BankGiro Lottery

The BankGiro Lottery was a very popular among the Dutch. It gives participants the possibility to win a lot of money while supporting charities at the same time. BankGiro part of the so-called ‘National Charities Lotteries’ in the Netherlands. Together with other lotteries it supports 69 cultural organizations in total. To do so, the BankGiro Lottery donates a big part of it’s revenue. It’s all made possible by the hundreds of thousands of participants who are dreaming of winning the lottery.

BankGiro Lottery merged with Friends Lottery

update August 18, 2023

The BankGiro Lottery, part of the Goede Doelen Loterijen (Charity Lotteries), has merged with the VriendenLoterij as of August 16, 2021 and from now on operates under that banner. The revamped VriendenLoterij now supports not only organizations dedicated to the welfare of people, but also cultural institutions and organizations.

Non-profit organization with a focus on culture

Where does to money go to?
The money is divided between museums, historical and cultural projects or to other cultural foundations and organizations. The world-famous Rijksmuseum is a very good example of this, but historical monuments and houses get support as well. The National Theatre and Natura Artis Magistra can count on the donations of lottery as well. The amount of money varies from 100.000 to even a million euros for a cultural project.

Supporting charities
The BankGiro Lottery was established in 1961 as the ‘Girolottery’. It changed it’s name in 1978. From then on it focused mainly on charities. Since 2002 this lottery has been part of the so-called ‘Holding Nationale Goede Doelen Loterij’. It works together with the Postcodeloterij and the Vriendenloterij. BankGiro is the ‘older brother’, because the other two lotteries were both established in 1989. The number of participants is still growing . Nowadays about 600.000 people participate in the weekly and monthly draws of the BankGiro Lottery.

Dutch heritage in the spotlight
A few years ago it was decided that BankGiro would focus on cultural organizations. . The fact that BankGiro focuses on Dutch culture is one of the main reasons for people to participate. Of course they like to win a lot of money as well. However, people appreciate the fact that more than 50 percent of the lottery revenue is meant for cultural organizations. The lottery and her participants think that the Dutch heritage is incredibly important. It’s also more easy for them to participate in a lottery than to visit a museum or another cultural monument.

When the the draw of the Bank Giro Lotto?

Every 10th of the month

It’s not very difficult to participate. You always play with the last five numbers of your account number. Two letters are connected to these numbers to make the lottery tickets unique. It’s possible to participate with several tickets on your account number. You have to wait until the 10th of the month if you’re lucky, because on that day the draw takes place. However, there are also some weekly draws.

Extra draws Bank Giro Holland

Interestingly enough, the BankGiro also organizes the so called ‘thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth draw’. This means that there’s an extra draw in the months January, February, July, August, October and November. Good news, because these extra draws increase your chance of winning a lot of money.