How the lottery transformed random chance into massive impact
30 Years of the UK Lottery: From 'It Could Be You' to £48bn worth of impact! It’s an inspiration to us all and a direct inspiration for Glad. Learn how we’ve baked that model into making finance a force for good.
And how it inspired us to create Glad
For the last 30 years the UK national lottery has consistently promised us all that “it could be you” - (the emphasis of course being on the could :) - whilst, quietly generating £48bn for good causes as a result. It’s quite simply an inspiration.
During that time I’ve probably only bought a handful of tickets, and only on those occasions when I manage to convince myself and my kids whilst in the local Tesco that not only could it be me - this week it is me! In total, over the 30 years, my winnings sit at a paltry £50 - definitely not much, but still, I’m happy to be up over all.
It’s an odd game really when you think about it rationally. Mathematically it carries the worst odds you can imagine. There is a 1 in 45 million chance of winning the jackpot. That means I am 90 times more likely to become an olympic athlete, twice as likely to become a saint and 4 times more likely to become an astronaut. 🤔
When the lottery launched in 1994. I was in my first year of university and the start of what felt like a four year long freshers week. As a result, my memory of the time is somewhat hazy - but there are some bits I can recall which will help cast your mind back. I remember watching the cinema release of Shawshank Redemption (still the best movie of all time), staying up all night for a Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction first watch double header, and prancing around like a mad thing in the student union to Common People.
Reflecting on the introduction of the lottery definitely reveals my age. It also revealed a significant source of inspiration when we were dreaming up Glad.
Just think about it for a second.
Over 30 years the lottery has generated £48bn for good causes and has funded 685,000 amazing, worthy projects.
Simply wow! That, in my book, is incredible.
I love the fact that when you buy the ticket you’re focused on the allure of the jackpot, not the good the lottery does. The fact we now have things like a brilliant British cycling team, women’s football team and tons of school astro pitches around the country seems to be somewhat magical.
It’s such a brilliant model. You do something that you were going to do anyway, and as a result, something wonderful happens to help the world.
Back in the very early days of Glad when we were figuring out how we could help to fix climate change, we looked at the lottery model, wondering if weight be able emulate it in some way.
We felt back then, and we’re convinced about it now, that in order to encourage widespread climate action, addressing climate issues needs to be as seamless and automatic as breathing.
We asked ourselves what was something that people and businesses did everyday. Something they were going to do anyway. Something from which there is enough money being made that a portion of it could be channelled towards making an impact. So that simple everyday actions provided funding towards positive climate action - as if by magic.
The answer of course was that every persona and every business spends money, pretty much every single day.
Having spent time in the world of payments I understood how banks, card programmes and other financial institutions make money and realised there was enough margin available to emulate the lottery model.
Initially, as we launch Glad our focus is on card payments and specifically business cards. That’s because the card fees are much higher for business transactions. By running an efficient card programme that’s optimised for delivering impact, our intention is to show the world there is a better way of processing card payments.
Whilst, unlike Mystic Meg, I am not able to predict the future. I can clearly see a world where finance can be used as a force for good. Where the everyday action of spending money helps to fix climate change - not by random chance but as if by magic.