California Charitable Bingo and Raffle Rules

5(a) carves bingo out of the general lottery and gambling prohibitions, but only when a city, county, or city and county has adopted an authorizing ordinance under Article IV, Section 19 of the California Constitution, and only for a defined list of eligible operators: organizations tax-exempt under Revenue and Taxation Code §§ 23701a, 23701b, 23701d, 23701e, 23701f, 23701g, 23701k, 23701w, and 23701l, plus mobilehome park associations, senior citizens organizations, and charitable groups affiliated with a school district. 5(l)(1) caps the license fee a city or county can charge each authorized organization at $50 a year, though the jurisdiction may add a separate fee to cover its actual law-enforcement costs of overseeing the games.

Subdivision (n) limits total prizes to $500 in cash or kind per separate game, and subdivision (e) bars minors from playing entirely. Under subdivision (k), bingo proceeds must be used only for charitable purposes, with a narrow carve-out for prizes, hall rental, overhead, administrative costs, security, and license fees, capped at roughly 20% of proceeds or a state-adjusted monthly dollar ceiling. Nobody may draw a profit, wage, or salary from running the games, subdivision (b) makes that a misdemeanor, though security staff can be paid from game revenue under subdivisions (j) and (k).

5, governs charity raffles: only a private nonprofit that has operated in California for at least a year and holds one of the same Revenue and Taxation Code tax exemptions may run one, at least 90% of gross ticket receipts from each draw must support a beneficial or charitable purpose, and the organization must register annually with the Department of Justice's Registry of Charitable Trusts (a roughly $10 fee) and file yearly reports on receipts, costs, and where the money went before it can lawfully sell a single ticket.

Running a bingo game outside these rules, or letting anyone but security staff draw pay from one, is a misdemeanor under § 326.5(b) or (c); taking a profit, wage, or salary specifically carries a fine of up to $10,000, deposited into the general fund of the city or county that authorized the game, and that jurisdiction can also sue to enjoin the violation under § 326.5(d). For raffles, the Department of Justice can pursue civil or administrative action against an unregistered or noncompliant organization under § 320.5, and that doesn't preclude a separate criminal case brought by a district or city attorney.