'Run the Lottery' Event

What is a 'Run the Lottery' event?

A scheme for the distribution of prizes that runs by randomly selecting a number. The lottery takes into account a participant's compliance to a previous event(s), as well as a matching digit to determine eligibility for winning the lottery. 

How do I set up a 'Run the Lottery' event? 

(warning) Before you can create 'Run the Lottery' events, you need to enable lottery on the arm level. 

  1. Navigate to Manage Study → Study Arms. Then select 'Edit' for the arm where you want to add the lottery.



  2. In the Financial Incentives section, check both the payments and the lottery options.  Then click 'Save'.
    1. Note: Payments must be select for a lottery to be added to the arm, because this selection is what triggers the platform to provide the online W9 form and query participants about their payment preferences, thus allowing them to receive payments through Way to Health.
    2. (lightbulb) Tip! The most common lottery scheme is Fixed Position with a 2 Digit Drawing.
      1. Lotto: You pick the number of digits in a lottery and then what the prize would be for matching any number of those digits. Position does not matter.
      2. Fixed Position: You create a lottery with a certain number of digits and people win if their numbers match in the exact order (the same digit occurring in the same position). You can set a prize for each possible number of matches. 



  3. You will now see the Financial Incentives on the arm. Select 'Event Schedule' for the lottery arm. 



  4. Click the blue 'Add New Event' button and select 'Run the Lottery' as the event type. Name the event. 



  5. Name the lottery event. 

  6. Next, decide when you want the lottery to run. 
    1. (lightbulb) Tip! Typically, the lottery will be evaluating a previously completed event to determine eligibility (Step count, medication adherence, weight) and therefore should run one day after that event was completed. 
      1. You can choose for the event to begin:
        1. Immediately at participant start 
        2. Same day as participant starts
        3. After participant start (day 7)
        4. After participant start by day of the week (2nd Monday)  
      2. For example, if Daily Step count starts on Day 0 and meeting the step goal is the basis for lottery eligibility, then the lottery should start on Day 1. 



  7. Indicate any repeats.  Then click the blue 'Define Lottery Criteria' button to set up the lottery logic. 
    1. (lightbulb) Tip! Usually, the lottery repeats on a daily or weekly basis.  So for a 30-day study, the lottery would run 30 times. 

How do I build logic on 'Run the Lottery' event?

  1. Once inside the logic, select the condition for which the lottery should look at to determine eligibility.  To do this, click 'select condition'. For lottery eligibility, it is typically looking at a previous event's completion or compliance. 
    1. Compliance Example: Participant met their step goal the previous day --> eligible
    2. Completion Example: Participant open their pill bottle the previous day --> eligible 



  2. Select the event for lottery eligibility. 


  3. Indicate the completion or compliance criteria requirements for lottery eligibility. 
    1. In this example, the participant needs to compliant (meet their daily step count goal from the previous day) in order to be eligible. 



  4. Type the 2 eligibility scenario and selected number messages into the 4 message text boxes. 
    1. You can include AMOUNT, WINNING_NUMBER, and YOUR_NUMBER variables into the messages.



  5. Indicate the lottery winning amounts. In the following example, the participant will win $50 for matching both numbers and $5 for matching $1.  If a participant is eligible for the lottery every single day of the study, they can expect to earn $1.40/day, as indicated by the 'Total Expected Value'.  



  6. Click 'Save Logic'. 

  7. Your new 'Run the Lottery' event will now be visible in the Overview of the arm schedule.