Answers

Can a nonprofit sell raffle tickets online in New York?

Yes. New York allows an authorized organization to sell raffle tickets through the internet or a mobile device, but only after the State Gaming Commission approves an application for that specific raffle. The application goes in at least 60 days before the first online sale, your organization needs a Games of Chance Identification Number first, and the platform you sell through must come from a licensed supplier whose server is physically in New York.

Last reviewed October 2026 Sources: 9 NYCRR 4620.22, GML 189 and 190-a, the Internet/Mobile Raffle Ticket Sales Application

Are raffles allowed in New York?

Yes, for an authorized organization. The Commission's application spells out who that is: a bona fide religious, charitable, educational, fraternal or service organization, or a bona fide organization of veterans, volunteer firefighters or volunteer ambulance workers, that operates without profit to its members and has been serving one of the lawful purposes in the Games of Chance Licensing Law for at least a year (three years before applying for a raffle license). The organization has to be domiciled in New York, and its municipality has to have adopted a local law approving games of chance.

What you need beyond that depends on how much the raffle will raise, measured in net proceeds:

  • Under $5,000 from the raffle and under $30,000 for the year: no raffle license and no financial report. The law calls this a Category 2 raffle.
  • $5,000 to $29,999 from a single raffle: a Games of Chance Identification Number from the Commission, plus a verified statement filed with your municipal clerk on Form GCVS-1.
  • $30,000 or more in a year: a Games of Chance Identification Number, a raffle license from your municipal clerk (Forms GC-2, GC-2A and GC-2B, a $25 fee, the license issued on Form GC-5), and a GC-7R financial statement by January 30 of the following year.

"[A]n authorized organization may conduct a raffle without complying with such licensing requirements or such filing requirements, provided, that such organization shall derive net proceeds from raffles in an amount less than five thousand dollars during the conduct of one raffle and shall derive net proceeds from raffles in an amount less than thirty thousand dollars during one calendar year."

General Municipal Law § 190-a(1)

What changes when you sell online?

Selling tickets on the internet or by phone is a separate permission, on top of whatever your category requires. Three rules do the work.

The Commission approves each raffle separately. Your organization files the Internet/Mobile Raffle Ticket Sales Application for the specific raffle, not less than 60 days before any ticket is offered online, and sells only after the Commission approves it. A Games of Chance Identification Number is required to apply, whatever your raffle category, so even a small Category 2 raffle needs one to go online.

"Any authorized charitable organization that wishes to conduct raffle ticket sales through the Internet or mobile devices must first file this application and receive approval to conduct such raffle ticket sales from the New York State Gaming Commission (“Commission”) not less than 60 days before offering any tickets for sale on such platform."

Internet/Mobile Raffle Ticket Sales Application (Rev. 9/2024), Entities Required to Apply

The sale runs on a New York server supplied by a licensed supplier. The sale has to be initiated and accepted by a server or other equipment physically located in a New York municipality where raffle sales are authorized. The application asks for that server's street address, municipality and county, and for the name and license number of every licensed supplier involved. Any company that provides software, a platform or equipment for an internet raffle must itself hold a games of chance supplier license from the Commission (see Do you need a licensed supplier to sell raffle tickets online in New York?).

"No sale of a raffle ticket though an internet or a mobile device platform may occur unless the server or other electronic equipment that initiates the offering of a raffle ticket for sale and accepts a request to purchase such ticket is located in a municipality in this State in which the sale of such tickets is authorized as set forth in General Municipal Law section 189(13) and the purchaser of such ticket is located, at the moment of purchase, in this State."

9 NYCRR § 4620.22(b)(7)(ii)

Your organization stays the seller. You can sell through a licensed supplier's platform, but you cannot hand the raffle to a third-party fundraising company to run for you. The rules bar an organization from outsourcing or delegating the conduct of an internet raffle, and the people managing it have to be bona fide members of your organization.

"No authorized organization shall outsource or otherwise delegate to another entity or person, including, without limitation, a third-party fundraising entity, the conduct of a raffle through the internet or mobile device."

9 NYCRR § 4620.22(b)(7)(v)

What does the sequence look like?

  1. Confirm your organization qualifies. An authorized organization, domiciled in New York, in a municipality with a games of chance law. Your officers make this determination from your charter or certificate of incorporation.
  2. Get a Games of Chance Identification Number. Form 1A goes to the Commission, and the number is required before you can apply to sell online, in every raffle category.
  3. Get your municipal paperwork in order. A raffle license (GC-5) from your clerk if you expect $30,000 or more for the year, or a verified statement (GCVS-1) if a single raffle will net $5,000 to $29,999. The online application asks for a copy of whichever one you hold.
  4. Choose your licensed supplier. The application needs the supplier's name and license number, the server's location, and written procedures for geolocation, age checks, purchaser accounts, privacy, security and self-exclusion. That information describes the platform you will sell on, so choosing it comes before you can file.
  5. File the Internet/Mobile Raffle Ticket Sales Application. With the Commission, not less than 60 days before you plan to offer the first ticket online. Sales start only after approval.
  6. Sell the tickets, hold the drawing, file the reports. Tickets may be sold no more than 180 days before the drawing. The drawing itself is physical and in plain view. Licensed organizations file the GC-7R financial statement by January 30 of the following year.

One thing the application does not ask for: a separate sign-off from your municipality for online sales. The clerk's role is the license or verified statement upstream. Local laws can add restrictions on raffles, so the application reminds you to check with your municipality, but there is no online-sales notice to file with the clerk.

Who can buy a ticket online?

Anyone who is at least 18, is physically in New York at the moment of purchase, has set up a ticket account with your organization, and is not on the Commission's self-exclusion list. No credit, and no sales more than 180 days before the drawing. The full rules, with the Commission's wording on each point, are in Who can buy a ticket in an online New York raffle?

Can the drawing happen online?

No. The Commission's application reminds every applicant that a raffle drawing may not occur electronically. Online tickets go into the same physical drawing as paper ones, conducted openly and in plain view, and the winner does not have to be present. How, where and by whom the drawing is run is covered in Can you draw a raffle winner online in New York?

Where RFFL fits

RFFL is a licensed games of chance supplier (Game & Give, LLC, NYSGC Supplier License #269) with servers in New York. Our part is the platform side of the rules above: the age and location checks on every purchase, purchaser accounts, the New York server, sales records, and the supplier details and procedures your application asks for. Your organization still obtains its own Games of Chance Identification Number and municipal paperwork, files the Internet/Mobile application in its own name, conducts the physical drawing, and files its own reports. Details are on the platform page, and Reggie can answer a question about your situation.

Sources

This page is educational. It summarizes the rules as published by the New York State Gaming Commission and is not legal advice. Where this page and the Commission's documents differ, the documents control, and for your organization's own situation you should check with the Commission or your counsel.