Just five hours after sales started for the Edmonton Oilers online 50/50 draw on Wednesday, it was shut down after hitting a whopping $5.4 million.
Now the Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation record-breaking raffle has given the Edmonton Christmas Bureau’s virtual 50/50 fundraiser some positive attention as well.
“What started happening on Twitter was — people starting saying ‘oh there’s local charities that are having 50/50s’,” marketing and communications manager Stavropoulous Katherine explained.
“We know how generous Edmontonians are and it’s just wonderful to see that.”
A couple weeks ago, they started an online 50/50 as well and the attention was welcome news after a slow start toward their $20,000 goal.
“We did see a real uptick yesterday where we doubled our sales within a 24-hour period,” she said. “That made us really happy and gave us a nice boost to get things rolling.”
It was a similar trend for the Fort Edmonton Foundation. This year is the first time they’ve held an online 50/50.
“We noticed in the last couple of days that all of a sudden our jackpot just grew tremendously,” Jody Hrabiwchuk with the foundation said.
The fundraiser started near the beginning of July, with a $20,000 goal as well.
“It was pretty slow,” Hrabiwchuk explained. “We were maybe about a little over $3,000, and then all of a sudden it just grew exponentially… in the last 24 to 48 hours.”
As of Thursday afternoon, their pot reached just over $10,000.
“We’re very pleased that people are taking the time to notice us as well,” Hrabiwchuk said.
According to Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis, interest in online raffle events has increased.
“This has been augmented by the pandemic as charitable organizations look for alternate ways to fundraise that aren’t dependent on personal contact,” AGLC said in statement.
Fundraising that, for now, is seeing a boost from Oilers 50/50 fever.