Is a nonprofit permitted to hold a raffle in order to generate funds ?

The answer to this question is NO. SCANPO has investigated this matter with the Office of the Attorney General and found that a raffle is considered illegal in South Carolina, even in the case of a nonprofit. The South Carolina Supreme Court determined that a lottery consists of three elements:

1. the offering of a prize
    

2. the payment of money or other consideration for an opportunity to win the prize
    

3. the awarding of the prize by chance

Therefore, any scheme involving all of the above three elements would be considered a lottery and, therefore be illegal in this state. This is still true despite SC's recent vote in favor of a state-run lottery.

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