Recently there has been some confusion over what defines a membership draw (membership lottery/membership raffle).  Clubs New Zealand has been in contact with the National Manager Operational Policy - Gambling Compliance Group from the DIA to seek clarification, this is how she responded;

"The deifination of a membership lottery has not changed

A Membership Lottery (or draw or raffle) can only be operated under the rules set out in the Lottery Game Rules. Those rules say that a membership lottery may only be played at the class 2 level. This means that prizes cannot exceed $5,000 as set for class 2 gambling. Only the current financial members may participate.

The subscriptions are used for providing services to the members. This is the authorised purposes of the lottery. Prizes should be commensurate with the size of the subscriptions.  The consideration for a membership lottery is the annual membership subscription paid by members. This is indirect consideration but it is caught by the definition of "gambling" in paragraph (a) of section 4 of the Gambling Act.

If the membership lottery was not funded out of subscriptions there would be no way of funding the prizes. A membership lottery is confined to current members and must be linked to the subscriptions paid by the members."

For more information visit the ClubsNZ resource room where you will find a  Membership Draws Information Sheet (63.55 kB) and a  Membership Draws Calculations Tool (27 kB)