Home/How It Works
Queen of Hearts fundraiser, step by step
How an online Queen of Hearts fundraiser works
From the day you sign up to the night the Queen turns up. Here’s what your team does, what we do, and what your supporters see on their phones every week.
The basics
The game in one minute
A Queen of Hearts raffle is a progressive raffle. The jackpot keeps growing every week until somebody finds the Queen.
A full deck of 52 cards plus two jokers goes face down on a board of 54 numbered spots. Supporters buy tickets and put each ticket on a card number. They can put all their tickets on one number or spread them around, and lots of people can pick the same number.
On drawing day, one ticket is drawn from that week’s tickets. The card that ticket was on gets turned over. If it’s the Queen of Hearts, that ticket holder wins the jackpot and the game ends. If it’s any other card, the ticket holder wins the weekly prize, the card stays face up, and the jackpot rolls into next week.
Fewer cards left means better odds of hitting the Queen, and a bigger jackpot means more people want in. That’s the whole engine. Read the full rules and jackpot math.
For your team
From sign-up to drawing day
Here’s the path most organizations follow. The parts marked “Us” are what the Chance2Win Team handles. Everything else stays in your hands, because it’s your raffle.
- 1
Tell us about your raffle You
Click Start Your Raffle and fill in your organization’s details, including your EIN. You’ll also pick how you want to pay: Supporter Paid at no cost to you, or Organization Paid from $329. Compare the two.
- 2
We review it and build your site Us
We look over every raffle before we build it, so the pricing and structure fit what you’re trying to do. Then we build your Queen of Hearts website with your name, colors and logo.
- 3
Connect your payment processor You
Ticket money goes straight to your own merchant account, never through us. Supporter Paid works with Flux Payments or Stripe. Organization Paid adds Square and Authorize.net. Most Flux applications are approved the same or next day.
- 4
Set your rules, schedule and ticket bundles You
Pick your drawing day, how the pot gets split, what the jokers do and how the game ends. Then set your ticket bundles. A common setup is 1 ticket for $5, 3 for $10 and 10 for $25. Not sure? Call us and we’ll walk through your rules with you.
- 5
Preview, then go live You
Do a test purchase, make sure the card number shows up on the ticket, and read your rules one more time. Then share your raffle link everywhere: Facebook, your newsletter, the bulletin board at the post.
- 6
Sell all week You
Online tickets come in on their own. Cash and check sales from the bar or the hall get added in your dashboard, so they go into the same drawing. Seller teams can track their own sales if you want a little friendly competition.
- 7
Run the drawing You
When sales close, one winning ticket is drawn at random from that week’s tickets. The card on that ticket is revealed and locked on your board for everyone to see, and the drawing goes into your permanent record. You can email ticket holders right from the dashboard.
- 8
Roll over, or game over
Not the Queen? The next round opens and the jackpot keeps building. When the Queen of Hearts finally turns up, the game ends, ticket sales close and the winner shows on your page. No scrambling to shut things down.
For your supporters
What your players see
Most of your players will be on a phone, so everything is built to be simple with big buttons and plain words.
1. Open your raffle page
They see the board, the current jackpot, the countdown to the next drawing and which cards are already turned over.
2. Pick a ticket bundle
One ticket, three, ten. Bundles are where the real money is, because players like spreading tickets around.
3. Select their card numbers
They choose which face-down cards get their tickets. All on one card or split across several, their call.
4. Check out and get an email
They pay by card and get their ticket numbers and card selections by email. No paper stub to lose.
After that, the countdown does the reminding. When the drawing happens, the revealed card and the result post to the page right away.
Checklist
What you need before you start
Get these sorted early and launch week goes smoothly.
- Your raffle license or permit. Rules vary by state and sometimes by county or city. How to check yours.
- Written rules. Drawing schedule, how the pot is split, joker rules, eligibility and how the game ends. Start from our sample.
- A merchant account. Flux Payments or Stripe for Supporter Paid. Square and Authorize.net also work on Organization Paid.
- Your EIN and your organization’s basic details for the sign-up form.
- Someone to run the weekly drawing and post the result. A drawing that happens on time every week builds trust.
- A plan for a big jackpot. If your permit caps the prize, decide now what happens when you hit it.
Paper and online together
Keep your Friday nights
Going online doesn’t mean giving up the bar or the hall. Your regulars can keep buying tickets in person on drawing night. Those cash and check sales get entered in your dashboard and go into the same drawing as everything sold online.
What changes is who else can play: the member who moved across the country, the son in the service, the neighbor who works nights. More on hybrid raffles at Chance2Win.
Who does what. Your organization runs the fundraiser. Chance2Win builds the website and provides the tools your team uses to run it. We’re on the phone at (813) 699-9325 whenever you need us.
Questions about getting started
How long does it take to get set up?
Usually a few days once we have your information and your payment processor is connected. Flux Payments applications are often approved the same or next day.
Do we need our own merchant account?
Yes. Ticket money goes straight to your organization’s merchant account. Chance2Win never holds your funds. Supporter Paid works with Flux Payments or Stripe, and Organization Paid also works with Square and Authorize.net.
Who runs the weekly drawing?
Your team does, from your dashboard. One winning ticket is drawn at random from that week’s tickets, and the card on that ticket is revealed on your board and recorded.
Can we sell tickets in person too?
Yes. Cash and check sales get entered in your dashboard and go into the same drawing as online sales.
What happens when the Queen is found?
The game ends, ticket sales close and the winner is shown on your raffle page.
Keep reading
Ready to take your Queen of Hearts online?
Tell us about your raffle. We’ll review it, build your Queen of Hearts website and get your board ready, usually within days once your information and payment setup are in.