Private Lotteries

Not all lotteries are run by the state or provincial lottery operators, although other lotteries may be licensed or permitted to run under the authorization of the operator and/or the regulator. These “private” lotteries are actually lotteries and draws run by charitable organizations to provide prizes to ticket purchasers in an effort to raise money for the charitable cause.

Many charitable organizations run lotteries to supplement donations. Some of these organizations raise awareness of and fundraise for:

• Cancer research and treatment
• Heart and stroke research
• Spinal cord treatment
• Kidney disease treatment
• Organizations for the blind - seeing-eye dog training and placement
• Agencies for the deaf
• Children’s hospitals
• Humane societies
• Red Cross
• Rotary, Shriners, Lions, and Kinsman clubs

Donations make up a large amount of the funding these agencies receive, but lotteries are able to supplement the money coming in by “enticing” those who may not normally donate to support the cause. Providing prize draws in exchange for “contributions” that normally would not appear has been highly successful for many groups.

Examples of Previous Prizes

For instance, one of the most successful and popular lotteriesof this type is run each year by one of the top five cancer research centres on the planet -the Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto. Their Princess Margaret Home Lotteryis run to increase funds coming into the centre and provides some of the best prizes this type of lottery can. For instance, the latest draw has prizes of:

• $1,300,000, 3,111 squarefoot Lakefront cottage in Central Ontario cottage country. $50,000 cash, fully furnished throughout, professionally decorated and landscaped, and comes complete with a dock.
• $1,160,000, 3,013 square foot country home near Kingston ON. Comes with $25,000 cash, 4 acre lot, fully furnished, and professionally decorated. Includes a John Deere X350 lawn tractor and 2 Trafik bicycles.
• $809,900, 2,338 square foot townhouse in Waterdown ON, plus $25,000 cash, fully furnished and professionally decorated.
• Two condominiums in Toronto, luxury cars, glorious vacations, super electronics, and hordes of cash.

With tickets selling at $100 each, this lottery is suitable for all budgets, and generates many times more money than the cost of all the prizes. Because there are a limited amount of tickets sold, every prize is guaranteed to be won.

There are many other types of home lotteries like this that provide either one home as a grand prize or several homes as grand prizes, and may add vehicles and cash bonuses as well. There are also many other types of car lotteries and cash lotteries run by a wide range of charitable organizations.

Helping the Community

These types of lotteries are quite successful in providing a multitude of benefits to the community. They generate additional funds for the charities that run these lotteries to continue to provide their services to the community and their clients. They provide great prizes to ticket purchasers who would normally not donate to the charity and may also end up buying multiple tickets. And they showcase the businesses involved in donating the prizes, everything from the builder of the home, the landscaping and interior decorating companies, to the businesses who supply the entertainment centres, security systems, cars, barbecues, and kitchen appliances.

But these “private” lotteries are not limited to the home, cars, and cash types. Other types of “lotteries” that can be run are bingos, carnivals, midways, prize draws, "Spin the Wheel", and many other types of games of chance.

So, if you have the opportunity to buy a ticket for one of these types of lotteries, it may be worthwhile considering.The prizes may not be millions of dollars in cash, but not many of us would turn our noses up to a house, car, or vacation.

If you're sticking to Powerball for the time being, check out what prizes you could win on any given draw.