About The Hat Draw
A small, free, independent tool for the moment someone says, “Okay, who won?”
The Hat Draw is a free random name picker for raffles, door prizes, classrooms, team picks and family games. Paste a list, choose how many winners you need, and draw, with the result big enough to show on a projector. It is built and maintained by Damion, an independent developer in Indiana, as a small side project. There is no company, no sales team and no account to sign up for.
Why it exists
Volunteers end up running a lot of drawings: the PTA family night, the church chili supper, the office holiday party, the classroom reading challenge. Paper slips in a hat still work, but they are awkward with a typed sign-up list, and many online pickers are cluttered, upload your list, or are hard to read from the back of the room. The Hat Draw tries to do one job well: a fair pick, done in the browser, that looks good on a big screen.
What we care about
- Fairness you can explain. The draw uses the browser’s cryptographic random source and a Fisher–Yates shuffle. The details are on How it works.
- Privacy by default. Entry lists are not uploaded. Share links carry only the title and winners. See the privacy policy.
- Useful help. The guides cover running a raffle, fair drawing methods, legal basics, office drawings and record keeping.
How the site is funded
The tool is free. You can leave an optional tip on Ko-fi at ko-fi.com/dmloew (“Tip the hat”). The site may also show Google AdSense ads on the home page and content pages; ads never decide who wins and never see your list of names.
Not a gambling site
The Hat Draw only picks names from a list you provide. It does not sell chances, hold money or pay out prizes. If you are running a paid raffle, the rules where you live apply; start with our raffle legal basics guide.
Contact
Feedback, bug reports and suggestions for new guides are welcome by email at damion-2156 (at) agentmail (dot) to.
Last updated 10 October 2026.