Club 100 / Registering your lottery
Registering your 100 Club with the council
A 100 Club is a lottery, and in England, Scotland and Wales lotteries are governed by the Gambling Act 2005. The good news is that a club or charity lottery of this size is a small society lottery, which is registered with your local council rather than licensed by the Gambling Commission. It is cheap and the form is short.
I am a club treasurer who has done this, not a solicitor. What follows is what the rules say and what our club did. Your council's licensing team is the authority for your club, and they are usually helpful on the phone.
Does your club qualify?
A society lottery can be run by a society established and conducted for charitable purposes, for participation in or support of sport, athletics or a cultural activity, or for any other non-commercial purpose. Lions, Rotary and Round Table clubs, sports clubs, PTAs, churches, village halls and scout groups all qualify. A lottery run for private gain does not.
The limits for a small society lottery
| Ticket sales in one lottery | £20,000 or less |
|---|---|
| Ticket sales in a calendar year | £250,000 or less |
| Share of proceeds to the society's purposes | At least 20% |
| Biggest single prize | £25,000 |
| Minimum age to take part | 16 |
| Ticket price | Any amount, but every ticket in a lottery costs the same |
| Registration fee | £40 first year, £20 a year after |
A 100 Club at £5 a month is a long way inside every one of those limits. Each monthly draw counts as a separate lottery, which is why the yearly figure is the one to watch, and even a 250 Club at £5 sells only £15,000 a year.
The steps
- Agree it at a meeting. Minute the decision to run the lottery, what it raises money for, and who is responsible for it. Councils ask for the name of that person, who must be over 18 and a member of the society.
- Write the rules. Board size, price, prize split, when and where the draw happens, how to pay, what happens on a missed payment, how to leave. There is an outline on the how-it-works page.
- Find your licensing authority. It is the district, borough, city or unitary council for the area where your society's office or main address is, not the county council. Search the council website for "small society lottery registration".
- Send the form and the £40. The form asks for the society's name and address, its purposes, the responsible person, and confirmation that nobody involved has a relevant conviction. Most councils take it by email.
- Wait for the registration number. Usually within two weeks. It goes on your rules page and any tickets or publicity. Registration then continues as long as you pay the £20 each year.
- Run the draw and file the return. A return is due within three months of each draw, showing the date, total proceeds, the amount to your purposes, the prizes, and any expenses. Many councils accept one return covering the year's draws; ask yours how they want it.
The private alternative
If your 100 Club is only ever offered to members of the society and is never advertised to the public, it can run as a private society lottery, which needs no registration at all. The catch is the word "never": no poster in the village shop, no post on the club's public Facebook page, no "bring a friend". Most clubs register, because being able to invite friends and family is how the board fills. Registration also gives you a number to quote, which reassures people.
What Club 100 does with all this
The rules page on your club's site is generated from your settings and carries your charity number, your council and your registration number. The treasurer's screen shows, for any month, the tickets sold, the proceeds, the prize paid and the amount to your cause, which is the return in the order the council asks for it. When I set a club up I also send a copy of the registration our own club filed, with our details taken out, as a starting point.
Northern Ireland
The Gambling Act 2005 does not apply in Northern Ireland, where society lotteries are registered with the district council under the Betting, Gaming, Lotteries and Amusements (Northern Ireland) Order 1985. The principle is the same but the limits and forms are different; check with your council.
Next: ask Brian about setting up your club, or read how the draw works.