Summary
The purpose of this guide is to help you streamline your good cause approval process to
make it as efficient as possible whilst ensuring you are taking the appropriate steps in line
with any due diligence on your part.

 

Terms and conditions each cause needs to adhere to are on your lottery website. If you scroll to the bottom of your site you will see the below screenshot. Click on "Terms- Good Causes."

 


We have seen various approaches to good cause approval over the years and from this we can make
recommendations on what we think is best practice. It is very important to strike whilst the
iron is hot with this process i.e. get the good cause over the line as quickly as possible
whilst they are engaged and eager to start shouting about the lottery.

Approving a good cause


The good cause requirements, sign-up process, and terms and conditions are as simple as
possible. You can find links to these in the footer of your lottery website for full details.
In some instances, you may wish to question a cause further until you are satisfied that they
fit the criteria. It is important to exercise some due diligence when approving any cause that
you are unsure about, and to keep a record of this. Ultimately, it is your lottery and you can
run this process how you please, provided you are confident, if questioned, about the
validity of a cause on your lottery.

Cause Types

The above data was taken from over 6000 good causes in the Gatherwell database. It
shows the normal split of causes on a community lottery by legal status. This overview
should help you plan your resources for potential types of application.
Over half of all cause applications are from charities – this is also the group most likely to fit
the approval criteria. This makes them a good focus for good cause recruitment. This does
not mean that the others are less important in recruitment. Sporting clubs and associations
are also a good area to focus on, as they tend to attract a lot of support.


Cause types and approval guide
Listed below are the cause types and our recommended approach to their approval. Your
goal is to check that they are a legitimate organisation. We would recommend that you
obtain proof of their legal status (see below), and research their online presence e.g.
website and social media page. Keep a record of this as a bare minimum, to prove due
diligence on your part. When a cause signs up they have to provide their phone number.
Use this along with their email address to reach them, should you need to. You can also
keep notes on the steps you have taken on your operator dashboard as you go.

Registered Charity
Over 50% of your good causes applications are likely to be charities. With this in mind, they
have already gone through the rigorous process of obtaining charity status. These will be
the quickest to get over the line, all you need to do is check they are listed on the charities
register here, https://www.gov.uk/find-charity-information and that their location falls within
your area, then you can approve them. This should take 5 minutes.


Association/Club/Society/Constituted Group
You may have gone through due diligence with some of these causes previously. For
example, if they have gone through your grant funding process, you will already have a
copy of their constitution and/or set of rules on record, so there will be no need to request
this again.
If you do not already have a record of their constitution, then obtain a copy for your records,
then approve them.


Community Interest Company
As above, you may already have proof of the legitimacy of their organisation, and that they
are not-for-profit. If not, you can check their standing on company’s house with HMRC. You
can check their company number and that they are listed here:
https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/
You may also wish to retain a copy of their constitution or ‘community interest statement’
too. Then approve them.


Social Enterprise
Find their website and check they are a not-for profit organisation if they are unknown to
you. Once satisfied they meet the criteria, approve them.


Other
As long as the organisation can prove that they are not-for-profit, and have a constitution
you will be able to approve them. Sometimes, it is the case that you may need to help them
in creating a constitution etc. which can make these applicants take a little longer, however
they don’t come up very often.

 

If a cause doesn't have a constitution but would like support in putting one together find details on THIS LINK


What to do…
 - Make it as easy as possible to get the cause over the line as soon as possible
 - Make this process the sole responsibility of one person so there is not a length communication chain slowing down the process
 - Check the process frequently
 - Call the cause, it can make it a lot quicker to resolve outstanding issues
 - Update the ‘notes’ section of the application on your dashboard to help you keep track

Check if the cause is a duplicate

We have seen instances where a cause which has already been approved does apply again. This could happen due to a change in admin for example. To check this you will need to search for the cause on your CAUSES tab on your dashboard. See screenshot below. If they are already a LIVE cause on your lottery you are fine to not approve this new application. They will receive a generic email to say they have been declined, however you may wish to make contact to let them know why- they are already on your lottery! 

 



What not to do…
- Make it harder for the cause (and yourself) than it needs to be by adding in additional checks that can be performed at a later date if required
 - Take too long to respond to cause emails or calls
 - Have an escalation process for approving good causes – for example taking an application to a committee would slow down the process and the cause will likely lose interest whilst waiting for approval.
 - Leave older submissions on your dashboard to lay dormant without adding notes to their record.
 - Register a cause on their behalf. Causes need to register for themselves in order to adhere to GDPR rules, and so that they can to get a password. If you are aware of a cause that needs help registering, please refer them our Support Team.

Remember
The terms and conditions for good causes give you the right to remove a cause at any time.
‘The council will reserve its rights to not accept or cease to license any organisation with a
minimum of 7 days’ notice for any reason. If fraudulent or illegal activity is suspected,
cessation will be immediate.