View the video below to get a quick tour of how My Lotto Syndicate works. Scroll down for more detail.
Getting Started
Getting started with My Lotto Syndicate is as easy as clicking the Start a Syndicate button on the home page. This will take you through a process of firstly creating your own account as the Syndicate Administrator, and then taking you to a page where you enter the Syndicate information.
This is followed by adding members. When you add each member an account is created for them and they will receive an email with a link which they can use to activate their account. When activating the account they will be asked to agree to the Syndicate Agreement which outlines all the expectations of Syndicate members and Administrators. You can see a copy of the Syndicate Agreement here. With each member having their own login, they can view their balances and the Syndicate information any time.
Managing Your Syndicate
Shared Cost
Taking Turns
Buying Your Tickets
Paying Out Winnings
Subscribing
Managing your Syndicate
How you manage your Syndicate depends on which Syndicate Type you choose:
Shared Cost
This Syndicate type is where members each contribute a regular amount to the Syndicate funds, which are then used to purchase tickets. This requires tracking of each members’ balance, their share of the winnings, and making draw information available to every person.
My Lotto Syndicate Manager makes this easy by helping you keep track of member’s balance and winnings balances. When a ticket is purchased, it automatically deducts each member’s share of the cost, and when you win, it adds each members’ share to the winnings balance or member’s balance according to your Syndicate settings. When a member pays some money to the Syndicate Administrator, there is a quick and easy form to register the payment, which is then added to the member’s balance.
The website doesn’t have the facility for members to pay actual money into it, or for winnings to be paid out from it. As the Administrator, you will still need to collect the physical money and manage the winnings or bank account. However, the website will make it easier by working out what has been collected, what needs to be paid out to whom, and by making sure everything is transparent. The totals held on the website should always reconcile with the money in the Syndicate fund.
Members are able to login to the website themselves at any time and view their own balances, and information about the Syndicate draws entered.
The process looks like this:
- Members pay their contributions to the Syndicate Administrator who records the payment on the website, adding it to their member balance.
- A ticket is purchased by the Syndicate Administrator and the details (including a scan or photo of the tickets) are uploaded to the website. Members are automatically emailed to let them know they are in the draw and receive a link to view the tickets and information.
- Previous tickets are checked by the Syndicate Administrator and the results are entered on the website. Members are automatically emailed to let them know if there has been a win. The Syndicate Administrator banks or distributes the winnings.
Take Turns
To save the work associated with collecting and managing money, some may opt to have a Syndicate where members take turns to purchase a ticket. This requires keeping track of whose turn it is, making sure tickets are purchased and draw information uploaded, and ensuring results are recorded and managed correctly.
My Lotto Syndicate Manager makes this easy by tracking whose turn it is to buy a ticket next and it will automatically divide any winning amount between the members, depending on the Syndicate settings for winnings.
Members can login to the website at any time and view when their turn is, view any winnings balance, and see information about the Syndicate draws entered.
The process looks like this:
- Members buy the ticket(s) when it is their turn. They buy a ticket of the type and value specified in the Syndicate details.
- The Member adds the details of the ticket(s) on the website (including a scan or photo of the ticket). The other Members are automatically emailed to let them know they are in the draw and receive a link to view the tickets and information.
- Tickets are checked after the draw by the person who purchased them, and they enter the results on the website. Members are automatically emailed to let them know if there has been a win. Any money won is collected by the member and passed onto the Syndicate Administrator to bank into a Syndicate account or to distribute it according to the Syndicate settings.
- The next person to buy a ticket is automatically emailed to let them know it is their turn.
Buying your Tickets
One thing the website doesn’t do is buy your Lotto tickets for you. You will still need to do this by through your online Lotto account or by purchasing from a Lotto Retailer.
Once you have purchased your ticket you will need to take a photo or scan, and upload it to the website by clicking on the ‘Add a Draw’ option on your Syndicate Quick Menu. All the members will then be automatically emailed to let them know they are in the draw and will be provided with a link where they can view the tickets.
It is important that draw information is uploaded before the draw takes place.
Paying Out Winnings
There are number of options for paying out Syndicate winnings.
You can choose to add any lesser winnings (amounts below a threshhold that you specify) to Member’s balances or you can also choose to pay out all winnings whether large or small. Other options include donating lesser winnings to a charity, or you could accumulate those lesser winnings on each Members account to be paid out at a certain time of the year.
When adding lesser winnings to Member’s individual winnings balances, the website will keep track of all the winnings for each person based on the draws they participated in. This means that a person who joined the Syndicate half way through a year will only get the last 6 months winnings accumulated in their account. When it comes to Pay Out time, the website will remind you and you can go to the Pay Out page which will list the amounts to be paid to each Member.
Subscribing
There are costs to maintaining and developing a website like this and to help we ask all Syndicate to contribute a small amount per member once a year by way of a subscription. The first 6 month of use are free to give time for you to evaluate whether the website is adding value for you. For more information, please visit the Cost page.