Online Bingo- A Charitable Industry?

July 9, 2009 Articles

Written by Lisa (July 9, 2009 at 9:27 am)

Bingo has always been a game that is synonymous with charitable causes. In the history of the game, before it became commercialised, it was a regular fixture in community centres and church halls, helping to raise funds in an entertaining way. Comparable only to the National Lottery, bingo established itself as a vital part of the community, helping to fix church roofs and providing a great social activity for towns and villages up and down the country. When bingo halls began to open, this trend continued, and many land based bingo clubs are still utilising the fun game of bingo for good causes today. But as the popularity of the land based bingo club begins to wane, and more people are looking for their bingo fix online, are these online bingo operators still concerned with giving back to communities?

The online bingo hall has helped to revolutionise the game of bingo, bringing it to a wider and more diverse audience than ever before. It has done this through attractive player incentives, offering huge guaranteed jackpots and welcome bonuses. With big money to be won in online bingo, it is easy to think it is just about big prizes and not much else.

However, a lot of online bingo operators recognise the importance of building online bingo communities. With the social interaction of a club taken away, bingo halls online will offer a range of social tools like forums, chat rooms and even their own social networks. The online bingo sites that are getting it right and striking a chord with their players are the ones that realise that bingo is not just a faceless game, and is rooted in having fun and playing together. Charity forms another part of this community proposition.

So how do some online bingo sites give back? Some have charities that are designated on a monthly basis. Charity games play at online bingo sites, where a percentage of the profits from the game will be given direct to the nominated monthly charity. Mirroring the original pattern of offline bingo games, sites like Crown Bingo and Gala Bingo are typical of this idea, with players often able to contribute their ideas as to which charities should be next featured on site. These type of games are great because regardless of win or lose situations, a player will still have the satisfaction of knowing that they are making a difference just by playing bingo. By choosing these games carefully, over the course of a year a player can donate hundreds of pounds to good causes, just by playing bingo!

Some other sites have been known to have long fundraising periods for certain causes or events. Foxy Bingo’s involvement in Comic Relief is a great example of a more innovative way online bingo sites have got involved in charitable causes. With huge prizes given out across a monthly period, and fun spoof videos made to increase awareness and retain a sense of fun, the site ensured a high turnout of players, meaning Foxy was able to donate a staggering £150k after one months activity, donating every penny staked on their bingo games to Comic Relief.

While it is clear there are some operators that clearly care about the idea of community, and giving a little to those that need it, charity games are notably absent from some of the big online bingo sites. For players, it is easy to get caught up in large prize funds, but in doing this, online operators potentially face confining a much loved tradition of bingo to the bin, with charities being the ones that are missing out.

And although there are some great examples of sites doing their bit for good causes, are they doing enough? Compared to the potential for fundraisers at land based bingo clubs, it is suggested that online operators need to be striving for more innovative and creative ways to engage their players. Player competitions are yet to fully utilise the potential of online spaces and in particular the social networking facilities online bingo operators are so quick to stress help build real bingo communities. A notable example of where the bingo community have really used online to come together is the current campaign to “Back Bingo”. With facebook groups, websites and forums provided, people have been able to really get behind a cause and show their support. It is interesting that no bingo site has ever gone this far with charity initiatives, confining most charity activity to donating a proportion of game profits instead. The danger in passive charity games is that they risk feeling obligatory, and so players may be less inclined to get involved. If a site is serious about retaining the unparalleled community feel that has made bingo so popular in the first place, then they should be coming up with new ways for their players to feel like they are making a big difference to the lives of people that really need it.

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