The Netherlands
The Netherlands has a highly successful charity lottery sector, which is generating €745m in revenue net of prizes and €498m of charitable contributions. As the most successful charity lottery market in Europe, the Netherlands provides the basis of Less Restricted market assumptions elsewhere (adjusted for GDP).
| Population in 2023 | 17.9 million |
|---|---|
| GDP per capita 2023 | 48,900 EUR |
| Taxation for lotteries | 30,5 per cent on all prizes over 449 EUR |
| Charity lotteries allowed | Yes |
Read more about the potential benefits for civil society across Europe from charity lottery fundraising in the publication The €10 Billion Opportunity by Regulus Partners (2023).
| Population in 2023 | 18.1 million |
|---|---|
| GDP 2023 | 1,033 billion euros |
| GDP per capita 2023 | 57,800 EUR |
| Taxation for lotteries | 30,1 per cent on all prizes over 449 EUR, with a 29 + 1,75 per cent proposed GGR tax on online games of chance |
| Charity lotteries allowed | Yes |
Charity Lotteries
Charity lottery licenses are allowed to raise funds for the civil society without any profit motives and pooling of prizes. These lotteries are obliged by law to contribute at least 40 per cent of their revenue to organisations with public benefit. All prizes that exceed 449 EUR impose a 30.5% tax.
Nationale Goede Doelen Loterijen
The biggest charity lotteries in the Netherlands are the Nationale Postcode Loterij and the VriendenLoterij. Together, they make up the public limited liability company the Nationale Goede Doelen Loterijen NV, or the National Charity Lotteries foundation. Together, these three organisations support civil society organisations both in the Netherlands and across the globe with institutional and long-term funding. Every lottery organises 14 or 15 drawings each year, from which a minimum of 40 per cent distributed among the various national and international civil society organisations that they support. Since its origin, they donated more than 8 billion EUR to a wide variety of charities.
The genesis of the Nationale Postcode Loterij laid the foundation of the National Charity Lotteries. Founded in 1989 as a fundraiser for the Dutch Refugee Council, the Dutch organisation for Nature Preservation Oxfam, and primarily supports organisations that support the environment, human rights and social cohesion. Each month, more than three million participants play with more than four million tickets. In 2019, more than 376 million EUR distributed among more than 100 charities, including organisations like Amnesty International, WWF and UNICEF.
In 1998, the VriendenLoterij, or FriendsLottery also joined the National Charity Lotteries. In total, the lottery supports almost 50 charities in the fields of health, sports and wellbeing. Players have the option to choose to play for their favourite club or association. Every month, around 550.000 participants play with more than 700.000 tickets. The FriendsLottery contributed more than 61 million EUR in 2019 to good causes such as the Aids Foundation and more than 3300 local sports clubs and associations.
Samenwerkende non-profit loterijen
Once every year, the Zonnebloem Loterij organises a lottery to raise funds for their organisation, dedicated to the care of the disabled, sick and elderly. Each year, approximately 2 million EUR is raised by just this single draw.
Each year, during the Grote Clubactie, more than 200,000 volunteers try to raise money for the more than 5000 clubs and associations they represent by selling lottery tickets. Eighty per cent of the revenue goes directly towards the organisations these people represent. In 2019, it raised almost 8,5 million EUR.
Lastly, the KWF Seizoenslotterij organises a seasonal lottery. KWF is an organisation that focusses explicitly on fighting cancer. As such, proceeds used to promote cancer research, raise awareness and increase the quality of cancer health care. In 2018, it raised more than 10 million EUR to fight cancer.
Lot of Happiness
This lottery, organised by FairShare, seeks to primarily raise funds for organisations that try to help and cheer up very ill children. These organisations are Clini Clowns, Make-a-Wish, Strong Babies, Stichting de Opkikker and Kika. Fifty per cent of all the proceeds go to these organisations, and the players themselves can pick which organisation becomes the beneficiary of their lottery ticket.
Lastly, there are two other charity lottery license holders: SnapChance and HappyLot. However, these two lotteries are not operational yet.
Other Lotteries
De Nederlandse Loterij
In addition to the lotteries mentioned above, there are two other lotteries: Staatsloterij (the Dutch State lottery) and the Lotto. These two entities are the sole beneficiary of a permanent, privately provided (monopoly) license.
Together, the Staatsloterij and the Lotto have an annual turnover of almost 1.3 billion EUR (2019). While 40 per cent of all the proceeds of charity lotteries distributed across civil society organisations, De Nederlandse Loterij falls under another category of which the state is its largest beneficiary. Respectively, 18 and 15 per cent of the proceeds of the Lotto and Staatloterij distributed. In 2019, the Nederlandse loterij distributed 173 million EUR, of which 109 million EUR went to the Dutch state, 46 million to NOC*NSF (the largest Dutch representative of sports associations) and 17 million EUR to other various charities.
The Games of Chance act specifies that there can only be one state lottery (e.g. monopoly). This license is permanently in possession of the Staatsloterij (the Dutch state lottery), which has been the Dutch state lottery since 1726.
The Lotto represents three different games of chance, namely: Lotto, Eurojackpot and Lucky Day. They are the only organisation in the Netherlands allowed to distribute scratch cards and organise sports-betting (through the TOTO).
Information
The Association of Charity Lotteries in Europe (www.acleu.eu) takes the greatest care in providing you adequate and complete information. However, not all information is easily accessible, or comparable. In case you find that any information provided here is incorrect or incomplete, you can provide us with relevant information and additions, or if you have other remarks, please let us know at info@acleu.eu. Your feedback is highly appreciated!
The Netherlands
| Population 2019: | 17,3 million |
|---|---|
| GDP 2019: | 812 billion EUR |
| GDP per capita 2019: | 42,020 EUR |
| Taxation for Lotteries: | 30,1 per cent on all prizes over 449 EUR, with a 29 + 1,75 per cent proposed GGR tax on online games of chance |
| Charity lotteries allowed: | Yes |
Sources