Read this case study blog to discover how, by teaming up with the external lottery managers at Woods Valldata, Independent Age launched a brand-new weekly lottery programme that took fundraising for their cause to new heights!
It’s no secret that lottery plays a powerful role in charity fundraising.
In fact, weekly lottery has seen a huge rise in popularity over the last few years, with more and more charities jumping on the bandwagon to make the most of the amazing fundraising benefits that a lottery can bring!
… and one such charity was Independent Age.
Introducing Independent Age
Independent Age (IA) is a charity that provides free information and advice for older people and their families on care, support, money, benefits, health, mobility, friendship and loneliness.
In 2015, IA launched an ambitious five-year strategy to expand these services, as well as their campaigns and public engagement activities to boost the positive impact they had older people missing out on vital support. Since then, they have helped over one million elderly people across the country!
However, with ambitions to push their success even further, they realised that it was essential recruit new supporters – and that new fundraising activities were the ideal solution.
Following thorough research and careful consideration, IA concluded that face-to-face, digital and lottery programmes were the way forward for supporting their charity’s cause.
The next step for the charity was then to find recommended and experienced external lottery managers who could support them with setting up and running a lottery campaign – and this was when they found Woods Valldata!
“We chose Woods Valldata for their industry knowledge and experience. They are considered to be the leaders in the field. We felt like we were in safe hands, and that was really reassuring.”
– Sally Sheehy, Head of Individual Giving and Legacies, Independent Age
So... how did we go about setting up and running IA’s successful weekly lottery campaign?
1. Running an initial consultation
Here at Woods Valldata, we know that every charity is different, and that there’s no such thing as “one size fits all” when it comes to setting up and running a charity lottery.
The first step in our process was therefore to sit down with the fundraising team at IA to assess their requirements, and gain a complete understanding of what they were hoping to achieve.
In summary, they were looking for:
- a lottery unique to them – i.e., no pooling with other charities
- An external lottery manager with a strong support structure, where guidance, advice and “hand-holding” could be provided
- a suitable product to help their small charity get off the ground
- a complete end-to-end service all under one roof with one point of contact
- a supplier who could provide insurance for top-prize pay-outs in order to reduce expenditure
- an attractive price-point
- a channel/product which connected well to their new face-to-face recruitment drive
- Gambling Commission certifications and best code of security practices to be in place
… and we were delighted to confirm that Woods Valldata ticked all the boxes!
2. Selecting the perfect lottery package
From the in-depth consultation we had, Woods Valldata determined that, as a charity wishing to test the concept of a lottery for their brand, the best lottery package and approach for IA would be our Aspire Lottery.
In short, the Aspire Lottery:
- is owned by the charity, but managed by Woods Valldata
- engages new supporter segments with customisable sign-up pages
- includes a charity-designed prize fund with a £20,000 top prize
- is attractive, quick to roll out, and provides results in just weeks
We also provided a comprehensive support package to IA with a low-risk prize structure, which gave them the protection and confidence they needed to branch out into this new world of gaming.
3. Setting up and launching the lottery
From point of concept to the draw date, we were able to get IA's lottery up and running within just six months – smoothly, and utterly pain-free!
“The Weekly Lottery implementation was project managed by one of Woods Valldata’s experienced Business Analysts who ensured that key milestones were met, especially during the on-boarding process and the first draw date, both of which ran very smoothly and were pain-free – we even had a winner of £1,000!
“Launching the weekly lottery was a complex project and a labour of love for the team at Independent Age. The Aspire Lottery product allowed us to minimise the risk in investment often associated with launching a stand-alone lottery, so we were able to plan our acquisition spend across the year.”
- Sally Sheehy, Head of Individual Giving and Legacies, Independent Age
And what was the outcome?
We’re thrilled to report that IA’s “Friday Flutter” weekly lottery truly exceeded expectations!
With the help of face-to-face and digital recruitment campaigns, IA were able to engage and recruit enough new players to meet the minimum requirement to qualify for the draw.
In fact, in just six months, they recruited 2,500 new supporters and generated an income value of over £56,000, with an average gift of £6.47 and an average annual player value of £69.00!
“Overall, we’ve seen great success with the ‘Friday Flutter,’ and Woods Valldata were an extended part of our team prior to and after the launch.”
- Sally Sheehy, Head of Individual Giving and Legacies, Independent Age
But the story doesn’t end there...
We’re proud to say that, following the success of their weekly lottery, Woods Valldata are still the external lottery managers for IA to this day.
“ongoing support is provided by the Account Management Team who provide assistance with Gambling Commission advice, campaign support, recommendations, benchmarking and fulfilment activity.
“This is a long-term investment, however, if we carry on achieving the recent results – we will be on target to hit our ROI within two years.
“We will continue to invest in our lottery, and we are confident we can grow our base by around 50% through this product during this two-year timeframe.
“I would definitely recommend using Woods Valldata’s services, especially if you are considering doing a lottery.”
- Sally Sheehy, Head of Individual Giving and Legacies, Independent Age
Looking to get similar results for your charity with a weekly lottery?
As stated by Sally at Independent Age, our team at Woods Valldata have extensive knowledge and experience in prize-led fundraising, and we’d absolutely love to partner with your charity and support your cause with a successful weekly lottery
Simply arrange your free consultation with us today and we’ll get the ball rolling...
