Small society lottery registrations

If you are a non-commercial society you must be registered if you wish to run a lottery (sweepstake, draw or raffle) where tickets are sold in advance.

Your society needs to be registered by the local authority in the area where its principal office is located.

For more information please see the Gambling Commission website, Gambling Act 2005 and our guidance on lotteries.

Eligibility

Your society must be established and conducted for:

charitable purposes
the purpose of enabling participation in, or support for a sport, athletics, or cultural activity
any other non-commercial purpose other than that of private gain.

Apply for a small society lottery registration

To apply please complete a small society lottery registration form, and submit this through our online portal with the payment of £40.

Please take care to complete the application form in full. Any incomplete or illegible applications will be rejected. We will issue the registration by email so please ensure you provide an email address on your application.

You should ideally submit the application at least one month before your lottery is due to take place to ensure we have sufficient time to process your application.

For details on how we use data relating to licence holders and applicants, please see our privacy notice for licence holders and applicants.

What happens next?

We will process your application and send you a registration certificate.

If we can’t accept your registration, for whatever reason – for example, if we are not satisfied that your society is non-commercial, we will contact you to confirm this.

You must tell us how much each lottery raises within three months after each draw using this return form. If you are unsure how to complete the form, you can see an example small society lottery return. Completed return forms can be emailed to us, or submitted with your annual fee payment.

Annual fees

You will need to pay an annual fee of £20 if you wish to maintain your small society lottery registration. You can pay the annual fee using our online portal. Please note that you will need to upload a document with the payment. If you have not submitted a return in the last 12 months, please ensure a return is provided with the annual fee payment, even if it is a nil return. If you have already provided a return, you could use a copy of the annual fee reminder letter or a basic covering letter.

Sign up for the South Oxfordshire charitable lottery

Did you know we have our own community lottery?

It’s a great fundraising solution for local not-for-profit organisations as you do not need a small society lottery registration, saving you precious administration time and fees.

Tickets cost just £1 each, with 60p going to good causes and the local community. Players can choose which local good cause(s) they want to support when they purchase tickets and prizes range from free prize draw entries to a £25,000 jackpot.

Find out more and sign up your community group