Charity Lottery Gains Support: A Letter to DCMS Secretary

The government has decided to re-valuate the limits on charity lottery fundraising.

A group of 103 charity leaders from various non-profit organizations have successfully persuaded the UK government to review its stance on the annual cap they have on charity lottery fundraising. The leaders, including those from well-known organizations like the British Red Cross and WWF, together believe that the £50 million or $60.4 million cap limit is too restrictive and constitutes excessive bureaucracy.

In an open letter addressed to the company’s secretary, Michelle Donelan, they insist that the charity lottery they are fundraising is the only one with an annual cap in gambling; and that lifting the limit would not cost the Treasury or taxpayers but would be a huge gain for charities and struggling communities in need of support.

The letter likewise pointed out that the cap has limited the ability of charity lotteries to make the most impact, despite raising £2.7 billion or $3.3 billion in the last decade. Concerns are being raised over the impact this has on the National Lottery and have been cited as a reason for delaying reforms. However, evidence is currently determining otherwise. The minister for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Paul Scully, has agreed to meet with charity lottery operations to discuss changes to the cap.

The charity leaders argued in their letter that extensive examination by those governing the DCMS, and the DCMS Select Committee of Parliament have consistently shown that charity lotteries do not compete with the National Lottery, but rather are its core achievement in terms of fundraising. They cited Gambling Commission statistics in support of their claim and called for the removal of the annual cap.

Right now, the annual sales restriction they have that was put on donation lotteries, is a bill that was introduced in July 2020. This was set due to new legislation being put on at the time that also increased the cap from £10 million or almost $11 million, along with these increases in the sales per draw maximum and the limits on the draw prize restraint. A year after these changes, the DCMS organized an inquiry and found that the rise in limits had the wished-for reaction, enabling community lotteries to expand and contribute more, giving back to good causes without affecting the special status of the National Lottery.

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