Yes, yes - I agree raffles are traditional @ FCs. And as long as they are done with homour, good taste, and not PUSHING can be a fun part of the evening. At Shammick Acoustic we usually have 3 prizes: A bottle of wine, a choice of CD from BB & my touring CD shop, and ONE free entry for the next guest night (Open Nights are free entry anyway). We have recently decided NOT to include a guest's CD in the raffle as analysis shows it lowers the number he/she/they/it actually sell in the course of the evening (everybody waits to see if they've won it - and then can't be bothered to hang around at the end if they haven't!- so they buy in the interval instead).
TomB