Corporate Social Review Magazine 1st Quarter 2013 | Page 88

How to keep it legal
Private lotteries

Example: The office sweepstake where all tickets are sold to
staff and all proceeds split as prize money.
• Do not advertise the lottery externally.
• Do not sell tickets to anyone outside the membership group.
• Do not employ anyone specially to organise the lottery.
Lotteries that form part of “exempt” entertainment
Example: At a fund-raising dinner there is a draw for a stunning
prize. At a school fete raffle tickets are sold for a range of prizes.
“Exempt” entertainment is generally of a charitable or fundraising nature – not commercial.
• Lottery proceeds must benefit a “deserving” group.
• The lottery is part of a bigger activity.
• The prizes are not in cash.

Society lotteries

These are run by organisations that are registered to raise funds
from the public. They are typically advertised in the media or
promoted in public spaces.
Societies conducting these lotteries need to register with
the NLB and meet certain conditions (see Running a public
fundraising lottery).

Promotional competitions
Many big companies promote the purchase of their products
through lottery-type competitions. Customers must buy the
product or service in order to enter the draw.
There must be no extra charge for entering the competition. The
normal product price must include the “ticket” price.
Companies must comply with any regulations made by the
Minister of Trade and Industry.
Running a public fund-raising lottery
It is legal to run a lottery-type competition to benefit an
organisation or “society” that is registered to collect contributions
from the public.
But there are clear conditions that must be met in order to
organise a society lottery:
• The society must be registered with the NLB.
• The total value of the tickets and the value of the prizes must
be within certain limits.
• All of the proceeds, after the deduction of expenses, must go
to the cause for which they were intended and this must be a
charitable, sport or cultural activity.
• Certain rules about advertising the lottery must be respected.
• The individual managing the lottery
• Must be a member or employee of the society that will benefit
from the lottery.
• Must be certified as a lottery manager by the NLB.
The NLB is happy to advise registered fund-raising organisations
on keeping on the right side of the law when running lotteries.

Reporting illegal activities

We are also keen to get tip-offs from the public about suspicious
fund-raising lotteries and cases where NLDTF grants may be
abused. You may contact the offices of the NLB or visit the NLB
website to report such cases.
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CORPORATE SOCIAL REVIEW
2013/07/29 10:48 AM