Perhaps the simplest of all fundraisers is the 50/50 raffle. Many organizations that rely on fundraising efforts offer a 50/50 raffle at every meeting. Some companies have “fun teams” that are entirely funded by a 50/50 raffle and are able to offer excellent events. This is a wonderful way to provide events to members or employees that are self funded, but don’t have a compulsory payment to participate. The 50/50 raffle itself is incredibly simple. You get a roll of raffle tickets from a local party supply shop. These are the style of tickets that have two sections that both share a unique serial number. You sell as many tickets to each person as they want, for a fixed fee. Typical fees are $1, $5, or $10 depending on nature of the organization. You give the participant one half of the ticket and place the other half in a bucket or box. At the end of the event you draw a ticket from the bucket and announce the winner. The prize is the half of the amount collected from ticket sales. Typically participants have to be present at the time of the drawing to win. If nobody claims the prize when the number is drawn, simply draw another number until somebody wins.