Sales limits for society lotteries are depriving small local charities on millions of pounds in potential funding, according to a new report from nfp Synergy. It suggests that current rules on lottery sales mean that only three in ten applications made to People’s Postcode Lottery trusts by small charities obtain funding.
The total annual value of applications being made to the trusts has grown from £5.9 million in 2012 to £58.3 million in 2017, but over the last two years the three trusts that award grants of up to £20,000 to small charities have rejected 3,740 applications, worth a total of £45 million.
“We are increasingly aware that more and more applications for local grant funding are having to be turned down,” said People’s Postcode Lottery managing director Clara Govier in the report. “Not because the applications are not good enough, but because the Postcode Trusts which allocate the funding are prevented from raising more money.”
Gambling legislation currently restricts society lotteries to no more than £4 million of sales per draw and £10 million per year. People’s Postcode Lottery is asking the government to increase legal limits for charity lottery sales from £10 million to £100 million. A consultation by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport examining whether or not to make this change ended in September 2018. A decision is expected later this year.
