'Giraffles' up and running

William Boyd, the creator of Giraffles.

By Shelley Smithssmith@salisburypost.comWhat if a local high school or nonprofit organization was selling raffle tickets as a fundraiser, and someone in a different state or even a different country wanted to purchase a ticket or two?

William Boyd of Salisbury has developed a Web site and computer program to allow just that.

Boyd's Web site, www.giraffles.com, was developed to help nonprofits raise funding and market their services online.

"We all know people who live somewhere else," Boyd said. "It's the same thing as printing off raffle tickets, however, digital tickets are instead purchased from the Internet."

The computer program, which Boyd wrote himself, allows the organization to create a free account. Once the organization decides what the prize for the raffle will be, how many tickets will be sold, and the price of each ticket, the organization can enter all the information into the Web site, including a photo of the prize. The computer does the rest.

The only cost to the organization is 35 cents per ticket sold for tickets that are $9.99 or less. For tickets costing more than $10 each, the fee for each ticket is 6 percent of the ticket price.

"Instead of the organization having to pay for the cost of the ticket printed off, the cost of the ticket is deducted," Boyd said.

The computer program keeps track of how many tickets are sold and who bought each ticket, and picks a winner at random. The program keeps data for each person who bought a ticket, and helps the organization keep track of who is buying.

"The (computer) program produces organized demographic information," Boyd said, which will be available for those nonprofit organizations that use Giraffles.

Each raffle has a 30-day deadline, and every time someone purchases a ticket, the computer immediately notifies the organization.

Boyd said his vision for Giraffles is to serve not only Salisbury and Rowan County nonprofits, but to also reach those nationwide.

"Even though Giraffles is in Salisbury, someone walking down the street in New York City can constantly check their mobile phones and enter raffles from any organization in the United States," Boyd said.

Boyd said just about any item can be "Giraffled," including motorcycles, cars, dinners or vacations. All transactions on the Giraffles Web site are made through PayPal. Winners will be notified via e-mail, and must in turn send an e-mail to Giraffles to confirm they have received their item.

Boyd also hopes to ultimately incorporate national brands and companies into the nonprofit raffles.

"Companies are always looking for a new place to advertise, and I would situate myself between the nonprofits and the businesses, facilitating those relationships," Boyd said.

Boyd is mainly and initially focusing on Salisbury and Rowan County, however, he hopes Giraffles could one day become, "the number one raffle site in the world," he said.

"The goal is to replace the traditional raffle tickets with online raffles," Boyd said, which is also a good way for nonprofits to cut down on the cost of printing tickets, and also helps out the environment.

Boyd, who was a computer programmer in New York City for years, moved back to Salisbury to start his own business.

"I was trying to find something unique in our market," Boyd said. "There are so many nonprofits, and I wanted to help them raise funds online."

Boyd is holding an informational training session Thursday, Jan. 14 from 10 a.m. until noon at the Rowan Public Library in Salisbury.

The training is open to anyone interested, and those attending will learn how to create new accounts, start a raffle, buy tickets and also see how advertising works on the site. He plans to hold additional informational sessions throughout the year.

Boyd is also attending a statewide nonprofit convention in Raleigh in the near future.

"Giraffles is the Internet raffle site dedicated to helping nonprofits raise funds with online raffles," Boyd said, "and I hope to do just that."

For more information, visit www.giraffles.com.