Pledge Sports

How To Make A Horse Betting Fundraiser Event

Horse betting is a great activity for fundraising. People are ready to part with their money and it’s a lot of fun for your guests. This guide will teach you how to make a horse betting fundraiser event. 

Choose a race and venue 

Choose an upcoming race at your local track. Popular choices are the Kentucky Derby, Royal Ascot, and other big races around the world (the Melbourne Cup in Australia is also a classic). Once you’ve chosen a race, book out at a nearby venue large enough to fit all of your guests.

Choose which horses to bet on

Go online and research the horses that are racing in your chosen race. Read up on their stats and make sure you know which horse people will most likely bet on. Obviously, anything with a low chance of winning should not be included as a bet for this fundraiser event.

Sell tickets and bets

Sell tickets, at a minimum of £5 each, in exchange for placing a bet. Sell enough tickets to cover the number of guests you have plus one or two extra. You should aim to sell more than required, so that if some guests are unable to attend they can still recover their investment.

Set a theme or dress code for the night

A horse betting fundraiser event is fun, but it can look pretty tacky if you don’t coordinate your guests. Set a dress code or theme for the night. For example, ‘Midnight in Monaco’ would be great for an evening-themed race at Ascot, while ‘Elegance of the 70s’ would be perfect for Royal Ascot. You could also choose a theme based on the colour of the jockey silks, or your audience might even enjoy something like ‘Formula One’ for a race with no dress code.

How to make money  

By selling tickets to friends, family members, colleagues, and neighbours you can raise a lot of money. You might even encourage people to host their own horse betting fundraiser event! Either way, make sure that the amount betted is equal or greater to the face value of your ticket.

Sponsors – If you have a sponsor, encourage them to offer a prize for the winning bet. This will be a great incentive for your guests to put their money on a horse and keep everyone entertained throughout the event. Prizes could include vouchers, donations to charity, luxury items – anything you can think of!

Casino games – If you’re feeling particularly creative, set up a casino evening with blackjack, poker, roulette, and other gambling games. Click here to read more about specific casino games.

Owners – You can also consider putting on a small ‘raffle’ with monetary prizes. For example, you might put some of the money raised into a prize pool and ask people to pay £1 each for tickets.

Master of Ceremonies – Consider hiring a Master of Ceremonies (MC) for the evening. This person will help you to run the event smoothly and make announcements when needed. If possible, get someone knowledgeable about horse racing!

Betting – Here’s a great tip: to keep all of your guests entertained and encourage more betting, write up some funny horse names and put them in a hat. Ask each guest to pick one at random and place their bet on that race.

For all the latest sports news follow PledgeSports on FacebookTwitter, and Instagram.