How to Set Up a Lottery

Every successful lottery starts with a simple conversation, which is why we kick things off with a discovery session. What’s your goal? Who are your supporters? What resource do you have? Your answers help us recommend the right lottery solution for you. 
 

How Woods Valldata helps: 

We’ll use this session to recommend the best lottery model for you – Affinity, Aspire or Advantage – based on your size, ambition, and capabilities. We’ll also provide a project roadmap, realistic timelines, and income forecasts based on years of insight and campaign data. Think of it as your charity lottery blueprint. 

Lotteries are gambling products, so compliance is essential. Here at Woods Valldata, we’re licensed by the Gambling Commission, and are a validated PCI DSS Level 1 Service Provider, which means we can help you: 

• Navigate Gambling Commission or local authority registration
• Access our banking Service User Number (if needed) 
• Meet all PCI DSS and Bacs standards when you use our direct debit management services
• Write clear, supporter-friendly T&Cs 
• Implement age verification and self-exclusion tools using our purpose built online sign-up and response handing services

How Woods Valldata helps: 

We know compliance can be confusing, which is why we’ll guide you through all legal, financial and regulatory requirements. For Affinity, your registration is streamlined via local authorities. For Aspire and Advantage, we meet all Bacs and PCI DSS standards and will work with you to help you secure andyour Gambling Commission Licence. We’ll even supply compliant wording and templates for your T&Cs. Compliance? Consider it covered. 

Once we’ve got the green light on compliance, we’ll start thinking about the supporter experience – from the moment someone signs up, to their first draw day, and beyond. We’ll create your branded lottery microsite, complete with age verification and self-exclusion tools, seamless sign-up flows, and mobile-friendly, user-first design.

How Woods Valldata helps: 

From designing and building your platform from the ground up with Advantage, or using our pre-built  sign up site for Affinity and Aspire for a quick turnaround our digital experts will ensure the journey is smooth, intuitive and engaging. Oh, and we’ll also help you craft your player welcome journey to help reduce attrition from day one using SmartThank.

Next, it’s time to bring your lottery to life. We can support with developing your very own lottery look and feel to help differentiate the lottery from your other fundraising activities. . What’s more, we’ll canalso help with campaign planning and segmentation, channel selection, and benchmarking and forecasting so you can recruit players for long term value. 

How Woods Valldata helps: 

We draw from decades of campaign insight and sector benchmarks to help you pick the right channels, budget effectively, and target the right audiences. Our team can also support with creative consultancy or full campaign execution if needed.

When launch day arrives, everything needs to run like clockwork – and that’s exactly how we like it. As your partners in possibility, here at Woods Valldata we’ll take care of everything from initial player onboarding and payment processing to weekly draw management prize fulfilment and notification, as well as supporter queries and customer service. 

How Woods Valldata helps: 

Thanks to our team of fundraising fulfilment experts, you can count on us to handle all the back-end work and ensure your lottery is launched smoothly and confidently. Whether your supporters are paying by direct debit, card or cheque, we’ll process everything securely and accurately. Plus, our supporter services team is on hand to field any queries or changes. 

The job doesn’t stop once your lottery is live – which is why we also provide reporting and strategic guidance to help you grow. Our lottery dashboard provides everything you need to know about how your lottery is performing, financial reconciliation and what you need to know for your GC returns. Plus, with Advantage you’ll benefit from a full suite of reports and insights alongside strategic consultancy around data insights and creative approach.

How Woods Valldata helps: 

With Advantage or Aspire, your dedicated account team works closely with you to identify opportunities for growth – from superdraws to cross-channel integrations. We’ll also provide data-driven recommendations and long-term planning support to help you get the most out of your lottery year after year.

Lotteries aren’t a ‘set and forget’ product. They’re living, breathing parts of your supporter journey – which is why, at Woods Valldata, we help recommend ways you can retain players and increase their value over time. That includes: 

• Welcome and engagement journeys to reduce early attrition 
• Upgrade paths (e.g., play more lines, switch to DD)
• Cross-sell opportunities to other giving products 
• Campaigns to re-engage lapsed players
• Insight into motivations and segmentation by channel

How Woods Valldata helps: 

We’ll recommend tools and activities you could use to help grow your lottery, and can also help to identify points in the programme when communications would be beneficial to help with retention. Plus, we are also able to send out personalised communications at key points in the supporter journey using SmartThank via letter or email. Whether it’s a surprise “thank you” postcard or an email that nudges players to upgrade, we’ll use behavioural data to provide strategic insights so you can keep your lottery supporters engaged – and giving – for the long haul.