Can Charity Gaming Help Your Organization Raise Funds and Achieve Goals?

Written by Mark Mason, Indiana Gaming Commission

Are you looking for a new stream of non-dues revenue to help your organization achieve its goals and carry out your board’s plans? Have you considered conducting a raffle to raise money for a cause? How about hosting a fun night of bingo to raise scholarship funds? Would you like to host a euchre or poker tournament in your community to help raise awareness and make a financial impact?

Conducting a charity gaming activity may be a solution. It is not difficult but there are rules that must be followed, and you must organize and plan.

There are currently more than 3,700 organizations in Indiana that are “qualified” to conduct charity gaming activities. These activities help raise funds to assist their organizations and other charities in the state. The Charity Gaming Division of the Indiana Gaming Commission oversees these efforts which reported nearly $475 million in gross gaming revenue in the most recent fiscal year. Many qualified organizations report more than $1 million in gross gaming revenue.

What qualifies as “gaming”?

You may be asking, “Do I really need a license to raffle off a donated Yeti cooler?” Believe it or not, the answer is yes. It may be a quick one-time opportunity to raise funds, but it does require a charity gaming license.

In general, we define “gaming” as when you risk something of value to gain something of value and the determining factor is chance. When you raffle off that Yeti Cooler, the person must buy a ticket or bring in three cans of food for the food pantry to get an entry. They are putting up something of value. Obviously, they are obtaining a chance to win the Yeti cooler that has value. Even though it may have been donated, it has a fair market value.

When you select a ticket or draw a name out of a hat, the winner is selected by chance. However, games of skill like trivia, corn hole or shooting a basketball free throw (we are in Indiana) do not require a charity gaming license. In those cases, the factor determining the winner is skill, not chance.

What license do I need?

All charity gaming events must be licensed by the Indiana Gaming Commission so your organization must do some planning before beginning the event. Indiana law requires that your organization must be declared “qualified” before the gaming event can begin.

The process is free but can take up to 60 days. Once qualified you can then apply for the type of license that best suits your needs. Our six most popular types of licenses or notifications are:

• Single Activity License - The Single Activity License application is used when an organization would like to conduct a charity gaming activity once every so often, not on a regular basis. The single activity license will be valid for 1 day and 1 time frame.
• Annual Activity License - The Annual License Application is used when an organization would like to conduct charity gaming activities on a regular basis, such as holding bingo activities every Thursday. The license, when issued, will be valid for a one-year ongoing period.
• Exempt Activity Notification - The Exempt Activity Notification form may be used when an organization would like to conduct a charity gaming activity once every so often and the charity gaming activity prize/payouts are no more than $2,500 for a single activity, and no more than $7,500 across all gaming activities in a single year.
• Festival License - The Festival License is available for organizations that would like to conduct multiple types of charity gaming activities on more than one day. This license can be used to hold activities for up to five consecutive days at one location.
• Convention Raffle License - Organizations that are located outside Indiana can conduct raffle activities by using this application. The organization may conduct raffle activities at their conference at an Indiana convention center or at a location approved by the Indiana Gaming Commission Executive Director.
• Candidates Committee Raffle License – Political candidate’s committees may apply to conduct raffle activities by using this form. 

Whatever the type of event you want to conduct, we can find a license to fit your plans. 

How much is this going to cost us?

Your initial charity gaming license may be free or could cost $50 depending on the type of event.  After the first license is issued, subsequent licensing costs vary depending on the revenue you raised in your previous like event.

You are required to complete an Event Summary Report after each charity gaming event to track your revenue brought in and paid out. The ESR also helps you understand the gross gaming revenue raised by your event and thus determine the fees required for your next charity gaming license. This fee depends on your gross gaming revenue but is generally around 1% of the gross gaming revenue.

How long will it take to get our license?

It depends. Some licenses are returned as quickly as 14 business days while other applications may take up to 60 business days. Planning is the key to such success, but we always suggest that you call us to discuss your plans. We are always more than happy to help you through the process to achieve success.

I still have questions!

Go to the Indiana Gaming Commission website at www.IN.gov/IGC/charity-gaming/ and open the Charity Gaming Basics document. This is an ever-evolving publication that will give you the highlights about charity gaming in Indiana. It is a good starting point for all types of games and activities associated with charity gaming activities.

You can also email us any questions at [email protected]. We try to respond to all questions within 24 hours, if not more quickly. Please try to include your name as well as an active email address and telephone number as we often respond more quickly by phone or email. Feel free to call us at (317) 232-4646 and leave us a voice message. Again, we try to return all calls within 24 hours, if not sooner.

If you have a group of 30 or more who need professional development in this area, we will try to come to you for a training session and to answer questions. We benefit by getting you started on the right path.

The Charity Gaming Division of the Indiana Gaming Commission is available to help you in any way that we can. Many non-profit organizations do great things in their communities. One way they can afford to help their organizations and communities is through their charity gaming events. We want to help you succeed so feel free to reach out to us.