What began as a deliberate decision to rethink how charity lotteries were built has become one of the most powerful fundraising stories in the UK. From day one, the Veterans Lottery committed to two bold shifts that changed everything: a digital-first approach to winning supporters and a £10-a-month model designed for long-term commitment rather than short-term gain. Behind the scenes, the software platform enabled those digital campaigns to scale, adapt and perform at pace, while the Bee Ethical team evolved the technology in real time to support its rapid growth. Today, with more than 165,000 players and around £20 million generated annually, it is the most successful single-cause lottery in the country and the third biggest lottery overall. Its growth did not just scale participation. It reshaped what modern, sustainable fundraising could look like. This case study reveals how that transformation happened and why its foundations continue to shape what is possible next.
The Veterans Foundation’s ‘Veterans Lottery’ began in 2016 with a bold vision and a starting base of around one hundred supporters. Today it is the most successful single cause lottery in the UK and the third biggest lottery overall, behind only the National Lottery and the Postcode Lottery. With more than 165,000 players and around £20 million in annual income, it has become one of the most significant and sustainable funding sources for military charities in the country.
The scale is extraordinary, but the achievement is even more striking when you look at how it was built. For the first five years, the Veterans Lottery grew through digital acquisition alone. No traditional channels. No broad national crossover campaigns. Just focused digital activity that resulted in thousands of new players every month. Today the lottery delivers over 600 prizes per month, which includes over 100 cash prizes and a jackpot that can reach £75,000. Every player receives Bee Ethical’s exclusive free Gourmet Society membership worth £5.99 each month, a proven retention tool that adds real value to supporters by saving them an average £15.60 per use.
Digital acquisition, data intelligence and the strategy behind long term growth
Bee Ethical supported the Veterans Lottery through the early phases of its scale up. This included:
• Refining and testing messaging for veteran minded audiences
• Developing high converting landing pages – purpose-built for digital acquisition
• Monitoring digital performance and identifying optimisation points
• Understanding acquisition quality through cost per acquisition (CPA) and lifetime value (LTV)
• Providing reporting that would deliver an understanding of cohort behaviour to inform which audiences drove the highest long term value
• Managing operational elements of the draw itself
What became clear as the lottery grew was that success depended on more than volume. A lottery can double its acquisition spend and double its sign-ups, but if a high proportion of those supporters leave within a few months, the organisation may never recover the cost of bringing them in. Digital acquisition only becomes sustainable when CPA, retention, LTV and audience quality are all visible and understood. The Veterans Lottery was one of the first to operate with this level of clarity and the difference was transformative.
These insights shaped our approach to digital acquisition and reporting. They also helped us understand the behaviour of different supporter groups over time. By examining cohorts, identifying patterns in supporter value and adapting acquisition based on data rather than assumptions, we were able to help the Veterans Lottery achieve sustained, compounding growth that very few charity lotteries experience.
Sustainable lotteries are built on knowledge, not assumptions
The success of the Veterans Lottery shows what becomes possible when an organisation is able to:
• Measure the real quality of new supporters
• Understand which audiences stay longest
• Track cohorts over time instead of looking only at monthly totals
• Optimise acquisition based on CPA and LTV
• Build landing pages that convert at scale
• Use digital acquisition as a long term, sustainable growth driver
Many organisations know how many players they have. Far fewer know which supporters drive long term value or how acquisition and retention work together. The Veterans Lottery did, and that knowledge changed everything.
Results at a Glance
• The most successful single cause lottery in the UK
• The third biggest lottery in the UK
• More than 165,000 players (to date as at time of publishing – December 2025)
• Around £20 million in annual income
• Digital-only acquisition strategy for the first five years
• Thousands of new supporters every month
• Industry-leading player retention
• Over six hundred prizes per draw
• Jackpot of £75,000, which can be raised if the charity chooses to do so
• All players receive Gourmet Society membership worth £5.99 monthly
• Year on year growth – still continuing a decade later
Proven learning that built the next generation of lottery technology
The story of the Veterans Lottery shaped the future of Bee Ethical’s work. The insights gained from ten years of digital acquisition, audience testing, retention analysis and long-term optimisation directly informed the development of ComBee, our cloud based lottery platform (and in March 2025 – the launch of our BeeSMART system too!). ComBee was built to give charities access to the level of reporting, insight and automation that helped the Veterans Lottery scale and thrive.
Routes Forward for Charities
Every organisation is at a different point in its journey, so we offer multiple ways to take the next step.
ComBee
For organisations ready to transform their lottery strategy, ComBee offers the full set of data, reporting, automation and optimisation capabilities shaped by everything we learned from supporting the most successful single cause lottery in the UK.
Parallel Expansion Test (PET)
For charities curious about the £10 a month model, we can offer a PET option. This provides a safe, risk free way to test it alongside an existing lottery through our BeeSMART model.
Do Your Bit reporting and acquisition tools
For charities that want deeper insight but are not ready to move platforms, the Do Your Bit portal can work with any lottery system. It provides advanced reporting, a supporter sign up app, access to Apple Pay and Google Pay, and built in referral tools to help organisations understand and enhance their acquisition quality.
Explore ComBee, built on a decade of proven learning
Speak to us about strengthening your lottery strategy
Get advanced reporting with Do Your Bit
👉 Book here for a FREE consultation or get in touch to start the conversation – Email us here: combee@bee-ethical.com
Combee is in association with Bloom Software, licensed by the Gambling Commission to produce lottery software. Part of the Bee Ethical group.