2012 Olympics fundraising begins with scratchard
Howard Lake | 28 July 2005 | News
Seven years to the day before the Games’ opening ceremony, fundraising for the London Olympics has got underway in the form of a scratchcard.
The Go for Gold cards went on sale yesterday for £1, of which 28p will go to the Olympic Lottery Distribution Fund. The top prize for winners will be, appropriately enough, £2,012.
Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell told the BBC that she estimated that the Olympic lottery card would raise £750 million over the seven years between now and 2012.
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Some charities and charity umbrella groups are, however, concerned that these scratchards could divert income away from charities. For example, Stuart Etherington, the chief executive of the National Council of Voluntary Organisations (NCVO), pointed out that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s (DCMS) own impact assessment on the new game showed that it could produce an annual reduction of 5% in money available for good causes.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.