Fundraisers Turn To Fredericton Startup, Find Success With ‘Virtual Raffles’
FREDERICTON- With in-person fundraising across the country taking a hit due to Covid-19, some organizations are turning to a New Brunswick startup to help raise much-needed funds.
The Lotto Factory, which launched in 2017, offers a customizable software platform that allows non-profits and charitable organizations to host 50/50 draws and raffles online.
Founder and chief marketing officer Robb Clarke says the company has seen an influx of new customers since the start of the pandemic.
“Around the time that Covid really started to hit is when we noticed a huge change in everything with us. We’ve been onboarding organizations left and right since about March because everybody’s starting to feel the pinch with Covid,” says Clarke.
“The majority of our clients relied heavily on in-person fundraising in the past. Whether it was donation buckets, or they were running 50/50’s and they had a 50/50 box like you would see at [Fredericton Exhibition]. Those really aren’t possible right now so they had to pivot how they’re doing things and had to adjust to the new normal.”
Lotto Factory is working with organizations in New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia. Different jurisdictions have different regulations when it comes to fundraising, and unfortunately, many have not updated them for the digital age.
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To work around this, the Lotto Factory uses its second “sister” company: TLF (The Lotto Factory) Global. Based in Alderney, Channel Islands, TLF Global has an interactive gaming license from the Kahnawake Gaming Commission that allows them to operate and manage 50/50 draws pretty much anywhere in the world except for the United States. This means that if they wish, organizations can enter into an affiliate marketing agreement with TLF Global whereby TLF Global will run a 50/50 on the organization’s behalf.
“I think in the last two months, we’ve onboarded more organizations than we did in our first three and a half years,” says Clarke. “It’s been awesome to see that growth and organizations realizing there are ways to continue fundraising that doesn’t rely on traditional methods.”
The types of organizations using the Lotto Factory platform range from charities to sports teams, which has been a big part of the company’s business from the beginning.
“Hockey has been a big vertical for us because 50/50’s are so ingrained in the hockey culture and everybody’s used to it,” says Clarke. “It’s helped us get a foothold in those regions and now we’re starting to have charitable organizations and non-profits recognize what we’re doing with things that are familiar to them and they’re coming on.”
One of Lotto Factory’s new clients is the Canadian Association of Fairs and Exhibitions (CAFE). The Manitoba-headquartered organization represents fairs and exhibitions across the country. The organization’s primary fundraiser takes place at their annual convention, which was slated to take place this November in Regina, Saskatchewan.
But with mass gatherings now put on hold, fundraising also came to a halt both for the organization and its members, says executive director Christina Franc.
“It’s basically come to a standstill,” says Franc. “For our fundraising, we rely on our members and our industry for our fundraising primarily, and our members rely on mass gatherings as their primary source of revenue. So their revenue has basically dried up and so has ours as a result.”
CAFE successfully worked with the Lotto Factory last year for a contest for entrants to win a trip to the Calgary Stampede. So when Covid-19 struck, Franc saw the opportunity to work with them again.
The organization is now running a progressive 50/50 draw where people renew their tickets for the draw each week. People can also choose a specific exhibition their ticket purchase will go to support.
“I’m really excited because we really wanted to help our members at the same time,” says Franc. “That’s what I really wanted to do. The Lotto Factory had an opportunity to do that.”
So far she says the online 50/50 has been a great support for everyone.
“We’re in week six of this progressive raffle and for us, it’s given us a bit of a boost to help carry us through,” says Franc. “But I think more than anything it really helped out members raise some additional revenue.”
With Covid-19 predicted to many ways we do things as a society, Clarke predicts it will also have a lasting impact on how charities and non-profits fundraise.
“We’re going to see a fundamental change in how people fundraise overall going forward,” he says. “Sure, we expect people to transition back to some of the traditional in-person when they’re able to. But that’s so far away that I think this is going to become the norm.”