Cow pat lotto

Cow pat lotto

Raffles

A favourite fundraising activity here at Sports Community is cow pat lotto.

Believe it or not, watching a cow poop can be a heap of fun!

Cow pat lotto takes the fundamentals of a raffle and simply comes up with a unique way of selecting the winner. It is a great idea to hold this fundraiser in conjunction with another event, for example a fete, fair, round robin event or registration day.

Cow Pat Lotto involves marking out a grid on the ground and giving each square a designated number. Each numbered square is then sold and the winner is selected by the square the cow poops in.

It’s such a unique event and if promoted well, you may find the local media will pick up the story, especially if done by a city club.

A variation on this event is a chicken or sheep drop day – basically substitute your cow for a chicken! It scales down the need for transport, fencing and crowd interaction concerns. Clubs may find it difficult to organise the particulars of a cow in the metro area, so a chicken or sheep are perfect substitutes. All the same rules and principles apply.

Why Cow Pat Lotto?
Cow Pat Lotto is a great fundraiser to use when you are looking to create a great deal of interest from the community (and potentially even the media) and it’s a fun, engaging, creative way to run a raffle.
This fundraiser works in both city and country clubs, but is a huge novelty for those who are closer to the city.

When should I hold this fundraiser?
Cow Pat Lotto is an outdoor fundraiser and so shouldn’t be held during extreme heat or cold weather. It can be held at anytime during the season and could be a great addition to an annual event such as a fete or registration day.
This event will take anywhere from one minute to several hours, depending on how long it takes for the cow to poop.
Targeted at club members and surrounding public, people who are interested in taking a punt on the game will be able to pre-purchase tickets/numbers.

Key Activities
These are the tasks you will need to consider assigning to volunteers at your club:

Before the day:

• Decide the date of the Cow Pat Lotto Raffle and whether it will be in conjunction with any other events
• Decide on the prize for the winner, often clubs simply create a cash prize which goes to the winner or you may source prizes from sponsors, club members or purchase them out of the proceeds
• Advertise the raffle and make sure it is on all advertising collateral, especially if it is in conjunction with another event
• Sell raffle tickets
• Organise your cow
• Organise a location with lots of grass and mark out your grid and numbers

On The Day

• Set up the Cow Pat Lotto area, ensuring fencing and grid are in place securely and accurately.
• Ensure cow arrives
• Announce the beginning of the event
• Ensure you have ‘watchers’ at different points around the grid to ensure you don’t miss the ‘pat arrival’
• Announce the winner and present the winner with the prize

After the day

• Publicly thank everyone involved
• Announce the amount of money raised and the winner

Who can help?
It is important to engage your members to help in the running of your fundraiser.
For Cow Pat Lotto you could approach them to help:

• Promote and sell the tickets
• Secure prizes
• Find a cow
• Help logistically on the day

You could also approach current club sponsors for prizes.

Recruiting your people
It is important to create a culture of volunteering at your club to help not only with fundraising but also across the day to day running of your club. For more on how to create this at your club, click here.

Using technology to making it easier
You may like to consider using technology to reduce the workload on your volunteers and increase your fundraising dollars. For an event like Cow Pat Lotto, you may like to sell tickets using a platform like TryBooking.

TryBooking lets you sell tickets, take payments and donations for events online.

This takes care of a great deal of the work that is usually left to volunteers and automates the ticket selling process.

You can set up and customise your own event page and a unique URL in minutes. This lets you easily share the event online and engage members and supporters. Your club may also like to use social media, email newsletters and your club website to promote the event.

Financial Considerations
Potential profit this event can generate can be anywhere from $200 to $10,000. Revenue raised relates directly to ticket prices and sales. The revenue can vary depending on two things, the sale price of the grids and number of squares. Tickets can be priced depending on the level of fundraising required but due to the novelty factor of the event you may be able to charge up to $100 or more for a ticket. Generally a grid of 100 squares is used so there will be 100 tickets sold. Depending on space you may choose to have more or less squares in your grid. The cash prize will determine the regulations for gambling licensing.

The upfront investment for this event will revolve around the acquisition of a cow, transport, ticketing, licensing, fencing, insurance and ground paint. It may be worth calling for a donation of a cow from the club community, as well as transport and fencing, to reduce costs.

Ensure you create a budget for the event and identify how much cash you will need before the event. For Cow Pat Lotto there will generally only be minor purchases before ticket sales begin, including prizes (if not already donated).

Promotion
Promote Cow Pat Lotto using traditional club resources such as the club website, newsletter and social media pages. If the raffle is part of a larger event, ensure it is on all of the event’s advertising. Make contact with the local media to see if they would like to cover the event and don’t forget to call on your members to spread the word.

Communication considerations
As Cow Pat Lotto is a raffle, the winner doesn’t necessarily have to be there on the day. This opens up options for selling tickets via social media and to a wider audience than just your members and supporters. This way people anywhere in the world can buy a raffle ticket and this allows for funds to be raised from sources external to the club.
You should use social media to sell tickets and then you can live stream the event on the day!

Social, Moral and Ethical Considerations
Treatment of animals
It is important to ensure that your cow is well treated. You will need to ensure you have experienced animal handlers, as well as safe and ethical forms of transport for the animal. You will also need to consider food and water during the day as well as a suitable area for the cow to wait and rest.

What can go wrong? (Risk Management)
Financial Risks
There are obvious financial risks if enough tickets aren’t sold and the prizes and setup cost more than the money made.
Weather
The weather can make the day difficult to run should there be cold, heat or rain. Alternative arrangements should be discussed and decided on prior to the day.
Animal and Crowd Safety
The health and wellbeing of your crowd should be a focus at all times. It is important that your club takes time to consider all possible risks and how to minimise these. This includes understanding that animals are unpredictable and it is important for the safety of both the cow and the crowd that they are kept separate at all times.
The event takes too long
You may wish to put a time limit on the event so that if the cow hasn’t pooped you randomly select a winner within this time, potentially have numbers in a barrel or other similar vessel and draw a number out to find the winner.

Licenses and Permits
It is important for clubs to take the responsibility and check their state or territory’s gambling regulations to make sure their Cow Pat Lotto fundraiser is a legal event.

Additional Factors to consider
The Cow
This event involves livestock, so experienced handlers are required. At all times, the welfare of the animal should be taken into account.

Location
This is not an event to hold in a confined area. There needs to be enough space allocated to allow for fencing and the setup of the grid, as well as access for participants in the raffle.

Additional Revenue Opportunities
Cow Pat Lotto is an event that can be run in conjunction with other events such as a fete or fair. It can also be run alongside jumper presentations, sprint/gift days, agricultural shows or any other major event for your club. It can also be run as a stand-alone event.

Disclaimer
This procedure should be treated as a guide only. Your club should seek advice specific to the needs of your club and event. Seek further details from authorities and service providers; especially in regards to insurance, licences, permits, spectator and participant safety.