The establishment of the Health Lottery, a competitor for the National Lottery has caused a bit of a stir. At 20.4%, the health lottery distributes a smaller share of revenue to good causes than both the for-profit National Lottery (28%) and fundraising lotteries run by hospices themselves (50-60%).
I mean, just off the top of my head, I can name several supermarket chains who have asked me to buy my shopping from them. And that is not even counting the many smaller, local shops who also want to sell me stuff. Wouldn't the world be a better place if only Tesco was allowed to sell things?
I attended a workshop this morning at the NCVO annual conference entitled "Is Philanthropy the solution to funding the Big Society? ". With my researcher hat on, I spend plenty of time comparing various ways of measuring the level of giving, but perhaps not enough time thinking about why people are giving. Why do people give to charity?
