Lucky draw prize ideas, and how to run the draw

A lucky draw is the one segment where every guest has a stake, so it can hold a room better than anything else on the programme, and it is the one most likely to run long. The prizes are the easy half. The harder half is where the draw sits, who calls it, and what happens when a name is read out and nobody stands.

For the whole evening around the draw, see how we run a company dinner and dance, or the longer guide to how the night itself runs.

Where the draw sits in the night

After dinner, after the awards, and straight before the dance floor opens. Awards have a timing problem of their own, set out in the piece on the company annual dinner. The top prizes come last, so guests have a reason to stay through the awards, and the final name read out is the cue for the music.

Not during service. A name called while plates are going down is a name much of the room did not hear. Give the gaps between courses to table games and performances instead.

Prize ideas by tier

Group prizes by the job each one does in the night, not by what it cost, with a clear step between tiers so the draw builds.

Twenty that work, five to a tier, in the order the draw calls them:

Table prizes

1. Dining vouchers for a restaurant group with outlets across the island, so nobody has to travel to use one.
2. Supermarket vouchers. Everyone shops, so nobody takes home a prize they cannot use.
3. Food delivery or ride credit, which lands in the winner's phone and leaves nothing to carry.
4. A power bank or a wireless charger, small enough for one hand and used every day.
5. A compact umbrella, which in this weather gets used within the week.

Middle prizes

6. A staycation for two at a hotel in town.
7. Dinner for two, as a voucher the winner books on a night that suits them.
8. Noise-cancelling earbuds.
9. A smartwatch or a fitness tracker.
10. A spa or massage voucher.

Top prizes

11. Return flights for two to a city in the region, on dates the winner picks.
12. The newest phone or tablet.
13. A laptop.
14. A large television.
15. A cordless vacuum or an air purifier, the thing people want and keep putting off buying.

Prizes money cannot buy

16. An extra day of annual leave.
17. The best parking space for a quarter.
18. Lunch with the leadership team.
19. Choosing the theme of next year's dinner.
20. A donation in the winner's name to a charity they pick.

Running the draw

The photograph at the top is from a seated dinner our team worked on: a table game between courses, two guests at a printed card with a marker, glasses still out, gold confetti on the cloth. Another frame from that evening shows a man in a sequinned jacket standing at a table beside its number stand, mic in hand, while a seated guest laughs into a second mic. Nobody in either picture is waiting on the stage. The draw can borrow that: the action comes to the table.

• Who draws. The emcee calls the table prizes, so they move quickly, and someone senior draws the top prizes. Table prizes go out to the tables; only the middle and top tiers walk to the front.
• Names on screen. Put each name up as it is called, so the winner sees it over a noisy table. Check pronunciation at rehearsal.
• The rule for an empty seat. Decide it before the night and say it aloud before the first name. Drawing only from guests who registered at the door avoids calling the names of people who never arrived. If a name has been called twice and nobody stands, draw again on the spot.

The draw is the only segment where every guest is waiting for their own name. Run it loosely and it is also the only one every guest notices.

Rules to settle before the night

Eligibility is a decision, not an assumption. Settle it in writing with whoever signs off the budget:

• Staff only, or plus-ones and contractors as well.
• Whether the committee, the people running the draw and senior leadership are in it. Leaving the first two out removes the one result nobody can explain.
• One prize per person, and what happens to a prize nobody claims.

Then write the draw into the run of show with one name against it: who holds the list and the prizes, and who decides if it is running over. It is a segment we plan in detail, for a dinner and dance and for gala dinners, because when nobody owns it, it takes the dance floor's time.

Common questions

When should the lucky draw happen at a company dinner?

After dinner and after the awards, straight before the dance floor opens. Keep it out of service, when a name called is a name much of the room did not hear. Call the table prizes first, then the middle tier, and hold the top prizes for last, so guests have a reason to stay through the awards and the final name read out is the cue for the music.

Should guests have to be present to win a lucky draw prize?

Usually yes, but decide the rule before the night and say it aloud before the first name is drawn. Drawing only from guests who registered at the door avoids calling the names of people who never arrived. If a name has been called twice and nobody stands, draw again on the spot rather than holding the prize for later.

What are good lucky draw prizes for a company dinner?

Choose them by tier. Table prizes are things anyone can use and carry home in one hand, such as dining or supermarket vouchers. Middle prizes are things people would not buy for themselves, such as a staycation for two or noise-cancelling earbuds. Top prizes are the one thing the room will still mention on Monday, such as return flights for two or the newest phone. Add one prize money cannot buy, such as an extra day of annual leave.