How to run a charity race night in a pub (and actually raise money)

A charity race night is one of the easiest fundraisers a pub can host. People who'd never enter a quiz will happily shout at a horse on a screen for two minutes. It fills the room, it gets the regulars and the club crowd in at the same time, and the money adds up quicker than you'd think.

It also goes wrong in very predictable ways. Nobody knows who's holding the cash. The raffle runs late. The charity finds out about it from Facebook. The total never gets announced, so people wonder where it went.

This guide is about the fundraising side: the cause, the money, the rules and the hand-over. If you want the nuts and bolts of running the races themselves, read our guide to how to run a race night in a pub alongside this one.

Pick the cause first, then everything else gets easier

The race nights that do best have a cause people already care about. A local hospice, the junior football club needing new kit, a family who've had a rough year, the lifeboat. A cause with a face and a local link sells horses. A big national charity can work too, but you'll have to work harder to make it feel personal.

A few things to sort before you set a date:

• Who is the organiser? It might be the pub, a customer, a club committee or the charity's own volunteers. Agree who's in charge of the money. That one decision prevents most of the arguments later.
• One cause, clearly named. "Raising money for St Something's Hospice" beats "raising money for various good causes". The Gambling Commission's guidance says players in some race night formats must be told which good cause will benefit, so name it on every poster anyway.
• A target. "We're aiming for £750 for the hospice" gives people something to push for, and gives you a number to read out at the end.
• A date that doesn't clash. Check the football fixtures, local events and payday. Our pub events calendar for 2027 is handy for spotting the busy and the dead weekends.

Talk to the charity before you print anything

Ring or email the charity's community fundraising team. Most have one, even small local ones have a named person. Ask them:

• Are they happy for you to fundraise for them, and how should you word it? Many charities like "in aid of" rather than suggesting the event is run by them.
• Can you use their logo, and do they have posters, collection buckets, banners or T-shirts you can borrow?
• How do they want the money paid in? Online, by bank transfer, a cheque, or a paying-in slip?
• Will they send someone on the night? A two-minute speech from a nurse or a club coach raises more than any poster.

One thing worth knowing: Gift Aid usually can't be added to raffle tickets or entry fees. HMRC's guidance says a raffle ticket is "not a gift but a payment for the right to enter the raffle", and admission to an event isn't a gift either. Plain donations in a bucket are a different matter, so ask the charity if they want Gift Aid envelopes out on the tables.

The ways a race night raises money

You don't need all of these. Pick three or four you can run well with the helpers you've got.

Race sponsorship

Ask local businesses to sponsor a race for a set amount. They get the race named after them ("The Smith's Garage 7:45 Handicap"), a mention from the host, and their name on the programme and the screens. This is plain sponsorship with no prize attached, so you can sell it weeks ahead. The butcher, the hairdresser, the taxi firm and the builder who drinks in your bar are all good shouts.

Owning or sponsoring a horse

The classic. Each race has a set number of horses, and people pay to own one for that race. Let owners name their horse, which is half the fun and costs nothing. The owner of the winning horse gets a prize.

Keep the prize fixed and tell people what it is before the night: a bottle of wine, a meal voucher donated by the pub, a meat hamper from the butcher. A prize that grows with the money taken pushes the night into rules with tighter limits (more on that below).

Entry or a programme

Some nights charge £2 or £3 on the door, or sell a printed programme with the races, sponsors and horses in it. A programme doubles as a thank-you to sponsors and something people take home.

A raffle

A raffle at the event, sold and drawn on the night, is the easy extra. Ask for donated prizes so all the ticket money goes to the cause. The rules for this sort of raffle are short and covered in the legal section.

Auction the last race

Save the big one for the end. Auction each horse in the final race one at a time, with the host acting as auctioneer. People bid for the fun and the bragging rights, and tables club together to beat the next table. Again, give the winning owner a fixed, advertised prize rather than a share of the auction money.

Buckets and the pub's own bit

Put collection buckets on the bar and by the door. If the pub wants to give something too, say so up front and keep it separate: "The pub will add 10p from every pint sold tonight." Be clear that bar takings are the pub's. The Gambling Commission's guidance says money from drinks and food sold by a third party doesn't count as money raised for the charity, so don't let anyone think it does.

Example maths for a fundraising race night

This is an example to help you plan, not a promise of what you'll raise. Your numbers will depend on the room, the cause and how hard your helpers sell.

• Horses: 8 races x 8 horses at £5 = £320, if every horse sells
• Race sponsorship: 8 races at £25 each from local businesses = £200
• Raffle: 200 tickets at £1 with donated prizes = £200
• Last race auction: 8 horses averaging £15 = £120
• Buckets on the night: say £60

That's £900 coming in. Take off reasonable costs, for example £40 for owner prizes you had to buy and £20 for printing, and you'd hand over £840.

Two lessons from the sums. First, horses rarely all sell, so price them so the night still works at two thirds full. Second, sponsorship is the steadiest money and you can bank it before anyone walks through the door, so start there.

Keeping it legal (the short version)

You can run a charity race night without a licence, but you have to stay inside one of the formats the law allows. Our full guide, are pub race nights legal?, goes through each one. The headline points from the Gambling Commission's pages:

• The money goes to the cause. "No private gain can be made from non-commercial gaming." You can take off reasonable costs, such as prizes and printing, and the rest goes to the advertised good cause.
• Horses are picked by chance. Players can't be given odds or form to help them choose. Old race footage with the details hidden, or a game where nobody can see form, fits this.
• Fixed prizes are simplest. In non-commercial prize gaming, prizes must be advertised before the event and can't depend on how many play or how much is taken.
• Splitting the pot has limits. If players share in the money staked (equal chance gaming), the most anyone can be charged is £8 a day in total, and total prizes must stay under £600. A night where people pay £5 a race for eight races would blow that cap, which is why I'd stick to fixed prizes.
• The raffle has its own rules. For a raffle at an event, tickets can only be sold at the event while it's on, you must hand out physical tickets, you can take up to £100 for expenses and up to £500 from proceeds for prizes, and prizes can't roll over. Donated prizes have no limit.
• Nothing remote. These exemptions can't be run online, so no selling horses or raffle tickets through a website.

Check your premises licence covers the entertainment too, and if anything about your plan feels grey, ring your council's licensing team before the posters go up. They'd much rather answer a question than deal with a complaint.

Getting people in

You've got two audiences: your regulars, and the charity's supporters who might never have been in your pub. The second lot are the prize.

• Ask the charity or club to share the event with their members and on their social pages.
• Put posters up three weeks out, with the cause, date, time and target. Tell people they can name a horse.
• Sell race sponsorship in person. A two-minute chat over the bar beats an email every time.
• Put the night on your pub TVs and on your Google listing.
• Post the horse names as they come in. Daft names get shared.

Our list of pub marketing ideas that cost little has more, including how to get the most from your Google listing.

Run sheet for the night

Here's how I'd lay out a Friday or Saturday evening. Six to eight races works well. Fewer and it's over before it starts, more and the room drifts.

• 5:30pm: Helpers arrive. Brief everyone: who sells horses, who sells raffle tickets, who holds the money, who's hosting.
• 6:00pm: Test the screens and the sound in every room. Lay out sponsor signs, the prize table and the charity's banner.
• 6:30pm: Two cash tins, each with a float you've counted and written down. One for horses, one for the raffle.
• 7:00pm: Doors. Horse sellers go table to table for races 1 to 3. Raffle sales start.
• 7:30pm: Welcome from the host. Name the cause, the target and the prizes. Thank the sponsors by name.
• 7:40pm: Race 1. Read out the winning owner, hand over the prize, sell horses for the next race.
• 7:55pm to 8:45pm: Races 2 to 4, roughly every 15 minutes.
• 8:45pm: Interval. Charity speaker for two minutes. Last call for raffle tickets.
• 9:00pm: Raffle draw. Keep it brisk, a winner every 30 seconds.
• 9:20pm to 9:50pm: Races 5 to 7.
• 10:00pm: Auction the horses for the final race, then run it.
• 10:20pm: Thank everyone, read out a first total, tell them when the final figure will be announced.
• 10:30pm: Count the money, in pairs, away from the bar.

Counting and handing over the money

This is the part that keeps your reputation intact. Do it the same way every time.

• Two people, always. Nobody counts alone and nobody takes the tin home alone. Ideally one from the pub and one from the charity or club.
• Count each stream separately. Horses, raffle, auction, buckets, sponsorship already paid. Write each figure down, take off the float, and both people sign the sheet.
• Keep receipts for costs. If you took £40 out for prizes, there should be a receipt for £40.
• Pay it in quickly. Ideally the next working day, in the way the charity asked. Don't let it sit in the safe for a fortnight.
• Get confirmation. Ask the charity for an email or a letter saying what they received. Pin it up behind the bar.

Thank the sponsors and share the total

People give more next time if they saw what happened last time.

• Post the final total within a couple of days, with a photo of the cheque or the charity's thank-you.
• Name every sponsor and prize donor in that post and tag them.
• Drop a thank-you card or a printed certificate into each sponsoring business. It goes on their wall and reminds their customers you did it.
• Thank the helpers in person, with a drink on the house if you can.

Follow up and book the next one

While everyone's still buzzing, ask the charity and the regular faces whether they'd do it again. Write down what worked, what dragged and which sponsors said "ask me next time". Pencil in a date for six or twelve months' time. A race night that comes round every year becomes an event people look out for, and the sponsors start ringing you.

Frequently asked questions

How much can a charity race night raise in a pub?

It depends on the room, the cause and the helpers. As an example, 8 races of 8 horses at £5 brings in £320 if every horse sells, and race sponsorship, a raffle and a last-race auction can add several hundred pounds more. Plan for the horses not all selling.

Do I need a licence to run a fundraising race night?

Usually not, as long as the night fits one of the Gambling Commission's exempt formats, all the money after reasonable costs goes to the good cause, and horses are picked by chance. Our guide to whether pub race nights are legal covers each format in detail.

Can the pub keep the bar takings on a charity race night?

Yes. Gambling Commission guidance says money from drinks and food sold by a third party doesn't count as money raised for the charity. If the pub wants to donate some of it, say so up front and keep it separate.

Can I give the winning owner a share of the money?

You can, but it brings tighter limits, including a cap of £8 per player per day and total prizes under £600. Fixed prizes that are advertised before the night are simpler and keep you clear of those limits.

Can we sell horses and raffle tickets online beforehand?

Race sponsorship from businesses can be sold ahead. Horses and raffle tickets should be sold in the room on the night, as these exemptions can't be run remotely and raffle tickets at an event can only be sold at the event while it's on.

Sources

• Gambling Commission: Fundraising with bingo, casino, poker or race nights
• Gambling Commission: Guidance to licensing authorities, Part 28, non-commercial race night
• Gambling Commission: How to run a fundraiser with lotteries or raffles at events
• GOV.UK: Charities detailed guidance notes, chapter 3, Gift Aid

We checked every source on 8 November 2026. Rules change, so check the latest version before you act. Nothing here is legal advice.