By Phillip Gerrish, Marketing Services Manager | November 2025 |
Tailored Retention Strategies by Cause and Audience Demographic
Charity lotteries are a powerful tool for sustainable income, offering regular giving with mass appeal. But like any regular giving product, they’re not immune to attrition, and when supporters drop off, the long-term impact can be significant. Understanding why attrition happens isn’t one-size-fits-all. Different causes attract different people, with different lifestyles, motivations, and emotional triggers.
This article explores how attrition manifests across four example charity types: forces, animals, children’s, and hospices, and how lottery operators can tailor retention strategies by both cause and audience demographic.
Understanding the Foundations of Lottery Attrition
Before breaking it down by charity type, let’s clarify the general drivers of attrition:
- Lack of engagement: Players don’t feel part of something meaningful.
- Value mismatch: The perceived impact doesn’t align with expectations.
- Lifestyle changes: Financial shifts or routine changes make small costs feel less justifiable.
- Fatigue: The novelty wears off, or people forget why they joined.
But attrition isn’t evenly spread. It plays out differently depending on who your audience is and what they care about.
Forces Charities: Loyalty-Driven but Easily Lost Without Identity
Audience:
Often older, regional, former service members or families with military ties. High sense of duty and loyalty, but not always digitally active.
Why they attrite:
- Disconnected communication: If updates lack appropriate tone or identity, they disengage.
- Perceived distance: If the lottery feels too slick, corporate, or impersonal, it loses authenticity
- Low digital engagement: With fewer email or social media touchpoints, players can drop off unnoticed.
How to retain them:
- Identity-led communications: Use language, imagery, and updates rooted in service culture and reinforcing core values.
- Offline-first retention: Letters, calls, or postcards can be more powerful than emails.
- Impact framing: Show how each ticket supports individuals, not just “services.” Personalise the mission and tell their individual stories.
Animal Charities: Emotionally Engaged Across Multiple Charities
Audience:
Broad appeal, often skewing towards female players and emotionally-motivated players. Mix of national and regional reach. Strong representation among younger families and retirees.
Why they attrite:
- Emotional saturation: Stories of suffering animals can overwhelm and cause pull-back.
- Unclear outcomes: “Did my lottery money save any animals?” is a common unspoken doubt.
- Competing causes: Animal lovers often support multiple causes; loyalty can be diluted.
How to retain them:
- Outcome-focused storytelling: Regular updates on rescues or rehoming because of lottery support.
- Positive reinforcement: Balance tough stories with happy endings to maintain morale.
- Supporter spotlighting: “Because of you, Alfie got his operation” – make it personal and uplifting.
Children’s Charities: High Empathy, High Standards
Audience:
Often parents or grandparents, with a strong emotional response to children's causes. Skews toward national appeal with some regional depth near specific hospitals or projects.
Why they attrite:
- Crisis fatigue: Long-term child illness or poverty narratives can emotionally drain supporters.
- Generic messaging: If the updates don’t feel urgent or specific, they disengage.
- Value doubt: They want to know exactly what their money has done.
How to retain them:
- Transparent updates: Share specific outcomes and real-world change for children.
- Hope-based messaging: Avoid too much despair; focus on what’s being achieved.
- Family-led stories: Let parents, doctors, or teachers speak. It makes the impact feel real.
Hospice Charities: Deep Connection, Local Loyalty
Audience:
Often local/regional, older supporters with a direct connection to the hospice: a loved one or friend. Deeply emotionally invested players/supporters.
Why they attrite:
- Life stage changes: As donors age, financial management becomes tighter or they pass away.
- Emotional distance: Community-led acquisition can leverage general awareness and brand appeal, but these donors may have loose emotional connections.
- Lack of re-connection: Once the initial motivation fades, there’s no new emotional hook.
How to retain them:
- Legacy messaging: Emphasise the hospice as a lasting part of the community they helped build or maintain.
- Continuity communication: Remind them how ongoing support helps other families like theirs.
- In-memoriam framing: Honour loved ones by naming them in donor walls or draw acknowledgements where possible and appropriate.
Cross-Cutting Demographics and Lifestyle Factors
Understanding the type of cause isn’t enough – lifestyle and demographic data play a huge role in retention.
- Older Adults (65+)
Traits: More time, more loyal, but more sensitive to life changes
Retention strategy: Use direct mail, avoid jargon, tie to legacy and community
- Middle-Aged Professionals (35–55)
Traits: Busy lives, value-driven, tech-savvy
Retention strategy: Use email, show clear impact of giving, provide quick-read updates
- Young Adults (25–34)
Traits: Emotionally driven, impulse sign-ups, high attrition
Retention strategy: Gamify communications, use visuals, provide social proof and instant impact stories
- Rural Audiences
Traits: Value community, may know charity personally
Retention strategy: Personalised communications, local impact updates, include community language
- Urban/National
Traits: Less personal connection, more brand-driven
Retention strategy: Consistent tone, strong branding, data-driven segmentation
Final Thoughts: From Attrition to Advocacy
Retention isn’t about reducing cancellation rates – it’s about turning lottery players into believers. When supporters feel part of a cause they trust, understand, and emotionally connect with, they stay longer, and they tell others.
Key Takeaways for Lottery Operators:
1. Know your audience. Segment beyond age and geography. Dig into why they give.
2. Match your message. Hospice supporters don’t want the same language or tone as animal charity supporters.
3. Create an emotional loop. Show how playing each week leads to real-world change.
4. Don’t just communicate – relate. Use their language, reflect their values, and let them see themselves in the story.
By aligning your lottery communications with the specific needs and lifestyles of your audience, you can move from short-term players to lifelong supporters, no matter the cause.
Need help translating insight into action? We work with lotteries of every type to craft tailored retention journeys that reduce attrition and build long-term value. Let’s talk.
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About Sterling Lotteries
Sterling Lotteries partners with over 800 charities, providing leading prize-led expertise through responsible, innovative, and engaging weekly lotteries and raffles.
We power seamless player experiences, compliance peace of mind, and support charities running creative campaigns that bring prize-led fundraising to life.
www.sterlinglotteries.co.uk
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