Many thanks to Stephanie Prince, whose “Impact a Life” scholarship essay examines how raffles can not only benefit a business by showing customers and employees that they care. Stephanie is entering the University of Arizona’s Honors College and will be majoring in Engineering. Good Luck!

1. Raffles Reward
At the VI, a residence for elderly care, my grandmother recently won two raffles for
Target gift cards. Because she is an employee there, the VI often has similar raffles,
giveaways, and more to benefit their workers.
Businesses use raffles, and other things of this nature, to not only reward their
employees and customers for choosing them, but also to provide a sort of unspoken
agreement between the two. By providing promotional raffles, these businesses and
those who partake in the raffle, employees and customers alike, are forming a sort of
bond. The business is expressing its gratitude to its customers and employees by
presenting an additional gift to them. The employees and customers are, on the
other hand, accepting this gift while also demonstrating their passion for that
particular business.
Not only do raffles incite these particular feelings, but they also induce hope.
Humans are creatures of curiosity, adventure, and hopefulness. We strive to be
successful in all that we do, which often pushes us to take risks. Thus, when
businesses require a certain fee for a particularly luxurious prize, people are often
willing to put their value in the chance that they could win something marvelous
above the cost of losing a few dollars if they do not.
My economics teacher once talked about value and cost. If a person finds enough
value in something, they are willing to cover the cost for that which they value.
Raffles incite not only the prize at the end, but also hope, and with this particular
hope, a sort of adrenaline.
Raffles are sort of like slots; you put money in hoping to be rewarded with something
greater, whether it be cash or prize. As you put that dollar into the slot, something
pulses through you: hope, adrenaline, and the opportunity to win it all. Raffles can
have the same effect on people.
By having raffles, businesses are inciting these enjoyable emotions in people.
Consequently, if the business were to have a raffle every few months or so, their
customers would be more likely to stick with them to continue to have that
opportunity to win it all.
The first time my grandmother entered those raffles, however, she had no intention
of being the winner. She expected a loss due to the amount of people also in the pot,
but is that not what makes winning so much more exciting? As her name was called,
not for one but for two raffles, my grandmother was shocked. Hope is especially
incited within us when we expect negative results and receive positive ones. Being a
person who never wins raffles, I often expect to lose, but there is still this tiny inkling
of hope within me that thinks I could be lucky enough to win. This inkling pushes me
to buy a ticket or two just to have a chance. Many people feel this way as well.
Consequently, the businesses will gain revenue for the amount their tickets are
worth, but they also gain something much bigger: loyalty.

2. By having raffles periodically, employers are able to show their customers that they
care. When my school had raffles at certain sporting events it provided the student
body with an excitement and more readiness to come to games. The games were
not just about the players anymore, but also about us fans. This is how businesses
can use raffles. If businesses use raffles to prove to their customers that they are
vital and necessary parts to their machine of business, then the customers will feel
needed and become more loyal.
People like to feel needed, desired, and showed this feeling of care. When
businesses use raffles, they show their customers that they care.
This care is all that they truly need to incite loyalty in their customers and workers
alike.