In short
A raffle draw is fair when every ticket in play has exactly the same chance, nobody — neither the organiser nor the software — can choose or know the result in advance, and anyone can check it afterwards. In practice: close the ticket list before the draw, use randomness that depends on no one, draw in public and publish what is needed to verify.
The four conditions of a draw nobody can dispute
| Condition | Why | How |
|---|---|---|
| The ticket list is closed | Nobody can add or remove a ticket afterwards | Close sales, count the tickets in play and announce the number before drawing |
| Every ticket has the same chance | One ticket, one chance, no exceptions | All stubs in the same drum, same format; or a tool that draws with equal chances |
| Nobody controls the randomness | Neither the organiser, a friend nor the software may steer the result | A blindfolded or independent hand for the drum; for a tool, public randomness fixed after the list is closed |
| The result can be checked | Trust comes from proof, not good faith | A public or filmed draw, a written record, results published with the winning numbers |
The methods, from simplest to strongest
The drum
All stubs in a drum, mixed, drawn one by one by someone who cannot see inside, in front of the audience. Simple and understood by everyone. Its limits: stubs of different sizes, forgotten tickets, impossible to repeat identically, and hard beyond a few hundred tickets.
A spreadsheet or a random number generator
Ticket numbers in a list, a random number picked by the computer. Handy for large volumes, but nothing proves afterwards that the draw was not rerun until the "right" result came up: film the screen from start to finish and keep the list.
A certified, verifiable draw
The randomness comes from a public source nobody controls (for example the drand beacon of the League of Entropy), chosen before it exists; the list of tickets and prizes is frozen and time-stamped by a third party; the way winners are computed is public, so anyone can rerun the draw and get the same winners. It is the only method where the proof does not rest on trusting the organiser.
On draw day
- Close sales at the announced time and count the tickets in play.
- Remove what should not play (an unpaid ticket, a cancelled sale) and record it.
- Announce the rules: prize order, one prize per person or not, what happens if a winner does not come forward.
- Draw prize by prize, in public — in the room, on a live stream, or both.
- Write a record: date, time, number of tickets, method, winners by prize, witnesses.
- Publish the results and contact the winners with collection details.
Independent witnesses
Many organisers have the draw witnessed by someone independent of the committee — a club officer from another team, a local councillor, a solicitor. Check the conditions of your permit or licence and your own rules: they may say how the draw must be held, and you must follow them.
Frequently asked questions
Make the proof checkable by others than you: a ticket list closed and announced before the draw, a public or filmed draw, a written record, published results. The strongest level is a draw whose randomness comes from a public source and whose computation anyone can repeat.
Yes: our free random name picker — paste the list, choose how many winners, draw; the seed shown with the result replays the draw identically. In general, Prefer one that freezes the list before drawing, uses randomness nobody controls and lets participants check the result afterwards.
Number the list, freeze it (a dated copy shared before the draw), then draw a number with randomness you do not control, in front of witnesses or while filming the screen. Keep the list and the recording.
Set the rule before the draw and announce it: a collection deadline, then either a redraw or a reserve winner drawn on the same day.
In short
- Closed list, equal chances, randomness nobody controls, a result anyone can check.
- A drum is enough for a small raffle; beyond that, a tool — ideally certified and verifiable.
- Draw in public, write a record, publish the results.
- Follow what your permit or licence and your rules say.
How GoTombola helps
To draw from a plain list of names, the free random name picker is enough: equal chances, the list never leaves your device, and the draw replays from its seed. For a raffle, the GoTombola draw picks each prize with equal chances among the tickets in play; its randomness comes from a public beacon and the list is time-stamped by a qualified third party, so neither GoTombola nor the organiser can steer the winners. You run it from the console, your supporters follow it live in an online room, and anyone can rerun it on verify.gotombola.co.
Sources
- drand / League of Entropy — checked on 10 November 2026
- verify.gotombola.co — checked on 10 November 2026