Win an EV of your choice (or two!) up to $120K - with taxes paid! Enter Climate XChange's 10th annual EV raffle

[CXC_Raffle]

Our 10th Annual EV Raffle
We’re excited to announce that we just launched our 10th Annual EV Raffle! Each year for the last decade, we’ve raffled off an electric vehicle while raising funds for our work. To celebrate this exciting milestone, we decided to add a second raffle — so now there are two chances to win your dream EV!

Two Ticket Options, Five Chances to Win

• Luxury Raffle:The Grand Prize Winner for our luxury raffle can choose a fully-customized EV from any manufacturer, up to $120,000, with all taxes paid by us!
  • New this year - winner can choose TWO EVs adding up to $120K combined, taxes paid.
  • Plus we have cash prizes for 2nd ($12,500) and 3rd Place ($7,500), just in case you aren’t the lucky Grand Prize Winner.
  • Any tickets purchased before October 31 will also be entered into our bonus Early Bird Drawing for $10,000.
  • Tickets are $250 and 5,000 will be sold
• Mini Raffle (New this year):We know not everyone is interested in a top-of-the-line luxury electric vehicle, so we added a second, more affordable ticket option. The winner of this raffle can choose a fully-customized EV from any manufacturer, up to $45,000, with all taxes paid by us!
  • Tickets are $100 and 3,500 will be sold

Early Bird Drawing
Every ticket purchased in our Luxury Raffle by 11:59 PM on October 30th will be automatically entered into a second drawing for $10,000 on October 31st! All tickets will still be entered into our Luxury Drawing on December 12, 2025. If you’re planning to participate in our raffle, don’t miss out on this second chance to win!

Fair and Transparent Process
We work hard to ensure that our raffle is conducted fairly, which is why we hire independent auditors to oversee our drawing process. We also livestream the entire drawing, from loading tickets into the raffle drum and choosing our selection of Grand Prize, Second Prize, Third Prize, and Mini Prize winners, so you can feel comfortable with participating in our raffle. The drawing will be held on December 12, 2025.

BUY TICKETS​

Prizes Breakdown
Luxury Raffle

• Early Bird Prize*: $10,000
• Grand Prize: Design your own fully-customized EV from any manufacturer, up to $120,000. All taxes and fees paid by Climate XChange.
• 2nd Prize: $12,500
• 3rd Prize: $7,500

*Luxury Raffle tickets are eligible for Early Bird Prize if purchased by 11:59 PM on October 30, 2025.

Mini Raffle

• Mini Raffle Prize: Design your own fully-customized EV from any manufacturer, up to $45,000. All taxes and fees paid by Climate XChange.

BUY TICKETS​

Supporting Our Work
Climate XChange’s work harnesses the power of policymakers and advocates from across the country, facilitating cross-state collaboration while cultivating research, resources, and tools that drive policy decisions. Our mission is more critical now than ever, and this work would not be possible without your support. All of the proceeds from our 10th Annual EV Raffle help fund our mission, and we are grateful for your support.

Learn More About Our Raffle
Our goal is for you to feel as comfortable (and excited) as possible when you participate in our raffle. We invite you to learn more about the prize options, legal details, and our past raffles at CarbonRaffle.org.

​

Sponsored

 

[Okuma]

Wow, after all those tickets are sold, you make $1.3 million!

 

[CXC_Raffle]

Wow, after all those tickets are sold, you make $1.3 million!

That's why we call it a fundraiser. The intent is to raise funds for Climate XChange, a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan climate nonprofit with a mission to achieve a rapid and equitable transition towards a zero-emissions economy by advancing state climate policy. Note that the net $ raised might be $1M this year if we're very lucky. These funds support our offerings like the State Climate Policy Dashboard, a free resource available to anyone - check it out! It tracks over 60 climate policies in 7 policy areas across all 50 states, allows line-by-line comparisons of up to four states at once, highlights best in class policies, and links to the actual legislation. Also our free of charge State Climate Policy Network, 15,000+ state and municipal level climate officials, researchers, activists, legislators, professors, and others who receive regular newsletters and reports, webinars and legislative updates. Our small staff respond to member queries and help connect members in need with others who have relevant experience. We have found over the years that despite the fact that most climate action takes place at the state level, there is limited organized support for the players involved, and we try to address that gap.

Of course we pay up to $60K in taxes along with the $120K for the Luxury EV, $23K in taxes along with the $45K for the Mini EV, and $30K in Luxury cash prizes including the Early Bird prize of $10K, drawn on October 31 from all tickets sold through October 30. Then there are the 3% card payment fees and 5% MA raffle tax on all ticket sales. We have a large marketing budget for Google Ads, YouTube insertions, sponsored articles and vendor fees for forums like this one. We have expenses for web hosting, e-commerce and geofencing software, our Boston raffle permit, etc., plus part-time technology and graphics/design consultants who put together and maintain the website. Finally we pay attorney and auditor fees, to ensure we are doing everything above board. Several of our staff spend part of their paid time running the raffle, while as a board member I donate my time.

And we incur most of this cost no matter how many tickets we sell - the only exceptions are the variable expenses of card fees and raffle tax. Climate XChange is on the hook for the $180K grand prize as soon as we sell the first ticket! We aim to sell out but didn't quite manage it in the last two years, which is a huge risk. At least once a raffle I get an inquiry from someone interested in starting their own fundraising raffle, and I advise them to stock up on antacids and blood pressure medicine beforehand - it's not for the faint of heart.

FYI, Climate XChange is rated highly by two big nonprofit watchdogs, Guidestar/Candid and Charity Navigator, so you can be confident that even if you don't win, your money is going to a well-run organization. And the drawing is transparently live streamed with our auditors in the room checking everything, so you can be sure it is fairly run: tune in December 12 at 3pm Eastern - 2pm to watch us methodically load the ticket drum.

Thanks to those who have or will enter the raffle - we very much appreciate the support.

Peter Kirby
Board Member and Raffle Director
Climate XChange

 

[AnimalChin]

Uhh, this sounds an awful lot like an episode of American Greed. The FBI would say don't fall for this.

 

[CXC_Raffle]

Uhh, this sounds an awful lot like an episode of American Greed. The FBI would say don't fall for this.

I've never heard of the show, but what gives you that impression? We are an accredited nonprofit that received our IRS 501(c)(3) designation in 2015, we've been transparently running this EV raffle for ten years now, and our offerings like the State Climate Policy Dashboard have been linked to by major sites such as the State of Colorado, New York Times' Climate Forward newsletter and the EPA:


Our first 8 winners, all Teslas:


And here's a video of our last winner, who picked up his Rivian R1T Tri-Max pickup in March:

 

[RickMachE]

60% of expenses are salaries... https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/473976138

Charity Navigator returns nothing on your charity... Neither does Charity Watch.

 

[CXC_Raffle]

60% of expenses are salaries... https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/473976138

Charity Navigator returns nothing on your charity... Neither does Charity Watch.

It's funny, every year I get negative posts from skeptics, which I guess shouldn't be surprising as there is unfortunately lots of fraud and grift in the world. My responses, in reverse order:

1) I'm not familiar with Charity Watch. They only rate about 600 charities according to their FAQ (https://www.charitywatch.org/about-charitywatch/faq#charity_selection), and appear to focus on ones that do a lot of direct mail and telemarketing, which leads potential donors to ask Charity Watch about them. We are a small nonprofit with under ten employees, so are not likely to be on their radar.

2) I noticed Charity Navigator isn't returning our listing whether I search by EIN or name. I sent them a feedback form requesting them to check. But it seems to be a site problem. If I search for well-known charities like Habitat for Humanity, Salvation Army, World Food Kitchen, etc., they also return "No results found". Perhaps Charity Navigator's database is caught up in the AWS issues?

3) "60% of expenses are salaries..." Is that supposed to be a bad thing? We don't dole out grants or other funds, our program activity involves conducting research, tracking policies, publishing updates and webinars, providing advice to members, collaborating with other nonprofits, maintaining the State Climate Policy Dashboard, etc. - all things that our small staff of nine and an occasional intern handle. We pay very little rent, just have a small Wework office in Boston as most of our staff work virtually from their homes in different locations. Other expenses are tightly controlled as well. I served as Acting Executive Director for over a year in 2021-22, working more than half time, and didn't receive a salary or expenses. Nor do any board members, all of whom make and solicit significant donations each year. And we don't pay professional fund raisers. All of this is visible from the Propublica data.

Our IRS Form 990s (tax-exempt annual filings) are also listed on our website: https://climate-xchange.org/financials/, as is lots more information about Climate XChange, copies of our reports, webinar videos, etc.

Any other questions?

 

[CXC_Raffle]

This morning Charity Navigator's search is working again...



Edit: added links to Charity Navigator

 

[Audi_Guy]

I'm trying to understand this.. so you Buy a ticket (already weird since it's a payment) for the chance to win a custom car (the prize) with a minimum amount tickets needing to be sold? Something smells like a lottery....

 

[CXC_Raffle]

I'm trying to understand this.. so you Buy a ticket (already weird since it's a payment) for the chance to win a custom car (the prize) with a minimum amount tickets needing to be sold? Something smells like a lottery....

Lotteries are generally run by state entities. Participants can often choose their numbers. A lottery drawing may result in no winner and then a continuation of the lottery until a future drawing.

Raffles are run as fundraisers by nonprofits. They have set drawing dates, and a maximum number of tickets available, so the potential odds of winning a prize are known. Raffles always have a winner, because the winner is selected from the numbered tickets purchased.

So for our raffles, the odds of winning a $120K EV are at worst 1 in 5000, and the odds of winning a $45K EV are at worst 1 in 3500. If we sell fewer tickets, your odds are better.

 

[Schmedlack]

Simple..... If there were no car raffle would you donate money to Climate XChange? If you would, buy the tickets.

Raffles are a fun way to make a donation. I buy plenty of raffle tickets to support my local Volunteer Fire Company. If I ever win, I will decline the prize to further support their good work.

 

[RyZt]

Raffles are a fun way to make a donation. I buy plenty of raffle tickets to support my local Volunteer Fire Company. If I ever win, I will decline the prize to further support their good work.

Genuinely curious. If that’s the intention, why not donate (as opposed to raffles ticket)?

I just did a quick search. If I understand correctly, unlike donations, raffle ticket purchases are not tax deductible. In other words, assuming you have a fixed budget of pre-tax charitable giving, the charity would get more money if you did it through donation (as opposed to raffles ticket).

Not only that, it seems charities have to pay taxes (UBIT) on profits from raffles. The IRS rules on raffles seem to intentionally maximize pain. All in all, assuming 21% UBIT (and 20% raffles expense, so 80% profit), 37% marginal federal tax rate, 10% marginal state tax rate. If the charity would have received $1 through donation, it would only get 40 cents through raffles. (1 - 0.37 - 0.1) x (1 - (0.21 + 0.1) * 0.8)

 

[Schmedlack]

Genuinely curious. If that’s the intention, why not donate (as opposed to raffles ticket)?

I just did a quick search. If I understand correctly, unlike donations, raffle ticket purchases are not tax deductible. In other words, assuming you have a fixed budget of after-tax charitable giving, the charity would get more money if you did it through donation (as opposed to raffles ticket).

Not only that, it seems charities have to pay taxes (UBIT) on profits from raffles. The IRS rules on raffles seem to intentionally maximize pain.

Thank you for the new information. I didn't know that the charities have to pay taxes on raffle gains. I also contribute to the Fire Department directly and may now rebalance my giving. Also, we are a just "standard deduction" couple.

 

[CXC_Raffle]

Simple..... If there were no car raffle would you donate money to Climate XChange? If you would, buy the tickets.

Raffles are a fun way to make a donation. I buy plenty of raffle tickets to support my local Volunteer Fire Company. If I ever win, I will decline the prize to further support their good work.

This is the right answer. Buy a ticket to support the cause, and maybe you'll get lucky - the odds are much better than a lottery ticket after all. The cause is also important. As federal agencies are back-tracking or even blocking action on climate change, the role of the states is more critical than ever. And state employees and legislators get little support on climate. We help them understand what other states have done (successfully or unsuccessfully), and how to leverage that experience.

Many of our ticket buyers return annually, adding comments saying they appreciate our climate work - though they do also hope to win. I don't think many would decline the prize, but we have had a couple recent winners who just spec'ed the car they wanted, not one to max out to the prize limit. On our post-raffle feedback survey last year, some requested a way to win a simpler EV. Our response was twofold - the Mini Raffle with $45K EV prize, and giving the Luxury Raffle winner the option to choose two EVs adding to $120K rather than one high-end EV: his and hers, one for an adult child or relative, or keep one and sell or donate one.

And while we are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit eligible for tax-deductible donations, raffle ticket purchases are not tax-deductible, because there is the potential value of winning. But that makes no difference to what the charity receives - unless the charity has to pay a state sales tax on raffle ticket sales (we pay 5% in MA).

Thank you for the new information. I didn't know that the charities have to pay taxes on raffle gains. I also contribute to the Fire Department directly and may now rebalance my giving. Also, we are a just "standard deduction" couple.

But now that I'm on top of the soapbox, I would encourage every reader to donate to holiday toy drives. I have been told that there are hardly ever enough gift items for older boys. If in doubt, buy and donate a couple of footballs.

Charities do not have to pay taxes on fundraising raffle gains. If charities run commerical businesses including gaming that are unrelated to their mission, they pay taxes on those business earnings. E.g. if we ran a new raffle every month, and hired a company or a large staff just to run raffles, the IRS might consider it an unrelated gaming business and tax us on the earnings. However a single annual fundraiser run by a volunteer plus some communications staff time, promoting awareness of Climate XChange and its programs as well as EVs, and putting additional EVs on the road, is very much integrated with our mission of supporting the transition to a zero-emissions economy.

I am sure that your Volunteer Fire Department is not paying federal taxes on raffle gains, though depending on the state there could be a per-ticket sales tax. We pay MA state raffle taxes of 5% of ticket sales. Unlike most raffles, we also pay the federal and state prize taxes the winners would have to pay to receive the cars - because we want to see more EVs on the road. For the three cash prizes, including the $10K early bird drawing for Luxury EV raffle tickets purchased through 10/30, we withhold the taxes - 5% MA and 24% federal.

I'm also a fan of toy drives. The smartest I've seen was a local police department that parked a police SUV in front of the Target entrance during holiday shopping season, with an officer encouraging people to pick up an extra item or two to help fill the back of the cruiser. Last December my daughter and I got a couple soccer balls to put in the back.

 

[Schmedlack]

This is the right answer. Buy a ticket to support the cause, and maybe you'll get lucky - the odds are much better than a lottery ticket after all. The cause is also important. As federal agencies are back-tracking or even blocking action on climate change, the role of the states is more critical than ever. And state employees and legislators get little support on climate. We help them understand what other states have done (successfully or unsuccessfully), and how to leverage that experience.

Many of our ticket buyers return annually, adding comments saying they appreciate our climate work - though they do also hope to win. I don't think many would decline the prize, but we have had a couple recent winners who just spec'ed the car they wanted, not one to max out to the prize limit. On our post-raffle feedback survey last year, some requested a way to win a simpler EV. Our response was twofold - the Mini Raffle with $45K EV prize, and giving the Luxury Raffle winner the option to choose two EVs adding to $120K rather than one high-end EV: his and hers, one for an adult child or relative, or keep one and sell or donate one.

And while we are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit eligible for tax-deductible donations, raffle ticket purchases are not tax-deductible, because there is the potential value of winning. But that makes no difference to what the charity receives - unless the charity has to pay a state sales tax on raffle ticket sales (we pay 5% in MA).




Charities do not have to pay taxes on fundraising raffle gains. If charities run commerical businesses including gaming that are unrelated to their mission, they pay taxes on those business earnings. E.g. if we ran a new raffle every month, and hired a company or a large staff just to run raffles, the IRS might consider it an unrelated gaming business and tax us on the earnings. However a single annual fundraiser run by a volunteer plus some communications staff time, promoting awareness of Climate XChange and its programs as well as EVs, and putting additional EVs on the road, is very much integrated with our mission of supporting the transition to a zero-emissions economy.

I am sure that your Volunteer Fire Department is not paying federal taxes on raffle gains, though depending on the state there could be a per-ticket sales tax. We pay MA state raffle taxes of 5% of ticket sales. Unlike most raffles, we also pay the federal and state prize taxes the winners would have to pay to receive the cars - because we want to see more EVs on the road. For the three cash prizes, including the $10K early bird drawing for Luxury EV raffle tickets purchased through 10/30, we withhold the taxes - 5% MA and 24% federal.

I'm also a fan of toy drives. The smartest I've seen was a local police department that parked a police SUV in front of the Target entrance during holiday shopping season, with an officer encouraging people to pick up an extra item or two to help fill the back of the cruiser. Last December my daughter and I got a couple soccer balls to put in the back.

After I last posted my reply about charities and taxes, I realized that the Volunteer Fire Company has a staff of support volunteers who are not first responders. I believe that includes a CPA. So the knowledge is there.

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