How to pick a random winner fairly (raffles, giveaways and standups)

Picking a random winner sounds trivial. Then you're standing in front of forty colleagues with a bucket of paper slips, someone jokes that the draw is fixed, and suddenly it matters a lot that it isn't.

Whether it's a raffle at the summer party, a giveaway on social media or just deciding who speaks first at standup, the same few things make a draw fair. And fair is mostly about two things: a random method, and doing it in a way everyone can see.

Get the rules straight before you draw

Most arguments about draws aren't about the randomness at all. They're about the rules, which nobody wrote down. Decide these first and say them out loud:

• Who is in the draw? Everyone in the team, only people at the party, only people who bought a ticket?
• How many entries does each person get? One each, or one per ticket?
• How many winners, and can someone win twice?
• What if the winner isn't there? Redraw, or hold the prize for them?

Then check the list. Every person once (unless the rules say otherwise), nobody missing, and no two entries with the same name. If you have two Annas, write "Anna B." and "Anna K.". Duplicate names cause more confusion at draws than anything else.

Five ways to pick a random name

1. Names in a hat

The classic, and still a good one. Use identical slips of paper, fold them the same way, mix them properly, and have someone draw without looking. Better still, let someone who isn't in the draw do the picking.

Good for: small groups in the same room. Weak spot: remote people have to take your word for it.

2. Numbered tickets and dice

Give everyone a number and roll dice (or use a number generator) to pick one. If the dice can produce numbers that don't belong to anyone, just roll again.

Good for: raffles with physical tickets. Weak spot: gets clumsy with large numbers.

3. A spreadsheet

Put the names in column A. In column B, type =RAND() next to each name, then sort the whole sheet by column B. The name at the top is the winner, and the next names are the runners-up if you need several.

One gotcha: RAND() recalculates every time the sheet changes, so the order will shuffle again. Take a screenshot, or copy and paste the results as values, as soon as you've sorted.

Good for: large lists and online giveaways. Weak spot: it's invisible. People just see a name appear.

4. An online list randomiser

Sites like random.org let you paste a list and shuffle it. They're quick and use proper randomness, and you can share your screen while you do it.

Good for: online giveaways where you want to show your working. Weak spot: about as exciting as watching a spreadsheet.

5. A live physics race

Put everyone on screen as a marble, a runner or a token, start the race and let physics decide. Nobody can influence the result, everyone can watch it happen, and it's far more fun than reading a name off a slip of paper.

Good for: office parties, all-hands, standups, and anything where the draw itself should be part of the entertainment.

Make it visible

Whatever method you use, a draw people can see is a draw people trust:

• Do it live, in the room or on a shared screen, not before the meeting.
• Let someone else press the button or pull the slip, ideally someone who isn't in the draw.
• Write down the result and announce it straight away.
• For public giveaways, check the rules where you are and on the platform you're using. Many have specific requirements for prize draws.

Turning the draw into a show

That last method is why we built Tombola. The host adds the team, with photos if you like (backgrounds are removed automatically), and picks a game for the big screen:

• Marble Race: everyone is a marble racing down a winding track, and the lead changes constantly.
• Pachinko: tokens bounce down through pegs into buckets with different point values. The point values are shuffled for every game, and if two people land in the same bucket, a coin toss decides.
• Sumo Ring: fighters shove each other around the ring until one is left.
• Skyfall: runners dodge falling spiked balls until there's one survivor.
• Vertical Race and Pong: a drop through an obstacle course, and a ball-against-paddles elimination.

Nobody controls the outcome. The physics decides, live, so the draw is fair and everyone can watch it play out. Every winner is saved in a Hall of Fame, so you can always look back at who won what.

Tombola also has three live quizzes for when you'd rather the winner earned it: Guesstimator, Grocery Battle and Price is Right. Players answer on their phones, joining with a link or QR code and no account. The host pays for a subscription after a 7-day free trial.

Next time someone jokes that the draw is fixed, you can point at the screen.