Meat Raffle Reservations. To make them or not to make them. That is a question that has plagued many meat raffle attendee. We know that there are times when attending a meat raffle is a spur of the moment idea so reservations are difficult. We also know that before WNYMeatRaffles.com, getting advanced notice of meat raffles meant scouring the web, making reservations a pain in the butt. But now things have changed, and there is a significant set of reasons why you should ALWAYS make a reservation for a meat raffle.
Preferred Seating, Possible Discounts and Other Bonuses
Most organizations running meat raffles want to encourage reservations. Attendees can often take advantage of this situation. Many meat raffle organizers will allow people with reservations preferred seating (like next to the bar or the rest rooms). Some meat raffles will offer discounts off admissions if you reserve a certain number of seats. Finally we have seen a couple of recent meat raffles offer free door prize tickets and even free 50/50 split tickets just for making reservations by a certain date (here is a link to a meat raffle offering free tickets http://www.wnymeatraffles.com/future-meat-raffles/2014/3/29/west-seneca-girls-travel-softball-12u-spring-meat-raffle).
Avoid Getting Turned Away at the Door
One of the most obvious reasons for making reservations for meat raffles is so that you don’t show up and end up getting turned away at the door. Nothing dampers your feelings about a good meat raffle than packing up all of your snacks, filling your car with all of your friends and then showing up at a meat raffle only to find out that they are sold out. The facilities that are rented out for meat raffles all have maximum capacities based on fire codes. Remember if this happens to you, it is not the fault of the meat raffle organizers, it’s your fault for not making a reservation.
The Most Important Reason – Making Sure the Meat Raffle has Enough Meat to Win
Most meat raffles now a days use reservations to plan for how much meat to purchase. Meat is very expensive and organizations can end up losing money on their fundraiser if they purchase too much meat. On the flip-slide, organization risk losing the trust of their patrons if they run low on meat. We have been to several local meat raffles where the organization ended up running short on meat because only 20% of the attendees had reservations. Even though most meat raffle organizers plan a small buffer for attendees without reservations, situations like these make the entire meat raffle experience unpleasant for everyone.
So remember, the point of meat raffles is for a not-for-profit organization to fundraise. Please try and help out by making your reservation as early as possible. Also, please remember to adjust your reservation just prior to the raffle so that the organization has an accurate number of true reservations that they can plan the event around. The more reservations an organization has, the better the meat raffle.