It's fair to say that lottery deregulation for charities has been an issue for decades. Lotteries have been a staple part of the fundraising scene for years, but they are restricted by legislation and regulation from reaching their full potential.

Charities have taken some of the most effective fundraising mechanisms such as direct debits, direct mail and door-to-door recruitment and blended them with lotteries to create new income streams. While other techniques have waxed and waned, lotteries have carried on bringing in the money.

This is the first in a series of guides from CharityComms, the sector communciations body. It was written by our Driver of Ideas, Joe Saxton, as part of his role as Chair of CharityComms. Portraying beneficiaries was picked as the first topic because it’s an area that creates plenty of problems without there being sufficient guidance on how to tackle them. 

The much anticipated Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee report on the Gambling Act 2005 came off the press recently to a decidedly mixed reaction. Much of furore centres on the original Act restricting society lotteries to a maximum £400,000 per pot and £4,000,000 turnover per lottery per year. The main reason for these limits is to give protection to the National Lottery. The report recommends possibly increasing or even removing these limits, but with a fairly significant caveat.