PULTEVENT
Digital raffle draw: 6 ways to run the prize moment without paper tickets
A charity gala, quarter to eleven, and the grand prize is a weekend for two by the sea. The organiser plunges her hand into a goldfish bowl of folded pink tickets and reads out 0417. Silence. Then, from the far end of the room: "Hang on, I think mine's in my coat." His coat is in the cloakroom. The cloakroom has a queue. Two hundred people watch a man in a bow tie jog out of the hall, and the evening's big moment waits for him in the corridor.
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Paper raffles fail in small, predictable ways. Tickets get lost, stuck under plates, taken home in jacket pockets, or bought in strips that nobody can find the other half of. And the draw itself, a hand in a bowl, is hard to see from anywhere past the second row.
In PULTEVENT the ticket lives on the guest's phone. They scan a QR code on the screen, type their name, and a three-digit number appears at the top of their phone. When you press draw, a drum spins on the big screen to a drum roll for about four seconds, and the winning number comes up large enough to read from the car park.
6 ways to run the prize moment without paper tickets
1 The straight draw
One prize, one press of the button. The drum spins for about four seconds, the winning number fills the screen, the room checks its phones.
How to run it. Say the number twice, slowly, then say the name. People look at their phones first and listen second.
The simplest version and still the one that gets the loudest reaction.
2 Prize after prize
Several prizes in a row. Three draws are three clicks; the drum reshuffles itself between them, and each winner drops out of the next draw.
How to run it. Go from the smallest prize to the biggest. Keeping the weekend away for last keeps people in their seats.
Ten prizes in five minutes, with no chance that one lucky guest walks off with three of them.
3 The winner who isn't there
The number comes up and nobody moves. The winner has gone home, or is outside on the phone. One button sends them back into the drum and you draw again.
How to run it. Decide the rule before the night and say it out loud: "If you're not here in thirty seconds, we draw again."
It keeps the draw moving without the host making it up on the spot.
4 Wheel of names
For a small prize or a quick moment, spin a wheel with the guests' names instead of numbers. The name lands, the person stands up.
How to run it. Use it for the fun prizes between the real ones: a bottle of wine, a box of chocolates, the table centrepiece.
A name on the screen is more personal than a number, and the room cheers for a person rather than a ticket.
5 Win it, then earn it
The winner comes up to collect, and before they get the prize the task randomizer picks something small for them to do: a toast, a dance move, a compliment to a stranger.
How to run it. Keep the tasks kind. At a charity dinner, "thank the person who invited you" works better than anything embarrassing.
It turns a line of people collecting envelopes into a small show.
6 Thank the donors on screen
Before each prize, a splash screen shows who donated it, with a logo or a photo. At the end, the credits roll with every sponsor and volunteer.
How to run it. Ask donors for a photo or logo a week ahead. Credits take one line per name, with headings in capitals.
Donors who see their name on a big screen tend to donate again next year.
Tickets arrive by themselves
Anyone who joins by QR gets a three-digit number on their phone. There is nothing to print, tear or hand out.
A draw the whole room can see
The drum spins on the projector, the number lands with fanfare and confetti, and every table checks their phones at once.
One guest, one win
By default a winner drops out of the following draws, so ten prizes go to ten different people.
Names you can find
Guests join with a first and last name, so when a number comes up you know exactly who to look for.
Free giveaway or paid raffle: check your local rules
A quick word before the fun part, because I'm a host, not a lawyer. In many countries there's a legal difference between a free prize draw, where everyone present gets a ticket, and a paid raffle, where people buy tickets. Paid raffles and lotteries are often regulated, sometimes needing a licence or registration, and the rules vary by country, state and even city.
The QR raffle hands a ticket to everyone who joins. It doesn't sell tickets or take payments. If your fundraiser sells raffle tickets, sort out the sales and the legal side separately, and check the rules where you are before the event.
Why the ticket should be on the phone
Guests don't lose their phones. They lose paper. The ticket number sits at the top of the guest's screen for the whole evening, and if the phone locks or drops off the network, their place is held for ten minutes, so the ticket doesn't vanish because someone went dancing.
The header of the raffle section on your laptop shows how many tickets have been issued. That number tells you when it's time to draw. Don't draw with half the room still unconnected.
When to hold the draw
Near the end, but not at the very end. The last twenty minutes of an event are for dancing, goodbyes and taxis. I hold the draw after dessert, while people are still seated and paying attention.
Announce it early, though. "The prize draw is at ten, and your ticket is the QR code on the screen" is the best reason there is for people to join. The ones who refused to take their phone out for the quiz will do it for a weekend by the sea.
Internet and the venue
The raffle lives on a server, so guests' phones need internet to get a ticket. Mobile data works, the venue wifi works, and nobody has to be on the same network. What won't work is a room with no signal and no wifi.
Ask the venue about signal inside the hall before the event, and test it yourself from the table furthest from the stage.
Online and hybrid draws
If some guests are watching remotely, share the stage window in the video call. They scan the code off their screen, get a ticket on their phone, and are in the same drum as the people in the room.
Decide in advance how you will get prizes to remote winners, and say it before the draw.
About the author
PULTEVENT was built by Ruslan Barashkin, a host who has run weddings, company parties and birthdays since 2014: more than 500 events, and TOP 100 Awards best host in Moscow (2024) and Saint Petersburg (2023). He built the console for his own events first.
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How to run a digital raffle draw at an event
- 1
Check your local rules if tickets are being sold, and prepare the list of prizes and donors.
- 2
Set up splash screens for the donors and the credits for the end of the night.
- 3
At the venue, connect the laptop to the screen and test the phone signal in the hall.
- 4
Show the QR code early and announce the time of the draw.
- 5
When most of the room has a ticket, draw the prizes from smallest to largest.
- 6
Send absent winners back to the drum, thank the donors and roll the credits.
FAQ
How do guests get a ticket?
Can one person win twice?
What if the winner has left?
Does it work without internet?
Can I sell raffle tickets through it?
Is the guest screen in English?
What does it cost?
See also
Run brighter events — with PULTEVENT
All audience interactions, a second screen and timing in one app. Guests join by QR — internet is needed for you and for them.
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