I paid $20 to get licensed as a Games Manager by the CO Secretary of State. This allows me to be the lead games manager for a raffle to benefit PASS and its mission. These are my todo notes from the event:
Notes
- Review IRS Notice 1340 (Tax-Exempt Organizations and Raffle Prizes)
- License expires Dec 31 each year and requires filing quarterly, so some organizations file for the license ($100) in August to limit reporting when event is at the end of the year (Filing is due Oct 31 for Q3 and Jan 31 for Q4)
- License must be displayed for 30 minutes after the event ends
- Kids can sell, but buyers must be over 18 years old. The buyer can gift the ticket to a minor however (put both names on the ticket)
- Raffle earnings must use a separate checking account.
- Earnings must be spent within 1 year, in line with the purpose of our organization.
- Payments from the account must go directly to vendors. For instance, if buying a new piece of playground equipment, we must purchase it direct from that account and can not give the money to the school to purchase it.
- See pg 25, Section 24-21-622 #5 for Valid Expenses (see below for copy/paste)
- To obtain a license, we need to collect 5 years of annual activity (one record of activity in each calendar year) @John
- The Festival of Trees is a Bucket Raffle and as long as no tree has a value greater than $1000, the process overall is simpler.
- For first-time funding from our general fund to buy things for the first event (future events can use raffle funds for valid expenses), we must get pre-approval by emailing (licensing@coloradosos.gov) lisa.marty@coloradosos.gov and/or denise.lamberth@coloradosos.gov for specific approvals of purchases that will be made from our general fund.
- When filing our records after the event, for section 2.16 when we are noting the prize values, we need to write DONATED next to the item if donated from an individual/organization. This makes their review simpler because there will not be a matching purchase record for a check.
These were just my notes; there were also great highlights from the presenter as well and I'll attach those slides when I can. For instance, all checks must be listed in numerical order when filing.
Valid Expenses
Colorado Revised Statutes 2024 25
(5) No item of expense shall be incurred or paid in connection with holding, operating, or conducting a
game of chance pursuant to a bingo-raffle license except bona fide expenses of a reasonable amount. Such
expenses include those incurred in connection with all games of chance, for the following purposes:
(a) Advertising and marketing;
(b) Legal fees related to any action brought by the licensing authority against the bingo-raffle licensee in
connection with games of chance;
(c) The purchase of goods, wares, and merchandise furnished to the licensee for the purpose of operating
games of chance pursuant to this part 6;
(d) The purchase or lease of electronic devices used as aids in the game of bingo;
(e) Payment for services rendered that are reasonably necessary for repairs of equipment and operating
or conducting games of chance;
(f) Rent, if the premises are rented, or for janitorial services if not rented;
(g) Accountant's fees; and
(h) License fees.
(6) (a) For the purposes enumerated in subsection (5) of this section, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(I) "Goods, wares, and merchandise" means prizes, equipment, and articles of a minor nature.
(II) "Services rendered" means:
(A) The repair of equipment;
(B) Compensation to bookkeepers or accountants for services in preparing financial reports for a
reasonable amount as determined by the licensing authority by rule. A landlord, manufacturer, or supplier
licensee, or employee of a landlord, manufacturer, or supplier licensee, shall not act as a bookkeeper or
accountant for a bingo-raffle licensee, nor shall a landlord, manufacturer, or supplier licensee offer or provide
accounting or bookkeeping services in connection with the preparation of financial reports on bingo-raffle
activities, except for the transfer or encoding of data necessitated by the sale, upgrade, or maintenance of
accounting software sold or leased to a bingo-raffle licensee by a landlord, manufacturer, or supplier licensee. A
landlord licensee that is also a bingo-raffle licensee may act as a bookkeeper or accountant on such licensee's
own behalf.
(C) The rental of premises;
(D) A reasonable amount for janitorial service as determined by the licensing authority in rules for each
occasion; and
(E) A reasonable amount for security expense based on established need as determined by the licensing
authority in rules for each occasion.
(b) There shall be paid to the licensing authority an administrative fee, established in accordance with
section 24-21-606 (2), upon the gross receipts of any game of chance held, operated, or conducted under this
part 6; except that an exempt organization shall not be charged more than twenty dollars per year. All
administrative fees collected by the licensing authority under this part 6 shall be deposited in the department of
state cash fund created in section 24-21-104 (3)(b).
(7) Each licensee, at the time each financial report is submitted to the licensing authority, shall pay to
the order of the licensing authority the amount of administration expense provided in subsection (6) of this
section.