How do I organise a charity bingo (authorisation, cards, prizes)?
No: if it is run within the rules, a traditional bingo does not require any authorisation. The law sets out four precise conditions that must all be met at the same time; beyond that, it becomes a raffle, which does require authorisation from the town hall, and the procedure is different.
With Donoor ticketing, you sell your bingo cards online before the evening and on the spot on the day, you track sales in real time, and you prepare your game using the list of participants.
The four conditions for a traditional bingo without authorisation
Apart from the National Lottery and casinos, games of chance are prohibited in France. So-called "traditional" bingo games (quine, rifle) are exempt from this prohibition when they meet, all together, four conditions.
| Condition | What it means |
|---|---|
| Non-profit purpose | The bingo serves a social, cultural, scientific, educational, sporting or local community cause. The proceeds go to the association, never to individuals. |
| Restricted circle | The players are your members, their relatives and your local circle. A bingo repeated in a hall open to everyone, or a transport system organised to take people to the venue, removes this restricted character. |
| Modest stake | The price of a card remains below 20 euros per participant. |
| Prizes in kind | Prizes are never sums of money and cannot be refunded in cash. Non-refundable vouchers are permitted; their value is not capped. |
Important: if even one of these conditions is missing, the game becomes an illegal lottery or one subject to authorisation. Organising a game of chance outside this framework can lead to a fine of 90,000 euros and up to 3 years' imprisonment. A bingo open to the public online is, in every case, prohibited.
Good to know: informing your town hall remains a good idea, even where there is no legal obligation, especially if you use a municipal hall.
Selling your bingo cards with Donoor
Your bingo follows the same process as an event with tickets: you create the ticketing, you share it, then you welcome your players on the day.
How do I sell cards in advance and on the spot?
- In the menu, open Ticketing, then New event: give your bingo a name, a date and a venue.
- In Configuration › Rates, click Add a rate to create your card: its name, its description and its price, below 20 euros.
- Click Publish to open sales, then Share or Copy to spread the link by email, text message or social media.
- Each buyer immediately receives their card by email, as a PDF, with a QR code and a unique ticket number.
- On the day, for those who did not book, add them manually under Participants › Add a participant, or take their card payment with Tap to Pay, with no payment terminal to rent.
For details of each step, follow the training Create your event. At the entrance, you can also Scan each card with the Donoor app to check that it is valid, exactly as with an entry ticket: see selling and taking payments on site on the day of the event and entry checking. As with any Donoor ticketing, your association pays no subscription or commission: only the payment provider's fees apply to paid cards.
Preparing and running the evening
Once sales have opened, organising a bingo follows a standard run of events, independent of Donoor. Gather enough prizes, generally obtained from local shopkeepers as sponsorship, and prepare the equipment for drawing numbers: numbered balls or a generator projected onto a screen.
Plan a small team to run the evening, sell the last cards and check the calls for quine, double quine and full card before handing over the prizes. From Participants, export the list of buyers before the evening to prepare the welcome and the setting up of the tables.
Tip: keep a written record of the prizes handed out and the cards sold: it is useful if there are any questions, for example from your town hall or your members.
Bingo or raffle: what is the difference?
The two games are similar, but their rules differ on one essential point: authorisation.
| Traditional bingo | Raffle | |
|---|---|---|
| Authorisation | None, if the four conditions are met | Mandatory, from the town hall where the association is based |
| Audience | Restricted circle: members, relatives, local circle | Can be opened more widely, within the permitted limit |
| Stake | Below 20 euros per card | Set freely by the association |
| Prizes | In kind only, value unrestricted | In kind only, value unrestricted |
For a raffle, see how to organise a raffle for your association step by step. The official rules are set out in detail by the public service at service-public.gouv.fr.
Key takeaways
- A traditional bingo in a restricted circle, for a non-profit purpose, with a stake under 20 euros and prizes in kind, requires no authorisation.
- If one of these conditions is missing, the game becomes a raffle or a lottery, which requires authorisation from the town hall.
- With Donoor, sell your cards online before the evening and on the spot, with no platform commission.
- Each card carries a unique QR code and number, and the list of buyers can be exported to prepare the evening.
- Inform your town hall if you use a municipal hall, even though the law does not require it.