‘Tis the season for Christmas markets, Hogmanay parties, and pantos!
Seasonal gatherings provide an opportunity for charities to increase their profile and fundraise by organising lottery prize draws. This post will offer guidance and introduce the regulations charities must consider before selling tickets to the public at a lottery at an event or in a small society lottery.
This information is gathered from the Gambling Commission and OSCR.
Lotteries, Tombolas, and Raffles at Events
Lotteries at events are a classic form of charity fundraising. Examples of a lottery raffle at an event include:
- A local sports charity holds randomised prize draw at a community ceilidh.
- A community garden charitable group runs a tombola at the local Christmas market.
- A charity theatre group has a randomised prize draw at their panto performances.
Lottery raffles must be incidental to the main event you are organising—that is, they are not the main event itself. Physical tickets must be sold at the event only, not before or after.
Because tickets must be physical rather than digital, charities often use cloakroom tickets that each have unique numbers to distribute prizes.
Below are the regulations you must adhere to while organising a lottery raffle. It is also necessary to ensure your organisation is following any other local, venue-based, and/or health and safety guidelines as you proceed.
Tickets must be sold at the location of the main event, not before or after.
Tickets cannot be sold online or through social media.
You must provide a physical ticket, although there are no restrictions on what tickets can look like as long as you can clearly determine who is a winner.
You can offer discounts for multiple tickets (e.g., 50p for one ticket, £1 for three tickets).
Children are allowed to buy tickets.
You can use a maximum of £100 from the proceeds of the lottery raffle at an event to cover the cost of running the lottery (e.g., renting a booth at a fair).
You can use a maximum of £500 of the proceeds of a lottery raffle at an event to pay for prizes.
Prizes can be (and most often are) donated. There is no limit to the value of donated prizes.
Prizes cannot roll over from one lottery to another.
Small Society Lotteries
Small society lotteries are another form of charity fundraising. Examples include:
- A long-running charity sells advanced raffle tickets for their 50-year anniversary black-tie celebration dinner alongside tickets to the dinner itself.
- A community organisation uses social media to sell raffle tickets multiple days in advance of the prize draw.
One key feature of small society lotteries is that you can sell tickets online and before the day of the event or prize drawing. This type of lottery also enables organisations to give away larger-priced prizes. However, there are added costs and regulations associated with small society lotteries.
You must register a small society lottery with your Local Authority and pay the associated fee. You will also need to update the Local Authority with results of the drawing no longer than three months after it takes place.
In Perth and Kinross, you can register for a gambling license via Perth & Kinross Council.
Below you will find guidelines on ticket sales, including how much money you can raise.
You can only sell to individuals ages 16+.
You can sell tickets face-to-face, door-to-door, via phone, or online. However, you cannot sell tickets on the street or in shopping malls.
Unlike lottery raffles at an event, you cannot offer discounts for multiple tickets.
You cannot sell more than £20,000 of tickets in a single lottery, or £250,000 in any one year.
All tickets must be paid for prior to entry in the drawing.
In Perth and Kinross, the registration fee is £40 for a new license and £20 for an annual renewal.
At least 20% of lottery proceeds must go towards the cause you have advertised, but up to 80% can be used to offset expenses of running the lottery, including purchasing prizes.
Prizes can be purchased or donated. No single prize, even donated prizes, may be worth more than £25,000.
Prizes can roll over from one lottery to another, provided they do not exceed this price limit.
Ticket Requirements for Small Society Lotteries
Every ticket must include the following information:
- Name of your society
- Per OSCR, you should also include your charity number and your company number if applicable
- Name and address of the lottery organiser
- Price of ticket, which must be the same for all tickets
- Date of lottery draw (alternatively, information about when and how to find this date)
Hopefully this brief introduction to two types of lottery fundraising provides your charity with ideas and guidance about raising money this holiday season.
There are more types of lotteries you can organise; find details about them and the associated regulations from the Gambling Commission.