Every year, the government reviews the number of society lotteries allowed to raise and their jackpot sizes. This is excellent for good causes and will make a massive difference in how much money charities receive. However, it won’t be so good for smaller local charities reliant on ticket sales.

The reason is that these smaller charities typically rely on small jackpots and plentiful draws to attract players. Any new regulations will mean they have to compete with more prominent lottery providers that can offer bigger prizes, which will likely make them less attractive to players.

 A little bit of history of society lotteries

Since the 15th century, local communities and charities have consistently used the lottery to raise funds for good causes. Towns would hold lotteries to build and improve fortifications and help the poor. Fun fact, even the Great Wall Of China was funded by a lottery!

They did this by selling tickets to residents of that town or city. The tickets would then enter a drawing with prizes selected at random. This was an excellent opportunity for people who lived in towns with limited resources (i.e., no money) because they could now help their community by buying tickets and entering drawings for prizes. This practice continued until 1723 when lotteries were illegal in England.

Fast forward over 200 years later, and here we are today with online lotteries…

Jackpot arms race vs society lotteries

A new proposed reform would undoubtedly be an excellent advantage for the more prominent charities operating society lotteries like Oxfam.

They will be able to increase the jackpot size and, therefore, the amount they can raise in funds, which is good! Yet, simultaneously, a gulf is forming between small charities and lotteries, a match that should always be present.

Charities like Oxfam have the resources to create their own society lottery, which is not a small ask. In fact, it is time-consuming, but they are large enough as a charity to create its own source of fundraising through society lotteries.

The New Reform

A new proposed reform would undoubtedly be an excellent advantage for the more prominent charities operating society lotteries like Oxfam. They will be able to increase the jackpot size and, therefore, the amount they can raise in funds, which is good! Yet, simultaneously, a gulf is forming between small charities and lotteries, a match that should always be present.

Charities like Oxfam have the resources to create their own society lottery, which is not a small ask. In fact, it is time-consuming, but they are large enough as a charity to create its own source of fundraising through society lotteries.

How can we help society lotteries?

Smaller charities do not have this luxury, and the same tool that was supposed to be helping them is now moving further away than ever.

Lotto Social wants to bring charity back to its roots and help local charities have a piece of the tool that was originally for them.

Introducing Lotto Social Hope, a place where you can get lottery lines and, at the same time, help small local causes. The lottery is synonymous with charity. To build on this further, we are enabling people to give to charities close to their hearts, not just the National Lottery charities.

By partnering with Lotto Social Hope, charities benefit from using the nation’s favourite lotteries, such as the Lotto & EuroMillions, without competing with the National Lottery itself. From this, smaller charities can start to use the lottery to create a regular source of income which can be vital when planning and budgeting.

FBB & Lotto Social Hope

Lotto Social Hope has partnered with FBB to help them to build a new transformation space where young people can go to improve a wide range of skills. They work at schools and use football as a tool for youth engagement to tackle the root causes of low educational attainment, poor school attendance and challenging behaviour.

FBB take a young person’s passion for football and deliver weekly sessions to develop core skills and abilities, provide self-esteem, direction, and a sense of belonging, and ultimately positively transform their lives to enable them to become leaders in their community.

They have created a football-themed curriculum that promotes creativity and the development of literacy skills alongside media training, fundraising and events planning to supplement traditional school learning. It is helping to shape the future of the next generation.

You can get lottery lines and support FBB now by following the link below. With Hope, anything is possible.

Get lines & Donate>