*5.1. The Heritage Lottery as a Tool to Raise Funds for the Restoration of Pre-Identified Sites*

They were collected 15 million euros for the benefit of the Mission Patrimoine. To quote the president of FDJ, the "French are [with the Loto du ¨Patrimoine] twice winners, since they can win as players but also because they will financially support something useful". The amounts collected, supplemented by donations made directly to the Fondation du Patrimoine for the rehabilitation of identified sites, will make it possible to reach a budget of around € 35 million [25]. This amount represents 10% of the annual budget allocated by the Ministry of Culture to historic monuments. On 15 January 2019, the Mission Patrimoine disclosed the exact amount of funding allocated to each of the 269 earmarked sites: while some project leaders were disappointed by the amounts they would finally receive, others were fully satisfied.

The other sources of funding for the restoration of the sites are both public (city, administrative district, the Ministry of Culture via its regional delegation) and private, namely by way of tax deductible sponsorship. The Mission Patrimoine proves to be a powerful vehicle to facilitate the involvement of private stakeholders: financial donations earmarked to the Foundation are automatically recognized as tax-deductible, and donations in kind are also facilitated (for example, a catering service offered for an event aimed at promoting the endangered site, then invoiced to the Mission Patrimoine, is tax exemption eligible in the same way as a financial donation). Despite the absence of a tax rebate, the expectation of a gain with the heritage lottery was a strong enough incentive to secure a significant budget. The sums collected might have been higher if a communication campaign had succeeded in giving greater prominence to the sites, particularly via mass media, of which Stéphane Bern is a specialist.

### *5.2. On the Relevance of the List of Sites to Receive the Proceeds from the Heritage Lottery*

Established by the Ministry of Culture and the Heritage Foundation, the list contains sites of significant historical importance, as well as other sites of more questionable historical importance. Greater transparency in the selection process, and perhaps also the involvement of other stakeholders—particularly within local communities—in the selection of sites, could have a significant impact on the amounts collected in future occurrences of the lottery.

### *5.3. On its Ability to Nurture the Public's Interest in National Heritage*

The public, whether local residents or not, show little awareness of the beneficiary sites. This first occurrence of the lottery seems to have an effect which limited fundraising for monument restoration, with little effect, on communities, potentially interested in the site. Besides offering tickets in the effigy of the 18 emblematic sites, the lottery could have been more effective in developing the general public's awareness and interest for the 269 restauration projects, for example using TV documentaries. As such, the decision to purchase a lottery ticket might be merely motivated by the hope for winning than the keen intention to sponsor heritage. Because of the large number of tickets sold and the strong notoriety of the project leader, the lottery is nonetheless a potentially powerful means for structuring communities around the designated sites. If "sponsorship in skill" (*mécènat de compétence*) were to be made a mandatory component of the financing plan, it would result in enhancing the local community's involved and trust in heritage management [26,27], whilst stimulating the local economy and contributing to the preservation of craftsman skills.
