Fund-raising events

Learn the ways that your nonprofit can run a gambling fund-raising event legally.

Who can apply for a fund-raising event license

If you are a bona fide charitable or nonprofit organization, you may apply to offer fund-raising event (FRE) activities.

Learn more about our licensing requirements for charitable or nonprofit organizations.

You must apply for a separate FRE license for each event you wish to hold.

About FREs

Visit the Washington State Legislature site to see the law that governs fund-raising events (apps.leg.wa.gov).

With an FRE license, you can conduct any gambling activities allowed for nonprofit organizations. This includes raffles, bingo, amusement games, pull-tabs, and card games. An FRE is sometimes called a "Casino Night", "Reno Night", "School Fair" or "Weekend Fair".

There are 3 types of FREs.

Standard FRE

  • 1 event not to exceed 24 consecutive hours
  • 1 event not to exceed 72 consecutive hours.

Joint FRE

  • FREs held by a collective of more than 1 bona fide charitable or nonprofit organization
  • A joint FRE will count as 1 event only for the lead organization(s) receiving 50% or more of the net receipts for the purposes of the number of such events an organization may conduct each year
  • All organizations must submit their own FRE application and application fee.

Limited FRE

  • 1 limited FRE not to exceed 6 consecutive hours.

How to apply

In addition to all the materials outlined in our licensing process, the complete application includes the application fee.

Submit your application at least 60 days prior to the event.

Apply for a license online through MyAccount unless you're approved for an online waiver. You must be registered for SecureAccess Washington (SAW).

Visit the Washington State Legislature site to see if you qualify for an online waiver (apps.leg.wa.gov). 

Learn how to register for MyAccount 

  1. Use your SAW username and password to log in to MyAccount 
  2. In the MyAccount home page, click on your name and choose Profile in the drop-down menu
  3. Click the 'Create Organization Request' button
  4. If the nonprofit organization exists in our system, 'Create Organization Request' is used to add a user to the organization's MyAccount. If the organization is not in our system, then this action will create a temporary organization in our system and allow you to apply for a license
  5. Complete the form for the new organization. Any field with a red asterisk is a required field. Submit the form
  6. In the Application tab, click 'New License Application' button
  7. Select the license type of the gambling activity you're applying for and complete all required fields to submit your application
  8. Pay for the application fee in the Billing and Payment tab.

For joint FREs

The lead organization is responsible for completing the Joint Fund-Raising Event Agreement form in MyAccount.

Required training

After we grant your license, you have 30 days to complete your required training:

Highest-ranking officer training

In addition to the above training for your activity, you must also review the following:

Required recordkeeping

You must:

  • Maintain records in sufficient detail to determine the net receipts of each gambling station operated
  • Record a reconciliation of the ending cash on hand to net receipts
  • Deposit the ending cash on hand within 2 banking days of the conclusion of the FRE and must include a validated deposit slip as part of the records
  • Not spend any of the ending cash before the deposit.

Use the following packets to help you keep records that meet our standards:

Retaining your records

You must retain the records for 3 years from the end of your fiscal year.

Renewing your license

This license is not renewable. You must apply for a separate FRE license for each event you wish to hold.

Reporting changes to your license

There are certain changes you must tell us about. Learn how to report changes to your license.