• Guest, Help The DPF Community Thrive - Join Our Donation Drive Today!

    We're launching a special DPF Donation Drive to ensure our beloved forum continues to flourish. Your support is vital in helping us cover essential server costs and keep our community running smoothly — This is more than just a donation; it's an investment in the future of our community.

    Join us in this crucial drive and let's ensure our forum remains a vibrant and dynamic place for everyone.

    Please visit the DPF Donation Drive Thread for details and instructions on how you can make your donation today!

Question: Are Raffles allowed?

Status
Not open for further replies.
What are you trying to raffle? and by pins do you mean everybody put forth a pin to bid or just a free raffle for a prize? If the former is the case, I can imagine the rules would have to be similar to the current pin game structure in that everyone bidding must have a consolation prize. If it is the latter there have been some giveaways done by members in the past...
 
Last edited:
A raffle/lottery is not allowed (nor is it legal) unless you are a state lottery or a *registered* not for profit organization. The only thing you can do (which other people have done) is offer X amount of prizes and X spots, with one of them being a 'grand' prize where the winner is determined by random (fair) means. The point is that everyone who participates must be guaranteed to win something.
 
Basically what dance cats said. I've seen people do pin raffles/lotteries on Facebook so I was wondering if that was allowed here. It sounds like it is as long as everyone who buys a spot gets something and one person gets the "grand prize"
 
Last edited:
Except here, I think we require the item to be pin related and shipped. No digital prizes. Payment as goods.
 
OK, back again with some further thoughts.

Raffles and lotteries - where someone pays something for a chance to win something (and everyone else ends up with nothing) are illegal in virtually every state because it is a form of gambling. Typically only the state and non-profit organizations can do raffles/gambling, with many requirements for non-profit organizations. Non-profit organizations can do raffles with permission - usually from the state's highest prosecutor's office (in CA, it's the attorney general) and only upon certain conditions, one of which is that you have to get a PERMIT to do so. You also have to be a CA tax exempt corporation. There are other requirements but those are the two that I recall off the top of my head.

The raffles/lotteries that people on FB have are actually illegal, but unless someone reports them to Facebook and/or PayPal, nothing happens.

The games we have here on DPf are probably teetering on the edge of being illegal because, although everyone that participates gets a prize, participants are still shelling out funds for a chance to get something.

NOTE: None of the above is intended to be construed as legal advice.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top