On Sunday, December 19th, the Minneapolis Star Tribune ran an extensive front-page article by staff writer Jean Hopfensperger titled "Where's the 'Charity' in Charitable Gambling?'.  The subtitle of the article was "Not much of the money flowing into this billion-dollar state industry gets to its targets."

(I would link to the article on their site, but it is behind their premium paywall.  To read the article, you will have to buy a copy of the paper or log in as a paid subscriber to their site.)

The article makes the claim that "three pennies of your charitable gambling dollar actually go to charity."  In my opinion, this claim is misleading, to say the least.

It is nonsensical to focus on the overall gross receipts, particularly with a state-mandated cap on payout percentage.  If prizes aren't being awarded, it isn't gambling, and if a high percentage of prizes aren't being paid, nobody will play.  Of the large "gross receipts" number, usually only 15-20% of that money ever makes it into the bank -- the rest is passed back and forth over the counter as part of the game play.

Of that much smaller 15-20%, we have to open, stock, manage, and staff a 7-day-a-week business.  We are taxed through the nose at every turn and, with the volume of daily, monthly, and yearly paperwork ever-growing, finding volunteers to manage (and be liable for) it -- when individual finances are often hurting -- is all but impossible.

The tone of the article seemed very accusatory and suspicious of the motives or competency of the charitable gambling organizations themselves and dismisses, out of hand, the impact of the tax and regulatory burdens we face -- not to mention the impact of the smoking bans, the increased DUI enforcement, the tanking economy, and rising prices.

While there will always be a few organizations who are inefficient or downright negligent, the majority of organizations are committed, efficient, diligent, conscientious and generous.

Did I read the article wrong?  Do you agree?  Disagree?  Leave your comments and let me know.  I think this is an important discussion for our industry to have.