Backpack Blast Raffle Management System
Overview
Designed and built a custom raffle management system for Houston Food Bank's annual Backpack Blast clay shooting tournament, solving the operational challenge of processing raffle entries from two disconnected sources—pre-event GiveSmart sales and on-site registration—while preventing duplicate entries and generating tickets automatically.
The Problem
The Backpack Blast tournament relies on raffle ticket sales to support its $540K fundraising goal for the Backpack Buddy Program. Previously, staff had to manually reconcile GiveSmart CSV exports with handwritten on-site entries—a process prone to errors, duplicates, and time delays that slowed down event operations and donor check-in.
The Solution
Built a dual-source raffle platform that automatically ingests GiveSmart batch exports, assigns unique sequential ticket numbers, and validates against duplicates in real-time. On-site staff use a streamlined web interface to enter walk-up purchases, with the system instantly generating numbered raffle tickets and donor acknowledgments.
System Capabilities
Batch Import processes GiveSmart CSV exports with intelligent numbering (1-500K range). Real-Time Entry provides web-based form for on-site ticket sales with instant validation. Duplicate Prevention automates checking against both batch and live entries. Auto-Generation creates numbered raffle tickets with sponsor recognition in Google Slides. High-Volume Performance validated at 501 entries processed in under 90 seconds.
Impact
Eliminated manual reconciliation, prevented duplicate ticket assignments, and accelerated check-in operations—allowing staff to focus on donor experience rather than data management.
Integration
GiveSmart API, Google Drive, Google Slides, JotForm, Zapier