FAQs

Our Vision: Hearts fit for life.

Our purpose:  To stop all people in New Zealand dying prematurely from heart disease and enable people with heart disease to live full lives.

• Every 90 minutes, one person in New Zealand dies from heart disease.
• Each year, we fund around $4 million of leading-edge heart research and specialist training for Kiwi cardiologists, and it is all thanks to people like you. Over $82 million has been invested since 1968 but we still have lots to do. Heart disease is New Zealand’s single biggest killer, and our best hope is continued research which is not possible without the continued help of generous Kiwis.
• Our education and prevention programmes tackle heart disease head-on in the community, wherever it is needed most. The work that we do with young children creates a foundation for keeping hearts healthy into the future.
• Every day, we connect with communities across the country providing much needed support, care and advice to some of the 170,000 people and their families affected by heart disease.

Our dedication and commitment to tackling heart disease drives everything we do.

Unfortunately, significant challenges over the last two years, including the cancellations of our ‘Big Heart Appeal’ street collections, have impacted our fundraising by hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Recent legislation changes on the sale of online charity lottery tickets now enable us to reach a wider audience of New Zealanders. The purchasing of Lottery tickets not only supports our life-saving work, but also gives participants the chance to win big prizes.

The new Big Heart Charity Lottery will run in addition to our long-standing Heart Foundation Lottery, which has seen over 130 brand-new homes won in the past 29 years.

The Big Heart Charity Lottery has five major cash prizes to be won.

The top prize is NZ$300,000 which is drawn a week after the published ticket sales close date.
During the Lottery, there will be four additional draws, each for NZ$50,000 on dates advertised.
When you buy a ticket, it will be entered into all remaining draws.

When you purchase a ticket, you must supply your name, email address and a physical address, so we have a complete record of ticketholders as required under our lottery licence.  A phone number is also requested in case we need to call you with the good news!

We will contact the winner as soon as possible after each draw.

Results will also be on the website as soon as possible after each draw. They will also be published in the next edition of the Sunday Star Times following each draw.

Please click here for the terms and conditions.

The Big Heart Charity Lottery currently has a licence to sell a maximum of 190,000 tickets.

We certainly do and we are just as committed to our flagship Lottery today, as we were nearly 30 years ago when it launched. We are proud to have handed the front door keys to a brand-new home to more than 130 winners! We have an exciting range of Jennian homes being built in holiday and retirement locations throughout New Zealand, along with other great prizes. Click here for all the details of our current house Lottery.

The two Lotteries are running on separate systems at this time.

If you are currently an Auto-Buyer in the house Lottery, that arrangement will continue. However, if you wish to support us further by playing the Big Heart Charity Lottery, you will need to make a separate online purchase.

We are delighted to have the support of ASB.  With very large cash prizes involved, we feel it is important for our winners to be given the opportunity to speak to a qualified specialist to discuss their options. Our Big Heart Charity Lottery banking partner, ASB is willing to offer a comprehensive financial review to our winners if required.  

You can call our friendly Big Heart Charity Lottery team on 0800 55 00 22

From overseas, please call +64 9 366 3483

You can also email the team at bhcl@heartfoundation.org.nz