Our school just had our family bingo night end of last month and it was a HUGE success!!! We charged $2 for 8 games (which we put into little packets ready to go) and we had potato or hotdog with chili and fixings for $1.50 a person or $5 for a family of 4-6 people. Once people came into the bingo room and saw the awesome prizes we had they went back out to get more bingo cards!!!
We did our bingo in conjunction with a free family game night, so there was no charge. We did offer pizza and drinks at a nominal cost. Ours is a K-5 school and since it was a FAMILY night, the folks played as a family. Each parent and child got a bingo card and the parents helped their younger children play. The first year we did it, I didn't know how it would go over, but everyone loved it. Bingo has that universal, multi-generational appeal!
You do have to watch your state for gambling rules/regulations. Since we weren't charging anything we were fine, but every state has it's own regs. If you discover that you need a gambling license, check with your school district to see if they already have one. They may allow you to operate the bingo night under their license.
For those of you who have tried this how much do you charge and what other things (if any) do you have with the bingo?? Is there food involved or is this strictly bingo only? I guess coming from a PTO mom who has a bingo fetish (it's my shameful secret lol) it sounds like a load of fun but what age groups do you find work best? We have a smaller elementary school about 300 children grades K-5 and I think this may be something worth looking into for next year so any info would be so greatly appreciated.
We use the local Fire Company's bingo supplies, then we give a donation back to them for $50, sometimes the churches might have this equipment as well.
Our school does a bingo night and has for 6 years. I've always helped butthis year I'm charing the event. We decided a few years ago to invest in our own Bingo things. You can get them reasonable cheap at Oriental Trading. We use the "slide tab" cards.
