Draw by hand (hat draws)
Pull your winners from a hat at an event and record them yourself — kept compliant and audit-ready.
Some organisers don't want RaffleLink to pick the winners — they want the moment: pulling tickets from a barrel at the event, reading out the names. RaffleLink supports that. You choose how your raffle draws, and for a hand-drawn ("hat") method you enter each winner yourself, so the result is still recorded, compliant, and published like any other.
Choosing how you'll draw
Your raffle has a draw method, set on the Draw & Timeline tab. What's on offer depends on whether you sell paper tickets:
Online-only raffles:
- Instant Draw — RaffleLink picks the winners for you, the moment you draw. Best when you don't need a show, just something fast and fair. (See Run the draw.)
- Hat Draw — print copies of your tickets, pull winners by hand, and enter the details here.
Paper-enabled raffles (you also sell paper tickets):
- Hybrid Draw — RaffleLink runs a fair draw across both ticket types; if a paper ticket wins, you pull that stub. (See Run a hybrid draw.)
- Combined Hat Draw — print copies of your digital tickets, combine them with your paper stubs, and pull from a single barrel by hand.
New raffles start on Instant (or Hybrid if you sell paper). To switch, choose Change on the draw method and pick another in the Change Draw Method dialog. Each method's card explains what to expect before, during, and after the draw.
You can change the method until you draw
Pick or change your method any time before the draw — then it locks once the draw starts, so the result can't be quietly re-run. (Early bird draws are always instant and don't affect this.)
This page covers the two hat methods (Hat and Combined Hat), where you enter every winner yourself.
Print stubs for the barrel
A hat draw needs physical copies of your digital tickets to go in the barrel alongside any paper ones. On the Tickets page, Print stubs for the draw opens Print digital ticket stubs — choose how many stubs per page (9, 12, or 15), whether to add border cut lines, and Download stubs. If you've also printed paper tickets, RaffleLink suggests a stub size that matches them, so every ticket in the barrel is the same size for a fair pull. Large runs download in parts — keep the window open while they generate.
Run the draw and enter the winners
When you draw a hat method, RaffleLink doesn't choose for you — it opens an Enter Winner window for each prize, starting with 1st Prize. Before you begin, a quick count (Digital sold, Paper sold, Total in the draw) confirms what's in the draw; if the paper figure looks out of date, log any last sales first.
For each prize:
Pull a ticket from the barrel and type its number into Ticket Number.
If it's one of your digital tickets, RaffleLink recognises it — "Digital ticket number recognised — held by [name]." Choose Import contact details to fill the winner in automatically.
If it's a paper stub (or a number RaffleLink doesn't recognise), enter the winner's Name and Email yourself.
Choose Save & Enter Next Winner to move on. On the final prize the button reads Save & Finalise Results.
Each winning ticket is set aside before the next prize, so no one wins the same draw twice.
Fixing a data-entry mistake
Mis-typed a number or name? Open Modify Winner on that prize — but only while that draw's winners haven't been notified or published yet. You'll see a clear warning:
Modify is for correcting mistakes only
"Altering draw results is illegal. You may only modify if you made a data entry error." Use it to fix a genuine typo, nothing else — RaffleLink records the change. Once you've notified or published the winners, the result is locked.
From here, notify the winners and publish the results as normal.