When Connections Last: St Margaret’s Hospice Lottery for Modern Fundraising

Image credit: St Margaretss Hospice Care

In fundraising, getting that first payment is important, but building long-term relationships matters even more. At Zen Fundraising, we believe that supporter retention tells a much more meaningful story than just sign-up numbers. It shows trust, donor experience, and whether people truly feel connected to a cause after their first interaction.

In 2018, Zen launched the UK’s first face-to-face fundraising campaign using Recurring Card Payments (RCP). Since then, this payment method has delivered strong ROI and donor retention for regular giving campaigns. It helps charities create smoother supporter journeys and reduces the friction that often comes with traditional payment methods.

In 2025, together with St Margaret’s Hospice Care, we launched what we believe was the UK’s first face-to-face charity lottery campaign using Recurring Card Payments. And while we were confident in the operational benefits of this model, the long-term retention results have exceeded our expectations.

The data continues to mature, but the early indicators are incredibly encouraging. While we expected first-payment success rates to remain high given the payment method, we’re thrilled to see that 99% of supporters are successfully making their first subscription payment.

Even more importantly, attrition currently sits at around 1% per month, meaning lottery player retention at 6 months is an incredible 94%. Which for us, says something much bigger than campaign performance alone.

It shows what’s possible when fundraising is both transparent and focused on the supporter experience.

At a time when many charities are navigating increasing financial pressure and rising operational costs, long-term supporter retention has never mattered more. Independent hospice charities across the UK provide vital end-of-life and palliative care support to more than 250,000 people every year, yet many continue to face significant funding challenges as demand for services grows.

St Margaret’s Hospice Care has supported people and families across Somerset for more than 4 decades, providing compassionate palliative and end-of-life care in hospice settings and in the community. Like many hospices, sustainable long-term fundraising is crucial to protecting those services for future generations, and the quality of supporters and their engagement is also important.

Health and medical charities still get the largest share of donations in the UK, but hospice fundraising often depends on regular supporters giving small amounts over time. These long-term relationships bring stability, consistency, and real ongoing impact.

For us at Zen, this campaign’s success also shows how important it is to keep evolving fundraising in ways that are ethical, thoughtful and supporter-focused.

Face-to-face fundraising still offers something special in today’s digital world: real human interaction. When combined with easy payment experiences and respectful supporter journeys, these conversations can lead to lasting connections that help both charities and their supporters.

We’re very proud to work with St Margaret’s Hospice Care and look forward to developing more fundraising approaches that put trust and transparency at the heart of all we do.

The Zen Way