Excerpt from the December 2015/January 2016 Fundraising & Philanthropy Magazine
RAFFLES/LOTTERIES
Steven Banks
Managing Director
Aspire Non Profit Consulting
How has the area of raffle/lottery fundraising performed over the last 12-18 months?
Prize-led fundraising has continued to be a resilient avenue of unfettered funds, with some programs achieving 10%-30% increases in active data. Programs that adequately cover fixed costs, including prizes, are able to regulate the level of investment in reactivating and acquiring supporters. We find that programs can then be fine-tuned for either growth or maintenance.
Typically the larger Art Unions in Australia are optimising their long-term returns by systematically investing in acquisition and importantly converting their irregular supporters to monthly contributors.
Programs that traditionally rely on one sales channel, e.g. telemarketing or mail, are finding the market tougher, especially with the tactic of asking supporters to on-sell books of tickets.
Premium lotteries ($100 ticket – multiple major prizes) have continued their foothold in the southern and western states. These media-driven programs are expanding the range of games on offer and evolving into large database-marketing lotteries.
In summary, larger multi-channel programs appear to be growing whilst a number of smaller to mid-size programs are reviewing their game and marketing strategies.
How do you think the area of raffle/lottery fundraising will perform over the coming 12-18 months?
I expect overall revenues will continue to grow nationwide, with more advances in multi state and territory activity (despite regulatory hurdles) and broadening of sales channels to suit supporter preferences and acquisition.
New entrants will continue to look for market niches, in terms of offer, frequency and loyalty incentives. Existing programs that lack investment or reinvestment of funds may decline, due to a combination of declining supporter numbers and increasing numbers of well-organised competitors.
Telemarketing will continue to be a strong performer, particularly with a KPI focus on quality conversations and sales closing ability.
Attention to backend systems and processes will be critical to maximising returns, particularly with 1) a range of payment options via call centre, field sales, website and mail room, 2) complaints and enquiry handling and 3) data hygiene.
What is your ‘bold prediction’ for raffle/lottery fundraising in 2016?
I would like to see some charities merge their efforts and build partnerships in prize-led fundraising (to provide scale and efficiencies). However, my bold prediction is that more fundraising leaders will seek to broaden their fundraising mix – by implementing prize-led approaches to existing databases and to acquire new supporters.
Lottery databases can be a significant source of regular givers, mid-size contributors and bequestors.