Et Tu, Bingo? Nonprofit Gaming Revenue Down

December 11, 2010; Source: Dayton Daily News | In Ohio, nonprofits that rely on Bingo are facing sometimes seriously declining revenue. Across the state, Bingo revenues have declined 28 percent between 2006 and 2008 but some games, including the one run by Holy Trinity Church in Zanesville, Ohio have seen a decline of 50 percent since 2005.

This means the take from these games statewide in 2009 was $54.5 million less than what it was in 2006. Bob Funk, the Quartermaster for Ohio’s Veteran’s of Foreign Wars thinks the dip is at least partly due to the economy. “Right now nobody is generating a lot of income for anything . . . People don’t have a lot of money to spend.”

But there is also an assumption that the rise of casinos in nearby states has already eroded the revenue from the games and casinos planned in Ohio will eat into it even more. This is leading to a drive to promote legislation that would allow charities to sponsor electronic bingo machines.—Ruth McCambridge