Are lotteries ever used to DISTRIBUTE rather than raise charity funds?

[Boojatta]

For example,

odds of winning: 1/50
cost: 25 cents
prize: $500

Sell at most one ticket per person, enforced by getting information at the time of purchase (such as full legal name, date of birth, and social security number) and verifying information before allowing a winning ticket to be redeemed. If there are discrepancies for a given ticket, then it doesn't win anything for the ticket holder.

[gravity]

1. Charity is suppose to be distributed by need, not luck

You aren't doing a service either by encouraging gambling behavior either

[Boojatta]

4. "Charity is suppose to be distributed by need"

Is there always enough money available to give enough to everyone who is needy?

"encouraging gambling behavior"
Suppose that the winning tickets are chosen and announced 60 days after the tickets were sold. What kind of gambling is that? Why shouldn't that kind of "gambling" be encouraged given the cost per ticket, the odds of winning, and the prize amount specified in my example?

[gravity]

7. Well why do you have to pay money for the tickets?

You can at least do it randomly by your social security number or DOB. The lottery ticket model will just encourage more people to buy lottery tickets in the future, which don't have favorable conditions.

As an alternative. if there isn't enough money for the needy, then you redefine the need to make sure the people who need it the most are getting the money.

[sandnsea]

2. They cost $1 at the grocery store

I don't get your point.

[golddigger]

3. Besides promoting gambling. Someone would have to be really "STUPID" to...

give their "date of birth" and "SSN" just to buy a lottery ticket. They're setting themselves up for fraud.Whose friggin idea is this anyway? The economy goes bad and the scam artists come out of the woodwork. Not saying you are scamming, but whoever gave you this idea, sucks a big one!

[Boojatta]

5. Do you have any ideas for preventing fraud from being

perpetrated against the charity while also protecting the privacy of participants in a lottery that distributes charitable funds?

[golddigger]

6. Why would there be fraud against the charity? Whenever I buy a raffle ticket

I sign my name and if I won I would produce my DL to verify that it is me. Why would they need date of birth and SSN? Also, the tickets should have a serial number on them and if that SN is drawn the person with the said ticket has those numbers wins.I'm not understanding what you are trying to say here

[Boojatta]

8. "Why would there be fraud against the charity?"

Obviously there's an incentive for people to violate the one-ticket-per-customer rule if they can get away with violating it.

Anyway, you answered my question: request a signature and, before winning tickets are cashed in, require a driver's license to be shown. However, wouldn't that make people who don't have driver's licenses ineligible for the charity?