Sue van der Linde was recently appointed the partners manager for Big Heart Bingo. The site is unusual as it donates 50% of its net profits to charities. You would think it was an easy job, but as Sue wanted to share, it can be tough getting the money to the charities. She took some time out to write about her experiences for Playing Bingo’s readers.
To Give Or Not To Give?
Big Heart Bingo is a UK based charity bingo web site. ‘Charity bingo?’ I hear you ask, ‘What on earth is that?’ Well the concept is really very simplistic. Instead of just signing up commercial affiliates on the web, Big Heart Bingo decided to give something back by giving what would have been paid out to affiliates to charity partners. What a good idea, well it should be.
Big Heart has enough original material to be an opening act or can perform full 4 hour show of songs everyone knows and loves. Come get Your Big Heart on! What people are saying about us: 'Big Heart is a local Reno/Sparks band that can play just about any rock and roll song you can think of, and most importantly they can play it well.' We are so excited to have our 3rd annual Big Heart Bingo event at Hinnant Family Vineyards with proceeds going to our local Johnston County Relay for Life! Every ticket will include 2 bingo cards and a glass of wine. More bingo cards will be available to purchase at the door along with options for a 50/50 bingo game! Sign-up at Big Heart Bingo to receive a 300% bonus on your first deposit of £10 or more to play top bingo games! We use cookies to analyse traffic and for ad measurement purposes, including for personalizing ads.
Believe it or not, charities are very difficult to get on board. We have no problem with great players and have a pretty big base already, but not as many charities as we would like to give the profits to. We allow new players to add the charities, but the only problem is that if the charity is not loaded as an affiliate we can’t pay them!
The reality of the situation is that a large proportion of UK charities just don’t want to be involved with what they class as gambling. Bingo – gambling, can you put them in the same bracket? Consider this, the bingo rooms are 10p and 25p, not quite what one would describe as a stomping ground for high rollers.
Big Heart welcomes any charity, big or small, or if you are a fundraiser you can register as an affiliate and enjoy the same revenue share deal, which you in turn can then give back to your charity. All this said, the main point of confusion is that numerous UK charities receive money grants from the National Lottery which is real gambling!
Bingo players are a diverse bunch and with modern developments, a new audience is being attracted all the time, bolstering the game’s popularity. Typically, players over sixty-five years of age have a tendency to play in land based bingo halls, instead of online. Younger players seem to favour the online game. It’s an ideal game to play at home. Say the kids take a nap, mum can relax with an hour or two of online bingo during the afternoon.
The game remains a popular pastime, as much as eight percent of the population plays bingo in the U.K. Three million people claim to play at least twice a week. Membership to bingo clubs makes bingo more of a social event since many people have friends at these clubs. They have the chance to visit and catch up on the latest news while they are playing bingo.
It’s a real shame charities aren’t waking up to the potential of the game, its massive audience and its continued growth. It would certainly make our job a lot easier when it came to persuading them to take the money!
The Big Heart site is currently going through a revamp, with a fresh new look and feel and the addition of mobile games. Hopefully the UK charities will be joining up and reaping the benefits of ongoing revenue, without use of additional resources. Here’s to hoping anyway!
Big Heart Brigade Volunteer
Author: Sue van der Linde