raffle-winner-picker

SKILL.md

Raffle Winner Picker

This skill randomly selects winners from lists, spreadsheets, or Google Sheets for giveaways and contests.

When to Use This Skill

Running social media giveaways

Picking raffle winners at events

Randomly selecting participants for surveys or tests

Choosing winners from contest submissions

Fair distribution of limited spots or resources

Random team assignments

What This Skill Does

Random Selection: Uses cryptographically random selection

Multiple Sources: Works with CSV, Excel, Google Sheets, or plain lists

Multiple Winners: Can pick one or multiple winners

Duplicate Prevention: Ensures the same person can't win twice

Transparent Results: Shows the selection process clearly

Winner Details: Displays all relevant information about winners

How to Use

From Google Sheets

Pick a random row from this Google Sheet to select a winner 
for a giveaway: [Sheet URL]

From Local File

Pick 3 random winners from entries.csv

From List

Pick a random winner from this list:
- Alice (alice@email.com)
- Bob (bob@email.com)
- Carol (carol@email.com)
...

Multiple Winners

Pick 5 random winners from contest-entries.xlsx, 
make sure no duplicates

Example

User: "Pick a random row from this Google Sheet to select a winner for a giveaway."

Output:

Accessing Google Sheet...
Total entries found: 247

Randomly selecting winner...

🎉 WINNER SELECTED! 🎉

Row #142
Name: Sarah Johnson
Email: sarah.j@email.com
Entry Date: March 10, 2024
Comment: "Love your newsletter!"

Selection method: Cryptographically random
Timestamp: 2024-03-15 14:32:18 UTC

Would you like to:
- Pick another winner (excluding Sarah)?
- Export winner details?
- Pick runner-ups?

Inspired by: Lenny's use case - picking a Sora 2 giveaway winner from his subscriber Slack community

Features

Fair Selection

Uses secure random number generation

No bias or patterns

Transparent process

Repeatable with seed (for verification)

Exclusions

Pick a random winner excluding previous winners: 
Alice, Bob, Carol

Weighted Selection

Pick a winner with weighted probability based on 
the "entries" column (1 entry = 1 ticket)

Runner-ups

Pick 1 winner and 3 runner-ups from the list

Example Workflows

Social Media Giveaway

Export entries from Google Form to Sheets

"Pick a random winner from [Sheet URL]"

Verify winner details

Announce publicly with timestamp

Event Raffle

Create CSV of attendee names and emails

"Pick 10 random winners from attendees.csv"

Export winner list

Email winners directly

Team Assignment

Have list of participants

"Randomly split this list into 4 equal teams"

Review assignments

Share team rosters

Tips

Document the process: Save the timestamp and method

Public announcement: Share selection details for transparency

Check eligibility: Verify winner meets contest rules

Have backups: Pick runner-ups in case winner is ineligible

Export results: Save winner list for records

Privacy & Fairness

✓ Uses cryptographically secure randomness
✓ No manipulation possible
✓ Timestamp recorded for verification
✓ Can provide seed for third-party verification
✓ Respects data privacy

Common Use Cases

Newsletter subscriber giveaways

Product launch raffles

Conference ticket drawings

Beta tester selection

Focus group participant selection

Random prize distribution at events