What geRaff collects, and what a host can see
Every raffle collects names. Some collect an email. Here is exactly what a host can see, when they can see it, and when it is deleted.
Most giveaway tools are vague about this. Here it is plainly.
You choose what a raffle collects
Name only. First and last name, and nothing else. Right for a break room, a team meeting, or anywhere the people entering are already standing in front of you.
Name and email. Adds an email address, for an event or a booth where you will need to reach the winner later. Entrants can also choose how their name appears on the screen, so a room with three people called Mike S. does not have to guess which one won.
That is the whole choice, made when you create the raffle.
Entering is free, always
Nobody who enters a geRaff raffle pays anything, at any point, for any reason. That is enforced in the database and in the API, not promised in a footer. It is also the reason a geRaff raffle is a giveaway rather than something that needs a filing in several states.
What a host sees, and when
Names arrive straight away. You watch entries come in, and you can add or remove someone by hand.
Email addresses work differently. Three things all have to be true before a host sees one:
- The raffle collects an email at all. A name-only raffle has nothing to show.
- The raffle has actually been drawn.
- The host is on a paid plan or an event pass.
A host on a free account sees names, and only names, before the draw and after it.
Winners are the part that always works, on every plan. You get what you need to reach the person who won, because a winner you cannot contact is not a prize.
Once that gate opens, you can export your entrants as a CSV from your host panel. The export shows exactly what the page shows. There is no fuller version waiting behind a download button.
When it gets deleted
Entrant email addresses are deleted ninety days after the raffle ends. That means ninety days after the draw, or for a raffle that is never drawn, ninety days after its deadline.
The entry itself stays, without the address, so a past result can still be checked by anyone who wants to check it. That is the trade: the record survives, the personal detail does not.
The rest
A raffle also carries a few technical details used to catch bots. No host ever sees those. The full account of what is stored and why is in the privacy policy, and it is written to be read.
If something here is not clear enough, that is worth telling us about. A giveaway that people do not trust is not worth running.