Would you keep the gift bag?

[jpcher]

I don't know if she was rude for hooping and hollering but it certainly wasn't the best plan, considering she was doing the drawing.

I'm thinking that it was rude for her to do the hooping and hollering. If I were picking the tickets and pulled out my own name the second time? I think I would be a bit abashed.

The rudeness comes into play with -- Did ticket-drawer hoop and holler for everyone that won? Or, selfishly, just for herself?

Another question that cynicalJP has to ask . . . was anybody double-checking the name that was pulled?

I mean . . . out of 50 women and only 6 baskets, what are the odds of the ticket drawer pulling her own name for 2 of the baskets?

Or, on the more positive, hopeful side . . . maybe ticket drawer bought $25+ worth of tickets for each of the baskets that she was interested in, thereby stacking the deck in her favor? Maybe?



In the end, I totally agree with PPers . . . In the future, the person that draws the tickets should not be one that purchased a ticket.

[wolfie]

While I think the woman did nothing wrong - if she is allowed to buy tickets then she should be allowed to win as many prizes as anyone else - I think it doesn't look good for the organization that she did that and I suspect that next year fewer tickets will be bought.

[Sharnita]

Multiple tickets would increase the chances of winning even once.  If there's more than 6 people and only 6 baskets, I might buy more than 1 ticket even if the rules say I can only win once.

[Lynn2000]

Actual impropriety would be if she somehow cheated in order to win both baskets, and as long as that didn't happen, I guess she's in the clear. But in an organization like this (volunteer, right?) I'd think you would want to avoid even the appearance of impropriety, and thus make a rule that the person who draws the tickets can't have bought any. I'd think that would be a small sacrifice for, say, one of the officers to make each year, to bring that much more appearance of fairness to the proceedings.

I also feel weird about her winning two baskets. Again, if she didn't cheat or otherwise go against the rules, technically she's fine to keep both. I don't think I would keep both, though, I would feel too uncomfortable about it.

Since there are so few baskets, and each basket is worth a lot, I think it would be fine to have a rule saying a person could only win one of them. Yes, the chance of winning more than one inspires people to buy more tickets (thus helping the organization), but this could be offset by ill will if the same person starts to win several of the baskets. Okay, sure, likely that person bought a lot of tickets and thus gave a lot of money to the organization, but it starts to feel weird to me--like, they're trying to buy attention or glory or something. People might start to think, oh, why bother buying any tickets this year, Betty's just going to buy 100 of them and win everything.

Maybe the rule could be that you can win one super-nice basket, and then if your name is drawn again on another basket, you can pick from a group of smaller prizes, and they draw again for the basket. That way you still win something, but the organizers ensure that six different people go home with a super-nice basket (and thus are more likely to participate again the next year).

Of course, I've never won anything in a raffle and don't understand probability that well, so take my advice for what it's worth. 

[LifeOnPluto]

I personally would not have kept the second gift basket. I would have re-drawn the ticket for that prize, because I'd feel uncomfortable about winning twice.

That said, if there was no cheating involved, the ticket drawer is technically not rude. However, the hooting and hollering sounds quite tacky and childish.

[bonyk]

I doubt the winner thought of this, but if she re-drew, then other multiple winners might have felt pressured to give up their second prize.  Going forward, the organization needs to find someone with no tickets to pick.

[Venus193]

Sounds like the Turkey Lady gets around.

[LeveeWoman]

Sounds like the Turkey Lady gets around.

 

[weeblewobble]

We faced this issue at a recent book discussion at the library.  DD is very enthusiastic about a certain book series, studies the non-fictional subject related to the book series in her spare time, knows every character backwards and forwards.  A friend of ours through school hosted a discussion session for youth at the library concerning the book series and asked DD to come because she knew DD was an "authority" on the series and could prompt participation from the other kids with her comments and questions.   

Now, DD had nothing to do with writing the discussion questions or the questions for the trivia quiz friend designed.  The grand prize was the entire book series in hardback.  But before we went to the library, DH and I sat down with DD and told her that even if she answered every question on the trivia quiz correctly, she was not to claim the grand prize.  She would let another kid win.

We explained that this was for several reasons:

1) She had the books already.  It would be selfish to claim additional set when another kid in attendance might not have them and might really want them.

2) Technically, she was there as "support staff."  The discussion was meant to enlighten/entertain the participants.

3) Our friend mentioned several times during the discussion that DD was her special helper, and we wanted to avoid even the APPEARANCE of dishonesty.

Even though DD answered all of the questions correctly - including obscure bonus questions. So proud! - she stayed quiet about it and let another kid win.  He was THRILLED and she got a big kick out of seeing how happy he was.

In the OP's case-While she was under no obligation to do so, it would have been kinder of the organizer to allow someone else to win.  She may have gained a gift basket, but it sounds like she lost the respect of some of the participants.

[Fleur]

I personally would not have kept the second gift basket. I would have re-drawn the ticket for that prize, because I'd feel uncomfortable about winning twice.

That said, if there was no cheating involved, the ticket drawer is technically not rude. However, the hooting and hollering sounds quite tacky and childish.

I totally agree with this, most especially with the bolded.

[cheyne]

~Respectfully snipped~

In the OP's case-While she was under no obligation to do so, it would have been kinder of the organizer to allow someone else to win.  She may have gained a gift basket, but it sounds like she lost the respect of some of the participants.

I do think the organizer was rude, and I would have lost my respect for her.  It's nice to win a raffle, but for the organizer to take home 1/3 of the prizes is a bit much.  It seems gimmee piggish to me, and certainly looks like it was "rigged" for her to win.

[Amara]

I do think the organizer was rude, and I would have lost my respect for her.  It's nice to win a raffle, but for the organizer to take home 1/3 of the prizes is a bit much.  It seems gimmee piggish to me, and certainly looks like it was "rigged" for her to win.

I agree, and if she participated in it in any way--as the person who draws or as a ticket buyer--the next year I would not. Because I wouldn't trust her.

[yokozbornak]

I posted a thread a few months ago about whether or not I should bid on auction items from a silent auction I was organizing.  I received a lot of good feedback and decided that I wouldn't personally bid on anything because I wanted to avoid the appearance of impropriety.  My husband did bid on a few things and win, but since I was not handling the money part of the auction, I felt that was okay. 

Although I know I silent auction is different than a raffle, I think it's important to avoid the appearance of impropriety both to the people who are attending and to those who donated the item.  Perception is reality and even if she technically did nothing wrong (although I think the whooping and hollering was tacky and way out of line), I am sure most people left the raffle with a bad taste in their mouth about both her and the organization. 

[jpcher]

I personally would not have kept the second gift basket. I would have re-drawn the ticket for that prize, because I'd feel uncomfortable about winning twice.

Just throwing this out there . . . Say that it was all agreed upon that ticket buyers only get to win one prize and your name gets drawn again for a second prize, should you be able to choose which prize you want to keep? Or should it automatically be the second prize that gets re-raffled?

In this case it sounds like the organizer was more excited about the second prize.

Just curious as to what you think.

[Thipu1]

First of all, the organizer shouldn't have been the one to draw the winning tickets.  She should have been the one to hold the bag. 

If one of her tickets was drawn, she would have been right to accept her prize.  If one of her tickets came up again, she should have given the second prize back for a re-draw. 

Events like this are about raising money.

  Yes, buying more tickets give the buyer more chances to win but the wealth should be spread as widely as possible.  The idea of the organizer winning one-third of the available prizes is likely to leave an unpleasant feeling among other members of the group. 

Winning is always nice.  Letting others win is even nicer.