How home lotteries are modernizing their programs by moving online

60 years in business means a lot, no matter what industry you’re operating in.

For Brentwood Recovery Home, who’s spent the last 60 years running addictions programs and services, it means community trust runs deep.

And if you’ve ever stayed at, worked at, or volunteered with a recovery home, you know it’s not possible without a ton of resources.

Brentwood Recovery Home has been fundraising to operate since its beginning in 1964, and in 1991 they introduced their charitable lottery, one of the longest running home lotteries in Ontario.

Brentwood Lottery is an institution in itself, so when they came to Rafflebox in 2022 with a goal of fully transitioning their lottery online, we knew there were standards to uphold.

“Every year we draw dozens of winners, surprising people with major prizes like cars, cash, a dream home... This is big news in the community and lifechanging for the winners. For us, it’s a key component of the fundraising we do. We have supporters who have been buying tickets since it started over 30 years ago!”

- Paul McCann, Director of Fund Development and Community Engagement at Brentwood Recovery Home

So why move online after almost 30 decades of in-person ticket sales?

“It’s standard practice now [selling tickets online] and we knew people would find it faster and easier to buy tickets. But at the same time, we have long-time supporters who do not want to buy online, so that was an important consideration [when moving online].”

Legacy lotteries and raffles require a delicate approach. Running a home lottery online saves the organization time, gives them more customer insights, and empowers them to get a wider reach, but those long-time supporters are already used to a certain standard of service. In Brentwood Lottery’s case, it was in-person ticket sales.

“[Running with Rafflebox] made sense because they offer portable sales devices that are fully in-sync with our online sales. Traditionally our volunteers and staff sell tickets out in the community and at our office, so we need to continue offering these options. The machines stay charged for 24 hours and are just like a debit machine you would use at a retail store.”

Plus, with Brentwood Lottery’s checkout flow, it’s easy for supporters to add 50/50 tickets to their home lottery ticket purchase, no matter if they’re buying online or in person.

“Using sales tracking, we found out that most ticket buyers bought both home lotto tickets and 50/50 tickets, which makes such a major impact on how much we raise. It really shows how willing people are to play their luck in support of our recovery home and we are both proud of that and grateful for it.”

Speaking of sales tracking, Brentwood Lottery used their Rafflebox Dashboard to be strategic about their marketing budget. Their lottery runs for three months, so there’s plenty of time to test marketing tactics and adjust them based on results — as long as there’s sales data to support their decisions.

“We advertise the lottery in a bunch of ways, and with the Dashboard we can check how many sales we make when we implement certain marketing tactics. Then on the other hand, if there’s a lull in sales, we can strategize to do more marketing.”

Brentwood Recovery Home’s home lottery grossed $1.57 million in 2023, with the 50/50 add-on jackpot hitting over $286,000.

In addition to their home lottery and 50/50, Brentwood ran five additional 50/50 raffles in 2023, with jackpots averaging $93,000 each.

“We’re really satisfied with Rafflebox’s online lottery platform and their willingness to help us build an online process that works for our unique lottery and supporters. I would recommend using Rafflebox to any major lottery who’s looking to modernize. We’re saving tons of time on administration and with our additional 50/50s running throughout the year, we’re growing our program and the impact it makes on annual fundraising revenue.”

Are you running a legacy fundraising program like Brentwood Lottery and  need support moving it online? We’re your people.

If you want to talk more about what it takes to move a major raffle online, book a meeting and we’ll run through the process with you.

If you want to learn more about Rafflebox and what it’s like to use the platform, submit your email below and we’ll send you a platform overview.