Well, here is the short answer: it really depends on your organization and the prize you are giving away.

The broad response would be a couple of months if your goal is to raise under $50,000 and up to a year if your goal is to raise more than this. Keep reading for tips on determining the length.

First of all, at TapKat, we are the sweepstakes fundraising experts. The answer I am about to give you is what we have seen work with sweepstakes. I can’t speak for peer-to-peer, donation matching drives, online auctions, crowdfunding campaigns, etc.

3 Things to Consider When Deciding How Long to Run Your TapKat Sweepstakes

As you can probably imagine, campaigns that are giving away smaller prizes (trips, shopping sprees, gift cards) do best running for 3 to 6 months. We have had a couple of cases of nonprofits receiving last minute tickets to a sold out event (think Hamilton in Denver) and completely crush it in a 10 day period – raising over $15k in that short time frame. But generally you want to give yourself at least 3 months to meet your fundraising goal with a TapKat sweepstakes.

Larger prizes that are expected to raise tens of thousands, if not hundred of thousands of dollars do best running for 9 to 12 months. A prize example here would be a brand spankin’ new shiny red Mustang or any type of desirable car. TRI Industries in Chicago ran a campaign giving away a 2016 Porsche Cayman GT4 (a super slick ride for you non-car folks) that ran for 11 months and raised $234,820.

The second piece to choosing the length is to consider focusing your sweepstakes around a scheduled event. We find nonprofits love to either start or end campaigns when they have a captive audience. Launching your campaign at an event can build momentum for a freshly launched sweepstakes. And a well-attended event can be a great place to take last minute entries and draw the winner to find out who is going to Napa for a wine tasting experience! We find that people love the anticipation of drawing the winner and are excited for whoever your winner turns out to be. Oh, and the winner does not need to be present to win.

Last tip is to be prepared. Creating a marketing plan before the campaign launches is the key to running a successful sweepstakes. If you plan to run your campaign for just three months, start marketing from day one so you can achieve the results your team is counting on.

3 key takeaways to consider on how long to run your sweepstakes fundraiser

Use the value of your prize to determine how long to run the sweepstakes. But plan on conducting it for a minimum of 3 months unless you get a super time sensitive item – then fast track that sweepstakes and watch the money flow in!
Consider tying your sweepstakes into your next event to build awareness and excitement for both. Who knows, your winner could be attending the event and that always makes it more fun!
Plan your marketing for the campaign before launching to maximize results while your sweepstakes is running. I can’t stress this enough and am more than happy to sit down and plan this with you, or point you to someone who can help.

As always, if you have any questions please reach out.

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