Lottery Altruism

As lottery jackpots have increased, winners have found themselves becoming more and more altruistic. Years ago, when you might have been lucky to win a million, you wouldn't have had an awful lot of change left over after buying a new home, new car, travelling the world and setting some money aside for your own long term financial security. But today, with jackpots generally being much higher, the multi-millionaire lottery winner can afford to be a little less selfish.

What many people don't often consider is how they can be altruistic in the most efficient way possible. Sure, if we win £20 million then we could just take £1 million and start throwing it to all the needy causes we can think of. But there are better ways of sharing lottery wealth - ones that actually benefit the good causes more than if you were to simply give them a lump sum. Here are our suggestions for being efficiently altruistic should you ever get lucky enough to become a lottery multi-millionaire.

Be Selective - No matter how much money you have won, be it £10 million, £20 million or even more, you will never have enough to help all of the needy causes that could make good use of more funds. This means that you will need to be selective and pick just a few good causes that you can assist in a meaningful way rather than trying to help everyone and failing. If you have one or two favourite charities then your decisions here may be easy to make, but if not you should do research properly.

Be Discerning - As soon as news of your lottery win becomes public knowledge (which will happen eventually, regardless of whether or not you opt for publicity) you will find yourself inundated with requests for financial support. Some of these requests will be genuine, but others will be sob stories dreamed up to try and get you to part with your money. Always fully check details of any request you are considering, and never make a contribution based on trust and word of mouth.

Be Wise - There are better ways of giving than in cash. Whilst giving a £1 million gift outright to your favourite charity might make you feel good, it may be better to put the same amount into a charitable trust that gives the selected charity an annual income over the long term. It is worth discussing your options with your financial advisor to make the most sensible decision based on the economic and tax situation at the time.

The odds of you winning any lottery jackpot are small, but if you are lucky enough to become a multi-millionaire and you want to use some of your good fortune to help others, the three tips presented here should come in very handy indeed.

- 30/8/07