What should we know about raffling a mini?

[RockRiverTiff]

Grandma and I are very involved with one of the local animal shelters, and they're between a rock and a hard place trying to get out of their old facility and into a new one. I was asked today if I had any fundraising ideas that would also generate good press, and since Einstein has boosted the interest at our farm to an all-time high, I immediately thought of something to do with the minis. I know these days you can get a pet quality colt or gelding for a couple hundred dollars, so we're thinking of something a little more dynamic, like a family-friendly but show quality driving horse with cart and harness. (We'll also offer a cash alternative for non-horse people.) We're already networking with the local 4H extension to see if there's an incentive we could offer the clubs to help sell tickets, and then we're going to talk to the county fair board to see if we can do an exhibition with the raffle horse and then announce the winner there. The shelter has all of its non-profit stuff worked out, so I don't anticipate a legal problem, but that's why I'm here.

If anyone here has insight into the raffle process, or even just creative suggestions of any kind, I'm all ears.

 

[ruffian]

Raffling a colt can make some money, but it also limits those who want to buy a ticket to support the group, but not for a horse!

What about a "horse for a day" raffle? Someone takes a well behaved horse to a home for hugs, cart rides, photos? That way there is no limit to who you could sell to.

 

[Marty]

Tiff I gotta tell you that sometimes when I see a horse raffled off I have a panic attack. Who's going to win and will they know how to take good care of him etc. etc. You just have no way of screening the people to ensure a nice good owner for him.

At Christmas time a mini was raffled off here. He went for some $30+ to one of the worst animal abusers I know of that can't even feed himself. I actually offered to pay the guy more for him just to get him away from him but he wouldn't sell him. Its for the grandkids. Yup, they are always for the grandkids. The horse died on my birthday in Febuary for whatever reason I do not know and he came here looking for another one during my little party.

Back to you Tiff, I wish you would find another way of raising money. A harness and cart is good but I worry about who will win the horse. I'll put my thinking cap on.

 

[miniwhinny]

How can you raffle off a living animal? You have no idea and no control over who wins. You can't deny someone the horse after they've won it. I'm sorry but I certainly wouldn't take one of my animals, stick a $5 ticket on it's rump and send it packing. Raffle a cart or a bag of feed but please don't raffle off a living creature.

 

[yankee_minis]

Check the laws in your state. It is illegal to raffle off a live animal in Maine.

 

[ErikaS.]

My neighbors are raffling a goat for their CDE club. The idea is to buy a ticket for someone else mostly as a joke, and, should they win, you bring them this goat say here's your prize, laugh, and take pics. The ticket buyer can get his dollar back and the goat goes back to its orginal home...unless the "prize winners" really like the goat and can actally take good care of it.

 

[Carolyn R]

While I commend you eagerness to help raise funds, I never understood the logic of trying to raffle an animal for a cause that tries to save, rehabilitate and place unwanted animals.

I guess it just comes to mind why would someone want to win an animal when they are gathering in the name of placing cast aways(if they are having a fund raising event). IMO there is a time and place for everything, raffling an animal for a rescue cause just doesn't seem to fit the cause.Don't get me wrong, it's not that this thought has not crossed my mind when it comes raffles.

now great ideas for an animal rescue raffle, a nice show cart, a cash prize, local bussinesses donating gift certificates, around here poker runs are great ways to raise funds, don't under estimate the soft hearts of those gruff looking bikers.

 

[RockRiverTiff]

Well I appreciate all the feedback. And while I certainly understand your concern miniwhinny, we're hardly "sending a horse packing." I actually feel like with the way we are currently planning to do the raffle I'll have a much better chance of communicating with potential/eventual owners than most people do when they send a horse to auction. We've already discussed things like including board, driving lessons and handling and care lessons with the mini before it goes to its new home. Because this is being done in conjunction with an animal shelter, we obviously want to be as ethical and responsible as possible. This isn't going to be a wham-bam affair; we are already networking with a number of other organizations to make this positive and successful while closing any ugly loopholes.

At this point, the feedback we've received is that the driving horse will generate interest, but that most people are probably going to be more interested in the cash alternative. We ARE considering other prizes too, and if it turns out the cash prize is the biggest incentive then we'll probably just go with that, but in the meantime I still welcome other perspectives.

 

[Minimor]

Please reconsider raffling off a horse. Yes, Mini horse raffles can raise a good chunk of money BUT there are plenty of people who are opposed to having a horse raffled off. It does not generate good will from everyone, and I really think that having a rescue use a raffle of a live animal as a fundraiser will turn a lot of people off of that rescue.

At one time I thought that horse raffles were okay. I know several people--horse people--that have won colts in raffles & those colts were given good homes BUT there is no guarantee that a horse person will win any particular raffle. If a non-horse person wins you can only hope that he/she will select the cash prize instead (and yes, there is always the possibility that the winner will become interested in horses even if they have no horse experience when they win, but there's no assurance of that) but if that person chooses to take the horse even if they have no knowledge of horses or horse care, and/or have no suitable place to keep the horse and/or have no interest in giving the horse proper care, they just want to take the horse because it's cute and "the kids will love it"--there isn't anything you can do about it. A raffle can make it very easy for the wrong person to get a horse for nothing. Since having worked at rescuing more than one horse from owners who care nothing for the horse and bought it only on a whim/for the kids/because it was cute/cheap...I no longer think horse raffles are okay! In fact I am totally opposed to them.

Please, raffle off a big screen TV instead. I'm sure you'll sell just as many tickets, possibly more.

 

[Marty]

I'm thinking of some kind of a carnival with games and donated prizes. A couple of years ago I was in charge of the "stick horse" races where you would actually place your bet on the person you thought would win. Made a good lot of money on that game; only a couple people bet on me and of naturally I could barely get my fat butt around the coarse.

Also putting on dances around here goes well. I did a fund raiser for our volunteer fire department about two years ago and was in charge of the dance and got a couple local bands to donate time. We had a dance contest also which brought in some good cash. Still no fire department though, not a sober one anyhow..ugh. You can really make a day of it with this kind of stuff and sure, have a petting zoo and donation cans everywhere as well.

 

[RockRiverTiff]

Thanks Marty - those are some interesting ideas. This whole issue - and everyone's well-meaning advice - has certainly given me a lot to think about while I'm watching the mares tonight. We'll have to ask our attorney next week what kind of terms are possible to ensure a more suitable home. I agree that the last thing we want to do is make people dubious about the judgment of the shelter. In the meantime, if any CMHR board members happen to read this thread I'd be really interested to hear how you handled the raffle for the colt during the Mission of Thanks, and specifically what kind of safeguards you had in place to ensure a suitable home. Thanks again everyone!

 

[rabbitsfizz]

I am in the "PLEASE don't do it" club.

As pointed out, better check your laws, too.

It is illegal in the UK to raffle a live animal, so it would not affect me, but it does appal me when I see this sort of thing.

I do commend you for trying to put provisos and things on the winner but, at the end of the day, if a nightmare did happen, possession is 9/10 of the law and there is no way you would ever be able to repossess the horse just because the new owner did not stick to your rules, I'm afraid.

I know money is tight, it seems like a brilliant idea but, please please please, think again.

 

[LittleRibbie]

Well your heart is in the right place and you sound like you are trying to do the right thing and getting all your ducks in a row before the mini raffle but, like the others I too feel like there are other ways to raise some money.

You didnt mention this but is this for dogs and cats as well as horses. Is it the local town Humane Society or is this a privatley run facility. Most of the ideas are not going to be a quick, dollar in the pocket type of ideas, these will take a little planning and hopefully if you bring awareness to the cause your group can get lots of volunteers to help.

If you can get businesses involved...they are the ones to get you the big donations.

If you have a local carpenter/builder have them build say 10 lg and 10 sm wooden dog houses...just the simpliest design...your plain old typical roof,sides and door ( maybe you can get Home depot or the like to donate the wood )Now find your friendliest spokesperson and have them go to businesses and sponser a dog house that they can decorate and be as elaborate ( paint, wallpaper,add porches, what ever ) or simple as they would like. Often they will decorate it to look like their own business AND it gets their employees envolved ( which can mean more $$ too )Charge what ever you think, maybe 150.00 for the lg and 100.00 for the small. You must get everyone in your local town to want to be a part of " Saving the Animals "and you want them all to want to get a house to decorate ( its an ego thing, but who cares LOL )Get local paper involved and see if they will run a little story about what you are doing to raise $$. Your goal is to have interior decorators, fabric stores, tack stores just anyone that is willing to really come up with some neat dog houses that you auction off later at your big gala event( they must be safe usable houses.... maybe a big Dinner in the Dirt ( simple spagetti dinner w/salad and maybe garlic bread is cheap and easy ) or Pies in the Paddock ( Pie Sale where people make lots of pies to donate them to sell) where you obviously set this up in a pasture or someones farm. Local school children to decorate the tables with lots of framed photos of some of the animals in need, photos of the shelter showing improvements needed, include tear jerker photos and success stories. Maybe put a small pen up and sell squares like they do in a foot ball pool as to where the mini will make a mini muffin...like they do with the cows.At this same event while having dinner you could have people watch a fashion show of local rescue dogs and horses...yes, just lead them right through the tables but leave plenty of room for animals to walk. Use photos of animals in need and paste on colored paper mabe add a magnet and put some facts about the animal on the back, hang them on a tree or fence and ask people to pick a pet they would like to help maybe 2.00 and bring their favorite to the cashier they get a magnet and you get more $$. You may be able to set a fake tree or fence post up in a local tack shop and just keep adding photos every week. Have children write a story about why everyone needs to take care of their pets. Have them read their story out loud at your event...all kids have parents, grandparents, aunts and they will want to help too...this means more money.

Martys idea about having local bands perform is great. I also love the idea of getting bikers involved...Harleys for Horses or Kawasakis for Kitties..maybe get people to bring their fancy bikes and set up a little photos shoot with photos of the donors sitting on the fancy bikes. A couple $$ per picture.

These are things that do take some planning and in order to really raise the big bucks you HAVE TO START EARLY and Talk Talk Talk about it. Make people think that this is the gala of all galas but make it more like Denim for Dreams....just a real casual thing but with a great cause!!

As Im rambling I just thought of something else fun but maybe a little over the top...too much. How about a Trailer Trash-ing. Sell buckets of clean horse poop and let people take out frustrations on a donated horse trailer. You must promise to clean this idea up really well once you have finished.

O.K. Im getting alittle off base. I'll stop now.

Bake sales ( Im a major foodie and will pay big bucks for homemade pies )and car or horse trailer washes are very easy to do for quick money.

If you have your heart set on a raffle I would go with the idea of a pony for the day idea or just a day at the barn idea. Good luck

P.S. I love the goat idea but I think they should have used a big ole piggie!!

 

[RockRiverTiff]

Maybe put a small pen up and sell squares like they do in a foot ball pool as to where the mini will make a mini muffin...like they do with the cows.

Everyone I've talked to thinks that's hilarious! I might suggest that they try it at the 4H fair this year. To answer some of your other questions, the shelter is a private non-profit that takes in cats and dogs. They have a very small but very dedicated staff of volunteers. The shelter was originally in a very upscale neighborhood, but when they started developing the land around it the new residents found a hole in the grandfather clause that allowed them to stay there, so they're basically being forced out. They have a wonderful new shelter under construction, but they won't have the funds to move into it until they sell the old property which they can't do until they've moved the animals into the new one - a pretty nasty catch 22. They're already doing a candle sale, bean bag tournament, poker run and golf tournament this year, but we're looking for something that will really get them good exposure with the public.

We did briefly discuss our concerns about terms and ensuring the horse went to a suitable home today, and another attorney volunteered to help us hammer out the details, but at this point we're leaning toward using the driving mini as a mascot instead and just going with a big cash prize. We've already got approval to exhibit the mini at the Wahl Equestrian Center next month, and our old trainer has volunteered to drive it at other events including the county fair, so if nothing else it should make a wonderful ambassador for the rescue. It's hard to believe how much this has evolved in 24 hours, and we don't even have the mini picked out yet! Thanks again everyone - I've really read and considered everyone's advice, and the other creative ideas have been wonderful!

 

[REO]

I was just wondering!

What about going to local businesses and asking them to donate something? Like a basket of goodies from this store or that Spa, in exchange for the good publicity?

If you had a bunch of different things, you could sell raffle tickets. Everyone who bought tickets would have a chance! You could hold a fundraising affair and have a drawing for those prizes. And the winner of the basket of beauty products donated by ______Spa is.......

I like the TV idea too! Just gather up as many interesting prizes as you can, which would spark a wide spread of interest.

I think if you give it time and get lots of prizes, maybe involve the radio station and newspaper, you could get quite a bit of money raised for them!

Instead of a live horse

 

[mydaddysjag]

I am a firm believer in adopting animals from shelters, my mother and sister are both foster homes for a animal rescue, and I adopted from a shelter. I would foster also, but we live in an apartment, and only have room for one dog. That said, there is no way I would consider adopting from a shelter than condoned raffling a living animal, no matter what.

What about raffling a lease and lessons? I know with big horses when I got into them, at first we leased at a boarding stable. My lease included me being allowed to "love on" the horse when I wanted, and so many lessons per week, but they took care of all care and board was included. This way you have control that the animal is taken care of, maybe turn someone onto the minis, teach them about proper horse care, and if in the end the novelty gets old, the horse still has a good home and is taken care of, not in someone back yard being neglected like we see so many horses, especially minis, are.