Another way, not mentioned so far, is to set the "setuid" bit on the executable file. This assumes the file is owned by root. Something like:

chmod u+s script.pl
[download]

As for any method giving ordinary users elevated privileges, there are security issues. You may need to check that Perl has been compiled with the "ENABLE_SUIDPERL" option. There may be other complications--but this is something else for you to consider.