Do you need a licence to run a raffle in the UK?

TL;DR

Most online raffle-style draws in the UK do not require a Gambling Commission operating licence, but many do require local-authority registration. The trigger isn't how the activity feels to you — it's the legal route you're operating under.

Small society lottery — registration only

A small society lottery is run by a non-commercial society — typically a charity, sports club, or cultural organisation — and is registered with the local authority where the society is based. There's no Gambling Commission involvement provided you stay under all of the small-society thresholds:

• £20,000 of ticket sales in any single lottery.
• £250,000 of total ticket sales in a calendar year.
• £25,000 maximum value for any single prize.

Allow 4–8 weeks for registration. The current statutory fees are a £40 application fee and a £20 annual renewal fee.

Large society lottery — Gambling Commission licence

Cross any of the small-society thresholds (annual sales over £250,000, single lottery over £20,000, or a single prize above £25,000) and you need a Lotteries Operating Licence from the Gambling Commission, plus an Annual Fee, plus the Personal Management Licence for designated individuals at the society. This is a meaningful step up in cost and compliance burden.

The Gambling Commission's fee schedule has current numbers; expect a first-year licence fee well into four figures and an application process measured in months. If you're thinking about this threshold, check our pricing against the licensed-operator running cost — the per-raffle economics shift.

Prize competitions and free draws — no licence

Neither prize competitions (with a free-entry route or genuine skill element) nor pure free draws require a licence or registration. They're not lotteries under the Gambling Act 2005, so the Commission's licensing regime simply doesn't apply.

That said, both routes are still subject to UK consumer-law protections, the CAP/BCAP advertising codes, and the platforms' own gambling-adjacent content rules. "No licence" doesn't mean "no rules".

For the route-by-route breakdown: how to run a raffle legally in the UK. For charities specifically: how to run a charity raffle.

Primary sources: Gambling Commission — Small society lotteries, Lotteries and the Law, and the Local Government Association's small-society-lottery registration guidance for your specific local authority.