AU2001100084A4 - A system comprising a gaming method with a proportion of the profit - Google Patents

Description

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 PROVISIONAL PATENT APPLICATION Invention Title: A System Comprising a Gaming Method with a Proportion of the Profit Applicant: Jodie Broad This invention is described in the following statement: A SYSTEM COMPRISING A GAMING METHOD WITH A PROPORTION OF THE PROFIT BENEFITING CHARITABLE ORGANISATIONS FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention is directed to a system where members contribute a small amount of money each preset period (for instance weekly) to a central organisation/authority. Prize winners are chosen at random, and the winnings are return to the winning member/members. The Prize value is less than the combined contributions to the central organisation/authority, and the left over is divided up amongst one or more charitable organisations.

BACKGROUND ART Charities often struggle for funding and require donations from the public in order to allow the charities to undertake the charitable activities.

Such charities can include (but need not be limited to) the Red Cross, Children's Leukaemia and Cancer Society, Guide Dogs Association, Lifeline, Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, AIDS Research, Salvation Army, World Wildlife Fund, Greenpeace, Multiple Sclerosis Society, various Conservation Funds and like.

Many members of the public are extremely generous and will donate to one or more charities. These donations are typically yearly, or half yearly. While such donations are extremely valuable to a charitable organisation, the organisation would prefer a more regular set of donations, for instance on a weekly basis. However, weekly donations will usually be quite small, and will not be worth doing because of deduction of bank charges, fees for writing cheques, credit card charges and the like.

With the range of charities which are available, many members of the public do not have full appreciation of the types of charities which are available. For instance, a person may wish to donate to charitable organisations for ill children, but may not be fully aware of all the different types of organisations which may exist. For this reason, it is sometimes the case that the smaller charitable organisations miss out as they are unable to advertise themselves to attract sufficient public interest. However, many of the smaller charitable organisations provide extremely valuable services to ill children.

It is known to have a group of people combining together to donate to one or more charities. The group usually comprises people known to each other, or people working together, people in the same club or organisation and the like. However, such a group will always be relatively small in number (typically less than 100). This means that the combined "donation power" of the group, while being a better than individuals, is still relatively low.

It is a known fact that many members of the public wish to donate money to one or more charities, but for many reasons including work pressures, and general disorganisation, do not do so. It would be advantageous if these members could be enticed to make donations. It is considered that these members would be happy to donate to charitable organisations if the mechanism of doing so could be simple and straightforward, and if the selection of charitable organisations could be left to other persons making good choices.

Another reason why many members of the public do not contribute to charities, or contribute only a less than normal amount, is that the members do not often see any clear benefits to themselves. Therefore, there would be an advantage in developing a system where members contributing to charitable organisations would see the possibility of a potential benefit to themselves.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to a system whereby a large number of members can pool money together, where there is a prize which is generated randomly for the benefit of some members, to entice members to enter into and stay in the system, and where a considerable amount of money is generated which can be distributed to one or more charitable organisations.

It is an object of the invention to provide a system which may overcome at least some of the abovementioned disadvantages or provide the public with a useful or commercial choice.

In one form, the invention resides in a system, the system comprising or having a large number of members join the system, having each member contribute a small amount of money on a regular basis to a central account/body, undertaking periodic prize draws to randomly select one or more prize winners from the members, paying prize money to the winning members, the prize draw having a total value which is less than the total contributions of all the members, and distributing the remaining funds to one or more selected charities.

Suitably, the system has an upper cap on the number of members which can join, and a lower cap on the number of members which can join. In an embodiment, a system can be devised to accommodate one million members. Of course, other member numbers are envisaged. If the number of members is too small, the prize money or the funding to the charities may be small, or the contributions of the members may need to be large. If the number of members is too large, the excitement of the periodic prize draw may be less and due to the extremely low chance of being a winner.

In order to facilitate regular donations from each member, it is envisaged that this can be achieved via a periodic transfer of a small amount of money from the members bank account/cheque account. Such direct debits are well known and it is envisaged that a member would welcome the ability to have a small amount of money debited periodically (eg weekly) without the member needing to go through the effort himself or herself.

It is envisaged that a bank or financial institution may be encouraged to sponsor the system. The sponsorship should be extremely valuable as the system is designed to benefit charities while at the same time encouraging members to join the system and to stay in the system.

Sponsorship benefits may include advertising on a website, sponsorship of prizes, and making sure that the selected charitable organisations are made aware of the sponsors.

It is envisaged that each member will donate approximately $1 on a weekly basis to the central account/body. This makes a total annual donation of approximately $52 per member, which spread over 52 weeks will be easily accommodated by the member without any foreseeable financial hardship.

The central account/body may comprise an authorised account which combines all the periodic member donations. If the system has one million members each donating $1 per week, the authorised account will have $1 million per week deposited in it.

Member details will be kept and can be logged on a computer or database. The member details may include the member bank account such that any prize money can be deposited back into the member bank account.

The database can also keep tabs on the number of members in the system.

A reserve list can be kept of members wishing to join the system but where the system has its maximum number of members. Should an existing member leave the system, the first member on the reserve list can be invited to join.

A periodic prize draw is held. The prize draw may be held on a weekly basis, monthly basis, half yearly basis and the like. In order to keep membership interest, it is considered that the prize draw should be held on a weekly basis. The prize draw typically comprises a number of prizes of different values. For instance, the prize draw may comprise a large number of prizes of lower value, a grand prize, and a number of prizes of medium value.

The value of each prize should be sufficient to keep members interested in staying in the system. However, the combined prize value should not be too high to reduce the benefit to the charitable organisations.

For a system containing one million members, each donating $1 per week, it is envisaged that a weekly prize draw can be held and that the following prizes can be drawn: 1 prize of $100,000, 4 prizes of $50,000, prizes of $10,000, 200 prizes of $1000, and 100 prizes of $500, making a total of $750,000 of prize value each week. It is considered that such a draw, held each week, will be of great interest to the members,.

Prize money can be returned to the winning member, and this may be achieved by depositing the prize money back into the account from where the weekly contributions are being debited. It is envisaged that this can create excitement among the members, and can also provide a benefit to the banks and financial institutions.

Excess money can then be distributed to one or more charities.

It is envisaged that a system having one million members donating $1 each week, will generate sufficient funding even after deduction of prize money to allow substantial contributions to be made to any number of chosen charities.

Each charity will receive a contribution on a regular (typically weekly) basis, and can count on a regular donation for purposes of cash flow which will allow the charity to conduct forward planning for charitable work.

It is considered that the system will preselect the charities. It is also envisaged that a number of different systems can be made available to the public, each system having a different range of charities, a different prize system and the like. For instance, a system might be made available to the public which generally donates to medical type charities, while another system might be made available to the public which generally donates to environmental type charities and the like. A person can be made aware of the list of charities in order to allow the member to select which system should be entered into. The person can also check details of the size of the system (that is the maximum number of members in the system) the size and number and type of prizes and the like prior to applying for membership.

It is envisaged that a member in a system will be able to cancel membership at any time without penalty. For large systems, this will not affect the overall contribution to the charities. As mentioned above, a reserve list may be required for members wishing to be part of a particular system.

Initially, it is envisaged that if a system is made available to the public, and members begin to join and begin to contribute on a periodic basis, no prizes will be drawn, and no contributions to charities will be made until the membership number targets is achieved. If the membership target number is not achieved within a reasonable period of time (for instance six months), the system is disbanded. It is envisaged that any funds already in the system will be distributed to the charities as a "one-off" payment.

A website will typically be provided which can be accessed by members of a system. The website can give an update on the winners for that particular week, and can track the progress of the charities. The charities can provide details on the website of the latest projects and the various ways in which the charities are utilising the donations. It is considered that this will provide an extremely informative feedback mechanism to the members and which will encourage the members to stay in the system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS An embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the accompanying flowchart.

BEST MODE Referring to the accompanying flowchart, there is described generally the working of the system. Initially, a system is developed by an organising body. The organising body may include reputable members of the public. The organising body will decide the number of members in the system, the amount of deduction for each member, the timing of each deduction, the type, number and size of the prizes, and the number and type of the charities. This information will be made widely available to the public such that the public can choose to join. Members wishing to join the system, can approach their bank/financial institution to fill out an application form. The application form would include a direct debit authority to debit an amount (eg from the members bank account each week to a central account/body.

Once the application form has been signed, the bank/financial institution will forward the amount each week to the central account/body.

The system can be conducted on a national basis which means that customers can approach their local bank/financial institution to apply for membership. It is envisaged that there will be many customers for each local bank/financial institution, each of which will become a member.

The central account/body will keep details of each member, and of the amount of money deposited into the central account/body by the combined members. Once the required number of members have joined, the system takes effect. If the required number of members have not joined after a predetermined period of time (for instance six months), the system is disbanded.

In the embodiment, the system described is one which needs one million members to start. Each member donates $1 on a weekly basis to the central account/body. Once the membership numbers have been met, there will be $1 million per week sent to the central account/body. The central account/body will conduct or organise a weekly draw. In the embodiment, the draw will provide 1 prize at $100,000, 4 prizes of $50,000, 20 prizes of $10,000, 200 prizes of $1000 and 100 prizes of $500. The total prize money will therefore be $750,000. As $1 million is deposited each week into the central account/body, there will be a surplus of $250,000 each week which will be distributed to the selected charities. If the system designates 20 charities, each charity will receive at least $10,000 per week (with some of the surplus being required by the organising body to maintain records, and to run the system). The winners are chosen randomly by a computer system.

Over a one-year period, approximately $13 million would have been distributed to the designated charities. Over $39 million of prize money will have been returned to the members, and there will have been over 16,000 prizes given during the year.

A website will be provided by the central account/body to enable the members to track the winners, the donations made to the various charities, and the charities can provide information with respect to how the money is being spent.

Prize money will be returned to the winning member by depositing the money it to the bank account of the member, and it is envisaged that this will encourage the banks/financial institutions to sponsor the system, or at least to assist in the membership application.

It should be appreciated that various other changes and modifications may be made to the embodiment described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention

Claims (4)

1. A system comprising having a large number of members join the system, having each member contribute a small amount of money on a regular basis to a central account/body, undertaking periodic prize draws to randomly select one or more prize winners from the members, paying prize money to the winning members, the prize draw having a total value which is less than the total contributions of all the members, and distributing the remaining funds to one or more selected charities.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein each member has a bank account or other type of account, and the small amount of money is deducted from the account by a direct debit system to the central account/body.

3. The system of claim 1, or claim 2 wherein the system has a predetermined number of members, and a predetermined number and type of charities, to enable a potential member to select the system of choice.

4. The system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein a website is provided which provides an update on the winners and which tracks the progress of the charities. A system substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying flowchart. Dated this 12 th day of June 2001 Jodie Broad By her Patent Attorneys Cullen Co.