Raising funds by raffling?

[Capt Rivera]

I thought a Civil Air Patrol Squadron could not raffle tickets.... But upon searching this forum I believe I found mention of past raffles that involved the exchange of money. [These could have predated regs....]

So am I reading this correctly or not?

CAPR 173-4 12 MAY 2008 7
Gambling (or gaming). No CAP unit or member will engage in gambling (the act of risking or giving something of value for the opportunity to obtain a benefit from a game or contest of chance or skill or a future contingent event) as a fund raising activity, including, but not limited to bingo and pull-tab operations in which money or something of value is risked in order to participate. (Raffles or ticket sales for drawings of merchandise are authorized in accordance with paragraph 15a.)

15. Booster Clubs. "Booster clubs" are those organizations created to support local CAP units or the CAP activities of the units and/or members:
a. Parents, community leaders, and CAP members may create booster clubs to support local units. Such booster clubs must exist as entities wholly separate and apart from any CAP control and bear sole responsibility for compliance with local, state, and federal laws.

So if a booster club MUST do it, what happens when a squadron ignores or does not know about the regulation? While answering, please qualify your answer by letting us know what you know to be fact, hearsay or just what you feel should/shouldn't happen. Considerations: (Squadron:Commander, Finance Officer, Raffle Organizer if applicable) What about Wing/group commanders?

http://tinyurl.com/Beverly-squadron-raffling-bomb

Lets try to avoid chastising the unit for anything wrong they may have done or me if they did no wrong . I know for a fact that NHQ monitors Google news Alerts and can assume that they would use the same key words as I am. (Civil Air Patrol) Therefor IF there is a problem, they are already aware of it.

Again, I don't know that there is or isn't a problem for sure. Personally if I was to do anything similar, I would get Squadron and Wing commander approval as I should and as I believe is required. They may have done that.... Lets just talk about raffles...

I included the link in case information in it makes it acceptable. If thats the case, I want to know what makes it okay so that we can have another option to consider when contemplating fund raising ideas.

[Flying Pig]

On a side note.....

Sell fireworks on the 4th of July.  We make about $4000-$5000 per year.

[IceNine]

Unless you altered your highlights, it says raffle's and ticket sales ARE authorized

I am just a guy that can read

[jimmydeanno]

Unless you altered your highlights, it says raffle's and ticket sales ARE authorized

I am just a guy that can read

I think he's making reference to the article saying that "Wherever CAP Squadron is holding a raffle" as opposed to "Friends of CAP Squadron Booster Club is holding a raffle."

So the above paragraph quoted says you can do raffles so long as they are done by a booster club.  The article does not give that impression.

[Capt Rivera]

Unless you altered your highlights, it says raffle's and ticket sales ARE authorized

I am just a guy that can read

(Raffles or ticket sales for drawings of merchandise are authorized in accordance with paragraph 15a.)

which says

15. Booster Clubs. "Booster clubs" are those organizations created to support local CAP units or the CAP activities of the units and/or members:
a. Parents, community leaders, and CAP members may create booster clubs to support local units. Such booster clubs must exist as entities wholly separate and apart from any CAP control and bear sole responsibility for compliance with local, state, and federal laws.

. As Jimmydeanno stateed, the article makes no mention of anything other then the squadron....

[Capt Rivera]

On a side note.....

Sell fireworks on the 4th of July.  We make about $4000-$5000 per year.

ummm wow... Can you tell us more, maybe in a new thread?  How you acquire them? How you got authorization (if needed) anything else needing addressing (safety).

I have a year to try figure out what and how you accomplished that and to TRY to reproduce that here....

[FW]

CAPR 173-4 is pretty specific.  A squadron/group/wing or region HQ. may not participate in any game of chance; including a raffle.   As to the specific example, I don't know how accurate the article is. 

[Eclipse]

There is also the small issue of...wait for it...local law.  Regardless of what CAP says, they can't relieve that issue as well.  Some municipalities, counties, states, prohibit raffles, or require a special license for the event as a 501c-3 (that's how churches have Vegas nights, etc.).

Now, with that said, door prizes are probably ok (i.e., where one ticket is given as part of the dinner and none are sold at additional cost.)

Best thing to do is contact Wing FM or CC for approval, which is required for any fundraising, anyway.

[FW]

There was a time, in the recent past, when gaming/raffles were allowed forms of fundraising.  Unfortunately, we were not "wise to the world" with regards to the many state and local laws governing them.  Also, we had no idea what the term "unrelated business income" meant.

We have since learned the many rules of the road and determined that gaming in all its forms is not allowed.  Stick to other methods to raise funds.

BTW, door prizes are fine (part of the cost of banquet ticket).

[Pylon]

For those of you with separate 501(c)(3) (or otherwise incorporated) booster clubs, New York and many other states require you to apply for a special license and pay a fee.  Here in New York, there are different licenses for 50/50 raffles, silent auctions, wine auctions, casino night and any other variant you can think of.

Selling or handing out foods at your raffle or event from a rented popcorn, snow-cone or cotton candy machine or anything not individually wrapped and factory sealed?  Need a health department "special event" permit, too.

Lots of cute little fundraisers sometimes appear to be easy work, but often are labor-intensive, require tons of prior planning, rely heavily on public and member support to be successful and are often governed by dozens of state laws and even local ordinances.   That's why special event planning is its own career field.  Be sure to look into everything, and perhaps contact the development office of a local, friendly non-profit or academic institution for advice if you have a contact there.