Good Causes

Good Causes are deemed to be those recipients of lottery funds that serve a charitable or socially beneficial purpose. Almost all lotteries give a percentage of the money raised from ticket sales to good causes, and many lotteries cite good causes as being the main reason for their introduction in the first place. For example, the California Lottery was established in 1984 in order to “generate supplemental funding” for public schools. Even if good causes aren’t named as the sole reason for a particular lottery existing, they are invariably mentioned repeatedly as good reason to play lottery games. And it isn’t very difficult to explain why.

Let’s start by considering what a lottery is. A lottery is essentially a gambling game in which the vast majority of players will lose a small amount of money whilst a time minority win a large amount of money. For some people, the combination of gambling and greed is enough to make them view lotteries with disdain. However, if we say that a fair percentage of monies raised from ticket sales will go to good causes, the whole lottery-as-sin concept quickly shifts to a lottery-as-contribution concept. Even those who don’t like to gamble or succumb to greed are far more likely to play because they can focus on the contribution side of things and view lotteries as opportunities to be charitable.

Is this reframing of lotteries a deliberate ploy to encourage more people to play, or do lotteries really serve an altruistic purpose? The short answer is that both of these explanations are accurate. Good causes certainly help lotteries to market themselves more effectively, but the money that goes to such good causes really does help charitable organisations and social groups in a big way.

Money raised by lottery operators can be assigned to good causes in a number of ways. Some give the money directly to a single specific cause, such as the California Lottery giving money directly to public schools. Other lotteries divide the money raised for good causes between a much larger number of recipients. The UK National Lottery Good Causes is a good example of one that takes this approach.

Although there are some who suggest that lotteries supporting good causes allows governments to overlook their responsibilities in certain areas, there is no denying that lottery players get a great deal of satisfaction from knowing that a percentage of their regular spend does some good in the world. And if this arrangement makes us feel good and helps others as we aim to land that elusive jackpot, we can probably expect good causes to remain part of the lottery package for decades to come.