This is a tip for aquarium clubs and fish stores to consider. Raffles are great way to get people to donate items, purchase tickets (or give money to your club/business), and get a lot of people interested in your club or store. But be careful in how you approach the raffle. In some states, like here in Texas, only non-profit organizations can hold raffles in which you are actually selling the tickets, and that’s limited to a maximum of two raffles per year. A way around this, and I’m not advocating circumventing laws by any means, is to give a raffle ticket to someone who purchases an item from your store. Since most aquarium clubs are setup as not-for-profit organizations, this isn’t much of an issue. However, local fish stores aren’t set up in this way, and although these laws probably don’t get enforced very often, you can still get into hot water.
Please keep in mind, that when using the term “raffle”, I’m referring to the process by which someone purchases a ticket in hopes of winning something during a ticket drawing.
