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Bingo at Fundraising Events

If you're unfamiliar with bingo, you might want first to read Bingo: The basics - click here

Fundraising Events for Playing Bingo

Bingo is a good game to play at many different fundraising events - for example:

• bingo evening
• charity dinner
• buffet supper, say along with another fundraiser like a charity auction or before a disco
• games evening - with other games that everyone can join in like dominoes, cards or tiddly winks, or a beetle drive
• quiz night

You could also include bingo as a "side-show" game at a fete or fair, and hold two or three bingo sessions during the event.

In Great Britain - so long as you play prize bingo - you can charge whatever you think players will be prepared to pay for bingo tickets, and there are no limits on prizes.

More about the law

The law has now changed in Great Britain (but not in Northern Ireland) - and as follows:

• Prize bingo: if the prizes for your bingo games (prizes like a bottle of wine or chocolates or cash prizes) are determined beforehand and do NOT depend on how many people are playing, then there are NO restrictions on admission charges, stakes or prizes
• Equal chance bingo: if instead the prizes depend on how many people people are playing (such as the level of prize money is determined by the takings on the day), then the all-in charge for admission and tickets must not exceed £8 and the total prize money must not exceed £600.   

In Northern Ireland, you are limited to an all-in charge of £4 covering admission  - and the total value of prizes cannot be more than £400. You also have to inform the police of your event 7 days beforehand, tell participants how the proceeds will be used, and keep accounts of how the money was spent.

Planning the Bingo Games

Playing 1 - 90 Bingo

This is probably going to be your best choice for a fundraising event which is a "one-off" occasion, or something you're planning to do only a few times a year:

• as 1 - 90 bingo is the traditional UK bingo game, many of those attending your event will know how to play it already
• your outlay on bingo tickets will be far less than on buying plastic shutterboard cards for playing 1 - 75 bingo

Although the usual 1 - 90 bingo game has 3 winning patterns in one game - line, 2 lines, full house - you can just play for a full house on some or all of the games.

For something different, you could play one or more games of "Round the Track" - all the numbers on the outside of the ticket.  (This game is also known as the "Naafi Sandwich" - all bread and no filling!)

Games and Prizes

How many bingo games you're going to play - and the sort of prizes you'll offer - depends very much on the type of fundraising event:

• at a charity dinner, you might play only a couple of games - one for "warming up" and then a star prize game
• if you can get companies to sponsor prizes - so they really are star prizes - then those attending your charity dinner may be prepared to pay a lot of money for their tickets

For events where there are other entertainments, you might hold a bingo session of 5 - 6 games:

• most of the games could be for quite modest prizes - donated items, or a cuddly toy, or cash prizes
• you could have a final game with special prizes - perhaps something like a dinner for two donated by a local restaurant, or a leg of lamb donated by the butcher.  It adds a lot to the fun, and you can raise more funds by charging extra for the bingo tickets for that game

If you're planning on a bingo evening - with no other entertainments - then you might want to play as many as 10 or 12 games of bingo, perhaps in two sessions with refreshments in-between.  Even with small prizes, you can add interest if one or two games have better, or different, prizes.

Traditional Bingo Calls

Though it's no longer the fashion in bingo halls, you can create a lot more atmosphere at a fundraising event if your bingo caller uses the traditional bingo calls - such as "two little ducks: 22".

Essentials

Bingo Tickets

You need to buy 1 - 90 bingo tickets.  There are two different formats of bingo ticket - bingo singles (or flyers) and bingo booklets - and it's important for the smooth-running of your fundraising event that you choose the right format for the bingo games you're going to play.

It is worth taking the time to read our separate information page on bingo tickets; which will also help you work out how many tickets to buy.

Bingo Selector

If your findraising event is a small and friendly one-off occasion, then it mayn't matter too much if you have to improvise with ping-pong balls and a bag to draw the bingo numbers.

But if you're playing bingo at fundraising events quite often - or if it's a big occasion like a charity dinner - then it's certainly worth buying a bingo cage or electronic bingo selector.

• a small bingo cage is the cheapest option - but if elderly people who may be hard of hearing are attending your event, then a electronic bingo selector does have the advantage that they can also see the number that has been called
• for a charity dinner or other big occasion, a giant bingo cage looks really impressive

Bingo Dabbers

Not eveyone will come armed with a pen or felt-tip to mark off the numbers on their bingo ticket.  You can sell bingo dabbers to players - and raise some more funds.

Volunteer Helpers

As well as a bingo caller, it's a good idea to have at least one steward who can go up to the player who's called "bingo", and read their numbers out for the caller to check.