Launch without financial risk
No setup costs – launch your own lottery without paying anything upfront. We even include your own branded lottery landing page.
For many small charities and community organisations, fundraising is demanding work - and it’s made even harder by the simple truth that time, people, and headspace are stretched thin.
Plus, you’re competing for attention in a flooded market. You’re juggling service delivery, volunteers, safeguarding, rising costs, growing demand, and increasing donor fatigue. When income relies on events, donations, and goodwill, keeping it predictable becomes an even bigger challenge.
You don’t need more pressure on your week. What you need is a new, reliable income stream to bring in regular funds without stretching your team and you need to start small.
That’s why Bee Ethical - the team behind the UK’s biggest single-cause lottery - created BeeSMART, powered by ComBee, our secure, cloud-based lottery engine. It handles compliance, payments, and reporting behind the scenes, so you can focus on your cause.
No setup costs – launch your own lottery without paying anything upfront. We even include your own branded lottery landing page.
*Note: There are minimal external costs – a Local Authority registration fee, for example – but these are usually recovered within your first month of income. There is no cost to set up the lottery itself.
How did they achieve it?
That was their approach, but it’s not the only one.
Many small charities and rescues are signing players up using digital-only promotion – relying on email, social media, supporter stories and strong, cause-led messaging.
BeeSMART is designed to work with the channels you already have.
Bee Ethical has been the lottery partner for the Veterans Foundation’s lottery since it began. The Veterans Lottery grew from zero to over £20 million a year within its first 10 years.
This is a powerful example of how a committed community, paired with a simple, sustainable model, can build extraordinary impact over time.
We’ll explore whether a lottery is right for you and show you the platform.
Set up, prizes, compliance, and player support all handled for you.
You share your lottery with supporters, and the income grows month by month.
Have you wondered what your community could achieve with a lottery? Explore the opportunity with the tool below. Plus - you can see the difference between a £10-a-month model and the traditional £1-a-week-approach.
Adjust the slider to see how different supporter numbers impact your charity
This calculation is based on our multi-cause BeeSmart platform. With all costs and prizes fully covered by us. Every pound shown represents potential income for your cause, not expenses.
Quick answers to the key questions charities and community organisations ask before launching.
Yes. There is no cost to set up your lottery with BeeSMART. The only external cost is a small Local Authority registration fee, which most organisations recover within their first month of income.
You only pay platform fees from proceeds once players begin joining – so there’s no financial risk in getting started.
Yes, but it’s very straightforward.
Most organisations simply need a Local Authority licence. We can support you with the application so you’re not doing it alone.
If/when your revenue (to include all gambling-categorised income) grows beyond £250,000 a year, a Gambling Commission licence would be required – and we’ll guide you through that if/when relevant.
BeeSMART is designed for small communities and more. You don’t need hundreds of players to start.
Even 50 supporters can generate meaningful income over time, especially with a clear “why” and light-touch promotion.
Not at all. Some of our clients have this, but many of the organisations using BeeSMART are owner-managed or small committees / operations teams with limited capacity.
We provide ready-made templates, ideas, images and guidance, so you can share your lottery in a way that feels natural and achievable for your organisation.
Most organisations are ready to launch within ~2 weeks (this will depend on how quickly your Local Authority can provide your licence if you don’t already have this, but we’ve factored that in for the average turnaround).
Once we’ve had an initial call, our onboarding team will get your contract and paperwork organised. We then liaise with you so that we can create your branded landing page, set up the lottery, and prepare everything you need to go live at a pace that suits your team.
Yes. This is a multi-cause platform with a shared prize pot. Bee Ethical funds all 1st, 2nd and 3rd monthly prizes in full, including:
• £5,000 first prize, with a possible £20,000 bonus jackpot
• £2,000 second prize
• 20 × £50 prizes
There’s no prize cost to you at any stage.