The Association of Charity Lotteries in Europe (ACLEU) has commissioned a report from Regulus Partners which gauged the impact that charity lotteries have on state lotteries, and whether the two impact each other by reducing results and profits.

Report Takes a Look at Charity and State Lotteries

The report, called “Charity Lotteries and the European lottery market: impact assessment,” took a deep dive into the lottery statistics across numerous markets in Europe and established that charity lotteries do not detract from the operational performance of state lotteries, nor do they contribute to fewer people participating in state-owned lotteries in the first place.

“It is clear from our research that charity lotteries help grow the overall revenue of lottery-based charity fundraising,” Regulus Partners Paul Leyland noted. The research focused on 12 state lottery monopolies in Europe, assessing the draw-based and instant ticket sales of each one.

The lotteries that the report examined included the UK, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Germany in terms of state monopolies, and Ireland, Norway, and Spain where there were limited or special charity lotteries. The third group was the lottery markets that had no nationwide charity lotteries, such as France, Italy, Finland, Denmark, and Portugal.

Regulus further looked at how those lotteries co-existed with material charity lotteries and compared jurisdictions where the charity lottery sector was limited or didn’t exist at all. Regulus determined that there is “no material causal link” between the two types of lotteries.

Private and State Lotteries Should See the Value of Charity Counterparts

Better still, the charity sector helps boost exposure for state lotteries exposure for lottery products controlled by the state, which results in more good cause contributions and boosts overall revenue growth. The findings of the report were hailed by ACLEU president Eva Struving:

We are happy to see this new research report confirms our longstanding and firm belief that charity lotteries are complementary to state lotteries and do not pose a threat to their income.

ACLEU president Eva Struving

Struving said she was confident that these findings will serve as a powerful argument in front of policymakers and governments that charities have a profound and favorable impact on the traditional lottery sector and should not be treated with mistrust. Rather, they should be embraced because of how they impact the lottery sector.

Struving urged the report to also be used by lottery operators in the retail sector and throw bridges between the two to further help expand the sector, including the charity sector which can translate into better overall results across the board.