Giving with an impact

A look at the work of our heads of charities

Thursday 20 April 2023 - Our stories

The charities departments of the Postcode Lotteries are focused on making an impact by funding good causes. In this edition of our series, ‘Five countries, one team’, we hear from our heads of charities who manage €850 million in annual funding. “Seeing change and improvement as a result of the player’s donations, is truly gratifying.”

Picture above, from left: Katja Diemer, Hélène Carlbark, Marieke Rodenhuis and Laura Chow

Thanks to almost 14 million players in 2022, the lotteries of the Postcode Lottery Group have supported hundreds of charities and thousands of social initiatives. Most of the charities can count on long-term support. In 2022, all beneficiaries together received a total of €850 million – that means €2.4 million is raised for charity in a single day.

Charities can use the unrestricted funding where they consider it the most effective and impactful. This funding philosophy, based on trust, is put into practice by the charities departments of the Postcode Lotteries.

In this series, we interview our heads of charities: they work for the Lotteries in the Netherlands, Sweden, Great Britain and Germany. They advise on supporting thousands of charities and projects. The newest lottery, Norsk Postkodelotteri in Norway, has two charity partners, SOS-barnebyer and WWF Norge, which also hold the licence.

What do you consider the most rewarding part of your job?
Laura: “Daring to try innovative ways to tackle social or environmental problems – then seeing the risk was worth it as the positive results become evident. The best part for me is seeing the big idea realised, the change achieved and the potential for learnings and ideas to be adopted elsewhere. In 2020 player support enabled the launch of an ambitious biodiversity restoration programme by Kent Wildlife Trust and Wildwood Trust. European bison were introduced to the woods. By felling trees, they bring light to the forest floor creating a more diverse habitat for many species.”

Hélène: "The most fulfilling part is witnessing the tangible impact of the lottery's support. Seeing change and improvement as a result of the player’s donations is truly gratifying. Additionally, it never fails to bring me joy to see the happiness of our winners. I often find myself tearing up while watching their reactions.”

Marieke: “It has to be witnessing the impact of our support and the outcomes that our partners achieve. Our emphasis on unrestricted, flexible funding makes a significant difference. Having been on the receiving end of funding, I can fully appreciate the type of funding we offer and the difference this can make to a charity’s work. I am proud to work for an organisation that demonstrates how a different approach can be successful.”

Katja: “Assisting others and having a fantastic team is extremely fulfilling. The valuable interactions with inspiring individuals, both within and outside of the lottery, are also rewarding. We have the chance to learn about society and its diversity through the lottery, which is run through a great business model.”

Jeroen: “Being able to support projects in the field of culture and heritage that appeal to our players. They are the ones who raise all the funds that we can then award. It is great to see players visiting museums and theaters with their VIP-card and visiting Open Days that we organise with our partners.”

How do you work together and learn across the Postcode Lottery Group as charity departments?
Laura: “The international heads of charities meet regularly to share best practices. Each lottery’s charity department has different expertise. For example, People’s Postcode Lottery has the longest-running small grants programme, which we call Community Programmes. We make small awards starting at of £500 to local community groups across Britain. We have been able to share our experience with our sister lotteries within the group when they have set up similar programmes.”

Hélène: “We also have joint funding for various focus areas, such as Project Oceans, Sea Shepherd, Eyes on the Amazon, and the Media Development Investment Fund. In 2020, we established expert teams made up of colleagues from all the lotteries to address different areas. These teams share best practices and discuss challenges.”

Laura Chow is head of charities at People’s Postcode Lottery in Great Britain. Before joining the lottery in 2016, she worked with charities through publishing, sustainable banking, grant management, volunteering, corporate fundraising, and disaster and emergency relief.

Hélène Carlbark.jpg

Hélène Carlbark has been the head of charities at Svenska Postkodlotteriet in Sweden since 2017. Prior to joining, she worked for Mentor Sweden, a charity supported by the lottery. She worked in recruiting, marketing, fashion and financial services, all with a sustainability focus.

Marieke Rodenhuis has been the head of charities at Nationale Postcode Loterij since 2022. Before joining the charity department in 2016 as an allocations coordinator, she worked for NGOs.

Katja Diemer has been the head of charities at Deutsche Postcode Lotterie since 2022. Before joining the charities department in 2018 as a relationship manager, she worked as a risk manager in the banking sector for 20 years.

Jeroen Branderhorst has been head of the partner department at VriendenLoterij since 2021. Before joining the Lotteries in 2005, he worked as a cultural marketeer.

Katja: “Working with Hélène, Laura, Marieke, and the rest of the team is extremely beneficial and productive. We share ideas and provide constructive feedback to each other, ensuring that all team members are familiar with one another and are comfortable reaching out for advice. Collaboration on projects to increase our impact, makes me feel like I am a part of something bigger.”

What factors determine which charities you support?
Laura: “Potential partners are reviewed for alignment with our aims for change, creativity, collaboration and community. We look for change-makers and innovators, advocates and activists. They need to demonstrate an innovative, creative approach to addressing issues and see the value of collaboration for greater impact and learning. We also look for organisations which work with their local community to deliver on their mission.”

Marieke: “We fund charities that work towards solving issues affecting people and the planet. Most of our annual donations are allocated to multi-year partnerships with established partners. We evaluate these partnerships regularly to determine if the organisation is still making a positive impact with our support and if we should continue funding them. We prefer to fund organisations that originate from civil society and have a wide base of public support.”

Katja: “Ultimately, we evaluate whether the project has the potential to make a positive impact on the world. Additionally, we take into account the preferences of our players, who make the funding possible. Our independent charity advisory board, known as the ‘Beirat’, makes the final funding decision.”

Jeroen: “We have several criteria, including the phase of the fundraising process, the number of visitors and the overall idea of a specific project. What we find most important is that the organisation has a specific target to reach a new, different, and/or bigger audience.”

What do you consider an essential development in the way Lotteries support charities?
Laura: “An important development in our approach, and that of other funders, is our funder plus model. We call it Partner Plus. We develop meaningful connections at all levels and our approach is bespoke, not standardised. We facilitate learning and sharing within our charity family and act as a convenor enabling networking and connecting those with different expertise.”

Hélène: “In my opinion, the provision of annual unrestricted funding is a crucial aspect of our support strategy. This allows our funding partners the flexibility to act quickly and make important decisions during challenging times. We have seen the value of this in our support in Ukraine.”

Marieke: "The philanthropic field is becoming increasingly interested in providing unrestricted, trust-based funding. The past few years have highlighted the importance of flexibility and trust for charities to effectively respond to rapidly changing challenges and priorities. It would make a significant impact if more funders were to adopt a more flexible approach to donor-grantee relationships.”

Jeroen: ““At VriendenLoterij we have moved away from awarding funds for specific purposes to our regular charity partners. This means a lot to them, because now they have the freedom to use lottery funding in the most efficient way. Before this change, funding was for acquisition and other core functions. Now, they can use it for education, marketing and other visitor related activities.”

During an international charities meeting in April 2023, all members of the charity departments from the 5 countries met in Amsterdam.

The Dutch Postcode Lottery has been running for more than 30 years, the German Postcode Lottery is relatively new. How does the stage your lottery is at determine your support?
Hélène: “Today, we support 60 charities representing a broad range of civil society. Our next step is to identify gaps and find organisations that complement our existing portfolio, add value in terms of operations, target groups, and working methods, and also have the potential to attract new players.”

Marieke: “Due to our long-standing relationship, we are willing to take on additional risks and fund endeavours that other funders often deem too early stage or too risky. This has led to some remarkable achievements, such as the creation of a vast new protected nature area in the Netherlands (Marker Wadden) and the development of a safer, more efficient, and less costly treatment protocol for tuberculosis that has the potential to improve the quality of life for millions of people. It is amazing that a lottery can have such a tremendous positive impact on the world.”

Katja: "I view our position as highly positive. We consistently learn from our sister lotteries, who are more experienced than we are. We can adopt their best practices but also experiment with new ideas. Ideally, this allows the other lotteries to learn from us as well. The best part is that we still have a great deal of potential and many opportunities for development and growth ahead of us."