run fee-free raffles on Zeffy

Zeffy is used by over 100,000 charities and not-for-profits worldwide and has helped raise over £2 billion with no platform fee, no transaction fee, and no credit card fee. Ever.

For a small UK charity running a Christmas raffle or a summer fete draw, that means:

• Every ticket is numbered automatically and emailed to the supporter the moment they buy.

• You sell online (via your raffle form link) and in person (via Tap to Pay on your phone) from the same platform.

• You see real-time ticket sales in your dashboard and can export the records you need for your three-month return to the local authority.

• You keep 100% of what you raise.

The difference between "making raffle tickets" and running a raffle is this: the tickets are a byproduct of the platform, not a separate project on your task list.

All charity fundraising on Zeffy also falls under the Fundraising Regulator's Code of Fundraising Practice (current version in force 1 November 2025, including Section 9 on online platforms), so your online raffle meets the regulatory expectations UK donors look for.

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Frequently asked questions

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