The hardest part of any fundraiser is getting people in the room. Once they are there, fed and having a good time, the next $5 or $50 is easy. Most committees do the hard part and then stop.
Stacking means adding small earners to an event you already run: a raffle at the disco, a silent auction at the quiz, a baking table beside the barbecue. Each one is a few hours of extra work. Together they can double what the night clears.
Here is how it works, with four worked stacks. Every dollar figure below is an estimate unless it says otherwise. In every table, "net" means what is left after that line's own stock and costs, assuming prizes and auction lots are donated. Swap in your own numbers.
Why add-ons work
You have already paid for the hall and rostered the volunteers. The people are there, in a good mood, with cash or cards out. An add-on needs a table, a volunteer or two and a little stock, and it asks people for something small and fun rather than another big commitment.
One NZ fundraising guide says most quiz night profit comes from the extras on the night, not the ticket. The dinner model further down shows the same thing: the extras roughly double the ticket margin.
The core rule: auctions need an event audience
For most groups an auction is not a fundraiser on its own. It needs a room. The Auctioneers Association of NZ says charity auctions work well as part of an entertainment event such as a dinner or concert, "and not the sole purpose for the event".
- A live auction wants a seated room of roughly 80-100 guests (estimate) and at least two keen bidders per lot.
- A silent auction wants guests who linger: a dinner, a quiz, a gala.
- An online auction can work without a room, but it does best when it closes at an event or on a weekday evening when supporters are reachable.
If you have no event at all, a fixed-price sale or a raffle prize is often the simpler home for a good donated item.
Stack 1: school disco
A school disco is cheap to run and the hall is usually free. NZ discos charge $5 to $10 at the door. At 100 children and $5 a head, the door takes $500.
| Line | Stock or cost | Staff | Net (estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Door: 100 children at $5 | $0-150 for sound (a parent DJ is free) | 2 on the door, plus supervisors | $350-500 |
| Tuck shop and glow sticks | about $250 of snacks, drinks and glow sticks | 2-3 | $200-800 |
| Small raffle drawn at pick-up | about $30 of ticket books | 2 sellers, a drawer and a witness | $100-300 |
| Rough total, net | $650-1,600 |
Price points from a 2026 NZ school disco give you a starting list: chips $1, drinks $3, glow sticks $1. Buy stock on sale-or-return where you can. Draw the raffle at the end, because that is when parents turn up together. A theme (glow night, superheroes) lifts attendance and sells more add-ons.
Stack 2: quiz night
A quiz night gathers adults for three hours with breaks between rounds. That is the perfect shape for stacking. NZ tables commonly sell for $120-200, and several NZ bars offer free venue hire for fundraisers.
| Line | Stock or cost | Staff | Net (estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 tables of 8 at $150 ($1,800) | $0-600 for venue, supper and quizmaster | 6-12 volunteers plus a quizmaster | $1,200-1,800 |
| Raffle on the night | about $30 of ticket books | 2-4 sellers | $300-1,500 |
| Silent auction of donated items | $0-300 for printing and display | 3-6 | $1,000-5,000 |
| Heads-or-tails for a donated prize | nil | 1 caller | $100-300 |
| Sell answers or mulligans per round | nil | 1-2 runners | $100-300 |
| Rough total, net | $2,700-8,900 |
This is where a $500 effort becomes a $5,000 night. The tickets cover costs; the extras are the profit.
Heads-or-tails is a game of chance, not a skill game, so it falls under the same gambling classes as a raffle. Check our raffle rules page before you run it.
Stack 3: sausage sizzle
A sausage sizzle at a hardware store clears about $250 at a quiet store and $800 at a busy one, after stock. Shoppers are passing, not seated, so this stack is food-shaped, not auction-shaped.
| Line | Stock or cost | Staff | Net (estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sizzle, about 400 serves | about $400 for sausages, bread, onion and sauce | 6-12 across 2-3 shifts | $250-800 |
| Baking table beside the BBQ | about $20 for bags, labels and a float; baking donated | 2 | $100-300 |
| Cold drinks bought at wholesale | $50-150 of cans | shared with the BBQ crew | $50-150 |
| Rough total, net | $400-1,250 |
A sizzle will not become a $5,000 day. But a baking table and drinks take one extra trestle and two volunteers, and savoury and sweet sell to the same people. The best lever is the stock bill itself: ask a butcher for donated or at-cost sausages, and whatever you save goes straight onto the sizzle line.
Selling food at a store or hall needs the venue's permission, and the occasional-fundraiser exemption from Food Act registration doesn't remove the duty to keep food safe; see our food rules page.
Stack 4: the restaurant dinner
The restaurant fundraising dinner is the big one. This model is 100 guests at $150 a ticket, with the venue charging $70 a head for three courses. The other lines are estimates to replace with real quotes.
| Line | Amount (estimate) |
|---|---|
| Tickets: 100 at $150 | $15,000 |
| Venue: 100 at $70 | −$7,000 |
| Ticket margin ($80 a seat) | $8,000 |
| Guest speaker fee or koha | −$500 |
| Printing, AV, table decor, card fees | −$500 |
| Silent auction (15-20 donated lots) | +$2,500 |
| Live auction (3-5 donated lots) | +$4,000 |
| Raffle (about $20 a guest, donated prizes) | +$2,000 |
| Net | $15,500 |
The ticket margin is $8,000. The auctions and raffle add another $8,500. That is the stacking rule in one table: the dinner gathers the audience, and the extras earn on it.
What the add-ons need:
- Silent auction: 3-6 volunteers to set up, watch the sheets and settle up. Printing sits in the $500 line above.
- Live auction: an auctioneer, two or more bid spotters and someone to sort out winners. The model assumes the auctioneer donates their time; a paid one can cost up to about $1,000.
- Raffle: ticket books and 2-4 sellers working the tables.
Now the catch. Break-even depends on how the venue charges:
- Pay per head served: fixed costs are about $1,000 and each seat earns $80, so you break even at 13 tickets.
- Guaranteed 100 covers: you owe $7,000 regardless, so costs are $8,000 and you break even at 54 tickets.
Ask for a lower minimum, a release date for unsold seats, or a sponsor to underwrite the venue. Keep the live auction to three to five strong lots.
If you add a paddle-raise for one costed need after the speaker, approved donee groups can receipt those gifts. Auction purchases cannot be receipted, even when someone overpays (IRD QB 16/05).
Don't wear out the same families
Stacking has a trap. If the same 60 families are asked to buy disco tickets, then raffle tickets, then baking, then sausages, then a quiz table, all in one term, they stop saying yes. Over-asking the parent group that already pays fees and runs every other fundraiser is a common way appeals stall.
A few ways round it:
- Stack into one night instead of spreading out. One quiz with a raffle and an auction is one ask. Five separate fundraisers are five.
- Point each event at a different crowd. The disco takes children's pocket money. The dinner takes adults' spending money. The sizzle takes strangers' money.
- Keep add-ons small and optional. A $2 raffle ticket feels like fun. A third $50 ask in a month feels like a bill.
- Spread the business asks. The same local firms get asked for raffle prizes, auction lots and sponsorship. Keep a list of who you have asked and when.
- Say what it is for and report back. "We need $4,000 for the new nets, and we got there" makes the next ask easier.
The extra rules stacking can trigger
Adding an earner can add a rule. Two catch people out.
- A raffle or heads-or-tails is gambling. Class 1 means prizes and turnover both $500 or less. Class 2 means prizes up to $5,000 and turnover up to $25,000, run by a society. Bigger than that needs a licence (DIA). Alcohol can't be a raffle prize, so no wine hampers.
- A bar needs a licence. At a licensed restaurant or club, confirm with the venue that its licence covers your event, your group as organiser, your guests and your hours; club licences restrict who may be served. In a school hall, selling alcohol or including it in the ticket usually needs a special licence from the District Licensing Committee, applied for at least 20 working days ahead.
Auctions are not gambling, though the Fair Trading Act auction rules still apply. For the detail, see our pages on raffles, alcohol and events.
Where to next
- Quiz night: the easiest event to stack
- Raffle on the night: the add-on that fits almost anything
- Silent auction and live auction: once you have the room
- School disco
- Restaurant fundraising dinner
- Donated-prize raffle: for your best donated items when there is no event