We have our bingo with our basket raffle. the bingo is easy. we rent the light up board, table that pops up the numbered balls and all the slide cards for $100. they deliver and pick up. We use honor society volunteers who need the hours and they hand out the bingo cards through out the event. We sell a $3 wristband which allows 1 card to play the entire 2 hours. it eliminates having to collect tickets for every game. We have multiple winners every play. We purchase some prizes and we have others donated from the area businesses. We have our basket raffles, some silent auction items and we serve pizza and snacks.
We did golden ticket bingo! We found a five pound chocolate bar for the golden ticket game. With every prize given out they got to pick a small chocolate bar... if they got one of the golden tickets they were eligable to play for the BIG candy bar. It was alot of fun. If I could have done anything differently, it would have been to have more golden tickets. The golden ticket game took a little to long.
Yes, you more than likely need a gaming permit. Our costs $25 and is purchased thru the County Auditors Office. Call and ask for a form atleast one month prior to the event. Not a hard thing to do.
We hold an annual BOOK BINGO. We purchased "bruised books" thru Scholastics IRC resource book. We use Scholastic vouchers that we buy after our Book Fairs. We have boarded bingo cards (the kinds with the little doors that you slide over the number) that we sell for $1 each, limit of one (so we have enough for everyone). We have 3-4 kid winners per bingo game and they come up and select a book. We have 2-3 adult winners per game and they come and select either a book or a prize from the adult table. The adult table consist on inexpensive items we buy or items that we received as donations. Example restraunt certificates, tupperware, tools, etc. We run regular bingo games for one hour (different games though such as Letter L, stand up bingo, Kite, etc). At the hour intermission every kid who did not win a bingo gets to come up and select a book. Every kid present receives a book. Then we hold our Black Out bingo for a grand prize. Grand prize for a kid is $25 to the Book Fair (which is always a few weeks from the bingo night). Grand prize for the adult is something usually costing $50. In past years we have had an outdoor fire pit, electric cooler, free standing patio umbrella with two wicker/iron chairs. Our bingo games are projected onto a screen by an overhead projector and our Principal calls out the bingo numbers. Our book bingo's are always a full house. Everyone has a great time and it is a really easy event to put on.
Not to scare you, but as soon as you use the word "bingo", you're dabbling in gambling and your local government might have a say in whether you can do it or not. In our state, we had to really probe to get someone in the state's gaming department to agree that our format was ok. If we had just gone by what was on the bingo/gaming license, no one under 21 would have been allowed to play. We don't give out cash prizes, and we don't charge admission, but on the surface, because kids were involved, it was illegal. When we really pressed the issue, the state rep agreed that there was a loophole that would make our bingo night ok.
It's prudent to check on gaming laws in your state so you do things properly. We did bingo night a couple of times under the radar, but I feel much better knowing we're on the up and up.
