Charity Poker Tournament

Should charities run casinos? After all they host golf tournaments. Why not poker tables? Or, craps? In Reno, why not run an a bordello? For some charities it might count as program related investment.  They could staff it with politicians, lobbyists and think tank thinkers. Anyway,  here,  via National Committee on Responsive Philanthropy,  is a NY Times article, citing Rick Cohen, executive director of NCRP. I will mention the vic rackets for charity to Bill Schambra as a Free Market Solution.  Maybe he can get Scooter Libby involved, or better yet, Bill Bennett. 

Comments

[los angeles automobile donation]

Charity Poker Tournament? What happened on this charity poker tournament?

[Joanne Fagan, Eva's Village Homeless Shelter Communications and Grant Specialist]

We see no problem with organizations running a poker tournament for charity. The issue is whether the organization is ethical and honorable. We at Eva's Village successfully run many charity events and have a supportive donor base, in part because of our four-star rating by Charity Navigator (http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=10212). This exceptional designation from Charity Navigator differentiates us from our peers and demonstrates to the public it is worthy of their trust.

Putting aside for the moment that some faith-based charities may not host such an event (Eva’s Village would not), the real issue is how effectively and efficiently such an event is run and how effectively and efficiently donations are used. We recommend that all donors carefully investigate the organization behind any charity event. While poker is a gamble, making sure that one's hard earned donation dollars are wisely and effectively used should not be.

[phil]

And of course there is always Bingo Night.

[phil]

Slave Auctions, too.