Joe Saxton
Joe Saxton of nfpSynergy says its poll shows the public believes caps are unnecessary and unfair
Most people oppose laws and regulations that prevent charity lotteries from raising as much money as the National Lottery, according to the consultancy nfpSynergy.
A survey published by the organisation today says that 61 per cent of 1,000 respondents think it is wrong to have laws that restrict how much charity lotteries can raise. Twelve per cent say it is right.
Society lotteries are currently forbidden from offering a prize pot of more than £400,000 per lottery or from running any game with a turnover of more than £4m. This is to stop them from competing with the National Lottery, which was established as a monopoly in the 1990s.
Sixty-eight per cent oppose caps on the number of tickets each lottery can sell and 57 per cent say charity-run lotteries should be able to compete with the National Lottery and the Health Lottery, which is organised into 51 regional society lotteries.
Joe Saxton, co-founder of nfpSynergy and the leader of a coalition of charity and lottery company representatives that is lobbying for lottery reform, said: "The government and the Gambling Commission should relax some of the rules around charity lotteries, which the public clearly say are unnecessary, even unfair. Charities themselves know these rules make lotteries more difficult to run and less able to raise money."
Saxton said the existing regulations were holding back charity fundraising "in the face of both the economic downturn and the duopoly of the National Lottery and the Health Lottery".
NfpSynergy carried out an online poll of 1,000 people in March and April this year.
