QR codes for raffles, giveaways and classrooms

The short version

• Make the entry form first, then put its address in a QR code.
• Use a dynamic code if the form or page might change after you print.
• Print the code at least 2 cm wide and scan a proof with two phones.

Raffle and giveaway entries from a poster

Make the entry form first, for example in Google Forms or Microsoft Forms, and ask only for what you need to contact the winner. Copy the form's address, paste it into the QR code generator and print the code on the poster with one line saying what happens: "Scan to enter the draw. Entries close Friday at 5 pm."

Use a dynamic QR code if the form might change. If you rebuild the form or move the entry list, you change where the code points and the posters already on the wall keep working. A free account includes 10 editable codes, each with a scan count, so you can see whether the poster in the hallway brings more entries than the one at reception.

QR codes on raffle tickets

One code on every ticket can open the prize list, the time of the draw and the page where the results will appear. Print it on the stub people keep, not the half you collect. The same code works on every ticket, so you make it once. Keep the ticket number printed in plain text next to it: the code tells people where to look, and the number is how they prove they won.

Drawing the winner

Export the entries from your form as a list of names or ticket numbers. A draw held in front of everyone, on a projector or a live stream, is easier to trust than one done alone. You can run a fair, checkable draw on Spin the Wheel HQ, a free wheel that can lock the draw before you spin so entrants can verify the result afterwards. (Spin the Wheel HQ is made by the same team as QR Lasts.) Check the rules for prize draws where you and your entrants live before you start.

A QR code at the classroom door

Put one code by the door and point it at a page you update every day: the day's worksheet, a quiz, a reading or the exit ticket. Students scan on the way in and start straight away. With a dynamic code you change the destination each morning from your account, and the code on the door never needs reprinting.

More ideas for the classroom:

• A code at each station of a carousel activity, opening that station's task.
• A scavenger hunt with codes hidden around the school.
• A code on the homework sheet that opens a short video explaining the task.

If the content never changes, such as a fixed link or a short piece of text, a static QR code needs no account and works forever. Do not ask students for personal details on a form that anyone who scans the code can open.

Before you print

Print the code at least 2 cm wide, and larger on posters read from across a room: about 1 cm of code for every 10 cm of scanning distance. Keep it dark on a light background with a clear margin, away from folds and the glare of glossy lamination. Scan a printed proof with two different phones. Every code made on QR Lasts keeps working whether or not you ever pay, so a code printed for this year's raffle still works next year. The details are in our no-expiry pledge.