Quiz night
Also called: trivia night, quiz fundraiser
Teams of six to eight pay for a table and compete in a hosted quiz, with a raffle and quick games between rounds, and often an auction. It suits schools, clubs and charities with enough families or members to fill 15–25 tables. A school quiz night commonly raises a few thousand dollars ($3,000 is typical here, $1,000–6,000). It takes 20–40 hours of organising over 6–8 weeks, and 6–12 helpers and a quizmaster on the night. The catch: you need most tables booked and paid two weeks out, or the night can cost more than it makes.
How big is your group?
Students at a school, or members and players at a club. Remembered in this browser only.
Pick a size to see the money for a group like yours. Until then, every figure here is the researched one.
Typically raises
$3,000
$1,000–6,000 per eventest.
About $100 per organiser hour
Based on one school quiz night
Is it right for us?
- Money
- $2,000–10,000
- Work
- Weeks, part-time
- Helpers
- 7–15 people
- Lead time
- 1–2 months
- Red tape
- Some
Common: most communities see one every year
- People
- 6-12 volunteers plus a quizmaster
- Organiser time
- 20-40 (estimate)
- Lead time
- 6-8 weeks
- Up-front cost
- $0–$600. Several NZ bars offer free venue hire and a quiz pack for fundraisers; otherwise hall hire, supper and a paid quizmaster.
- Risk
- Low. Pre-sold tables cover costs; bars that host free carry the venue risk.
How it works
People pay for a fun night out with their friends. Each table of six to eight pays one price ($120–200 a table, or $15–25 a head, are common in NZ), a quizmaster runs the rounds, and between rounds you sell raffle tickets, run quick games and, if you have the prizes, an auction.
Venue first. Several bars offer free venue hire and a quiz pack for fundraisers, which takes away most of the cost and the risk. Otherwise it’s a school hall or clubrooms, with hall hire, supper and perhaps a paid quizmaster: up to about $600 up front. At a licensed bar or club, the venue’s licence normally covers the bar: confirm it covers your event, your guests and your hours. In a hall, selling alcohol yourself, or including it in the ticket price, needs a special licence from your council, applied for at least 20 working days ahead.
Selling tables: most groups don’t use a booking website. One person takes bookings by email or text, gives each table a number, and asks for payment by bank transfer before the night, with the table name as the reference. Chase unpaid tables a week out. Close bookings when the room is full, or a few days before, so you can plan supper and answer sheets.
Prizes: ask local businesses for raffle and auction prizes four to six weeks out. Raffles have rules on what can be a prize (no alcohol or tobacco), prize value, who runs them and how tickets are sold: see Typical rules on this page before you print.
On the night you need a cashier at the door with a card reader, runners to collect answer sheets, two markers, and someone selling raffle tickets from table to table. Read out the scores after each round, keep the rounds moving so the auction doesn’t run late, and draw the raffle before people start to leave.
The money, as an example sum
Sell at $120 a table, keep $120, so 28 tables = $3,360, or about $3,060 after about $300 of costs. That’s about the typical result.
Using the figures on this page. Your prices and costs will differ.
| 20 tables at $120 | $2,400 |
|---|---|
| Hall hire, supper, answer sheets | −$400 |
| Quiz on its own | $2,000 |
| Raffle on the night (donated prizes) | $300 |
| Selling answers (“mulligans”) between rounds | $200 |
| Raised | $2,500 |
If it goes slowly. If only 10 tables sell: $1,200 less $400 = $800 from the quiz, plus a smaller raffle. At a bar that hosts free, the costs drop to nearly nothing.
When to shrink, switch or cancel. Count likely tables three weeks out. With fewer than 10, move it to a bar that hosts quiz fundraisers free, make it a smaller night, or run it as part of another event.
What makes it work. It flops when the quiz drags, the auction runs late and bidders go home, or there’s no card payment on the night. It works with tables of eight, a quizmaster who keeps time, scores read out as you go, an engraved trophy for the winners and a booby prize for last.
Where the money figure comes from
an NZ fundraising guide (NZ advice site) says a school quiz night commonly raises $2,000-$5,000 and that NZ tickets run $15-$25 a head or $120-$200 a table. Low and high are estimates.
Last checked October 2026. Ran this? Tell us what you raised and we’ll use real results to improve the figures.
Ways to run it
- At a bar that hosts quiz fundraisers
- Free venue and quiz pack. You keep the table money and the raffle, but not the bar or food. Little risk, but check any minimum numbers or food spend, and that your raffle is allowed.
- In your own hall or clubrooms
- You run the night and can sell supper. More work and up to about $600 of costs; your own bar needs a special licence.
- With a silent auction
- Donated items on a side table, bid on between rounds: often $1,000–5,000 at a 100-person event (an estimate), but it needs a small team collecting items for weeks.
Step by step
6–8 weeks out
- Pick a Friday or Saturday.
- Book the venue. Ask local bars about free fundraiser nights first. Selling alcohol in a hall? Apply for the special licence now.
- Book a quizmaster or buy a quiz pack.
- Set the table price and the room’s limit.
4–6 weeks out
- Open table bookings: one person, one email or phone number.
- Ask local businesses for raffle and auction prizes.
- Make the raffle tickets.
2 weeks out
- Chase table payments.
- Plan the run sheet: rounds, breaks for the raffle and games, supper.
- Line up a cashier, runners and markers.
On the night
- Door and card reader.
- Run the quiz; read out scores after each round.
- Sell raffle tickets between rounds and draw before the end.
- Count the money with two people.
After
- Thank the prize donors publicly.
- Send the results and the total to every team.
- Write down how many tables came, for next year.
Getting the word out
Even a well-run plan fails if nobody hears about it. There are two asks, and the first one goes out first.
- Ask for help
- Businesses to give raffle and auction prizes, and helpers for the door, running and marking.
- Ask people to buy
- Teams to book a table. Most tables come from one person rounding up their friends, so ask members to captain a table each.
- When to start
- Start about 6 weeks out with “Save the date: quiz night, tables of 8” and the price. Remind at 3 weeks and at 1 week, and close bookings a few days before.
Where to put it
- Email lists and group chatsYour members’ email list and the class, team or church group chats. Short, with one date or one link.
- School, club and church newslettersYour own newsletter is free and read by the families most likely to say yes. Check when it closes.
- Local Facebook pages and community groupsPost in your town’s community page and local groups (check their rules), and share from your group’s own page.
- Other groups sharing itAsk the school, kindy, church, sports club or marae down the road to share it in their newsletter or page. Offer to share theirs back.
Post photos of the prizes as they come in. It sells tables and thanks the donors at the same time.
The full guide to getting the word out: every channel from flyers to the evening news, with lead times and costs.
Taking the money
- Cash float
- About $100 for a small stall (bake sale, sausage sizzle, car wash): a $50 roll of $2 coins, two $25 rolls of $1 coins and a couple of $5 notes, if your prices are whole dollars. Add a $10 roll of 50c coins only if a price ends in 50c. It comes back at the end, so count it in and out with two people. A suggestion, not a rule.
Ways to pay that suit this
- Bank transfer and pay-by-bank QR codesPut the group’s account name and number on a sign with a reference to use. No card terminal needed, but slower at a busy table.
- Cash and a floatPlenty of people still pay cash at a stall. You need change from the first sale, and getting coins takes planning now that there are fewer bank branches.
- Borrow or hire an EFTPOS terminalA terminal can take EFTPOS cards as well as credit cards and phones (check which cards it’s set up for when you book). Borrow one, or hire one for the day; book about two weeks ahead.
Tables pay by bank transfer before the night, with the table name as the reference. On the night you only need a small float for raffle tickets and games, and a card option for the bar or supper if the venue doesn’t handle it.
The full guide to taking the money: floats, card readers and their fees, bank transfers, school systems and counting up.
What you’ll need
- Place
- NeededA hired venue
- Landowner’s permission
- Not needed
- Council permit
- Not needed
- Food rules
- CheckNo registration if you sell food to fundraise for a good cause up to 20 times a calendar year. It must still be safe and suitable, and your council may need a stall permit
- Alcohol
- CheckUse a licensed venue and confirm its licence covers your event. A club licence usually covers members and guests only
- Gambling rules
- NeededClass 2: prizes up to $5,000 and all tickets printed worth up to $25,000. Run by a club or society, with the money going to community or charitable purposes. Prizes at least 20% of ticket value; sold in person only, every ticket numbered (our rule: on paper). Prizes over $5,000 need a Class 3 licence
- Health and safety
- CheckA simple risk check and briefing
- Insurance
- CheckCheck your cover
At a licensed bar or club the venue's licence covers alcohol; your own bar in a school hall needs a special licence 20 working days ahead. A raffle on the night stays Class 2 up to $5,000 in prizes.
Make more from it
often $300-1,500 (estimate)
the crowd is already there with cash or cards out
Silent auction of donated items
often $1,000-5,000 at a 100-person event (estimate)
guests browse between courses or acts
Sell answers or mulligans per round
often $100-300 (estimate)
competitive tables pay to get ahead
Heads-or-tails game for a donated prize
often $100-300 (estimate)
a quick fun game between rounds; treat as a Class 1/2 game of chance
Stack it: on its own, about $3,000. With the 4 priced add-ons above, roughly
$7,300est.
What you can get donated
Raffle and auction prizes from local businesses, quizmaster time, supper.
Tips
- Most profit comes from the extras on the night, not the ticket.
- Teams of eight work best; bigger teams slow the quiz (Believe It or Not cheat sheet).
- Engraved trophy for winners and a booby prize for last.
Watch out for
- Too many rounds, so the auction runs late and bidders leave.
- No card payments on the night.
Quiz night: checklist
0 of 17 done
Before
On the day
After
At a licensed bar or club the venue's licence covers alcohol; your own bar in a school hall needs a special licence 20 working days ahead. A raffle on the night stays Class 2 up to $5,000 in prizes.
Also pairs with: Raffle, Heads-or-tails and other paid games between rounds, Best-dressed table
* General fundraising information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Money figures are examples and estimates, not promises. Check current official requirements before you commit. About this guide