DENVER — After 15 years, the home raffle that never gave away a home really, really tried to give away a home.
Yet, for the 16th year, the Boys & Girls Club of Metro Denver did not give away a home.
But not without trying harder.
The Dream House Raffle by the Boys & Girls Club of Metro Denver offered a home as one of the grand prizes, but only if enough tickets were sold.
Previously, the threshold was 80,000. The nonprofit never sold that many tickets, while still promoting a Dream House Raffle each year.
"Last year, we got some extra attention, some of that's thanks to your team Marshall,” Lauren Kamm, Boys & Girls Club of Metro Denver vice president of marketing, said on Jan. 4.
This year, the nonprofit lowered the ticket threshold and created an opportunity to give away one of two homes or cash.
If 40,000 tickets were sold, the grand prize winner could choose a duplex under construction near Golden or $1.1 million. If 70,000 tickets were sold, the grand prize winner could choose the duplex or a soon-to-be-built home near North Table Mountain or the $1.1 million.
"The 40,000-ticket threshold is something that we've met consistently for the past four years,” Kamm said on Jan. 4.
This year’s raffle did not come close.
Only 29,146 tickets were sold.
The Dream House Raffle did not give away a dream house, but the grand prize winner was still awarded $1.1 million.
Though, that will be more money than the nonprofit gets from its own raffle.
In 2023, the raffle took in $8 million. After expenses and awarding prizes, the Boys & Girls Club of Metro Denver kept almost $3 million.
This year, in an email, the nonprofit said it would only keep $500,000.
“Because of lower ticket sales, the percentage that goes to prizes will increase significantly this year. We will give away approximately $2 million, and we expect that we will net just over $500,000 this year. The revenue that we keep helps to support our programs and services that are provided to more than 28,000 youth annually,” Michelle Houlihan, Boys & Girls Club of Metro Denver chief development officer, said in an email.
The nonprofit did not cite news coverage as one of the reasons of lower ticket sales.
“We believe there are several factors for the decrease in ticket sales, including economic uncertainty and the explosive growth in online gambling, which we have heard from our nonprofit peers who also run raffles,” Houlihan said.
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Next with Kyle Clark