Promoting your bingo night

The key to having a successful fundraiser is making sure that the local community knows exactly where, when and what it is! 

Promotion is the key to any event, from big concerts at Wembley Stadium to a small church bake sale. You can't start raising money at your bingo night before people know where and what your event is! So how can you make sure your bingo night is a profitable success?

Key information you will need to include when promoting your event:

• Time and date
• Venue 
• What are you raising money for?
• Age limits
• Entry fee & ticket cost
• Food and drink details
• Contact information

Posters & leaflets

Okay, so it’s old fashioned... but it works! Printing out an eye-catching poster with all the information about your bingo night on it and hanging it up let’s you put your event in front of people of all ages. 

You can hang your poster up in a community hall or church, in the windows of local shops, in schools or even in pubs and social clubs. 

Having leaflets to hand out at local fairs, carnivals and town events means that people can  take the information they need to get involved home with them, giving them more time to decide to come

We have a series of downloadable posters on our bingo night resources page! Simply download the files, add all the information you need and print them out!

Social media

Why not utilise the power of the 21st century and advertise your bingo night using social media sites like Facebook?

Facebook lets you set up events with just the click of a button. You can pack them with information and invite all your friends and family directly. 

If it’s a public event, sharing the event on local groups and community pages will help you reach your target audience easily.

Not only does promoting an event through Facebook extend your reach far beyond what posters and fliers can do, it also helps you keep track of how many people are coming so you can organise accordingly. 

You could combine the two approaches and include a URL or QR code leading to your facebook event on a poster or leaflet, that way you benefit from the broad spectrum that a poster can reach and the visibility that Facebook events gives you.

Local radio stations

Why not utilise the power of the 20th century and advertise your bingo night on local radio? 

Getting in touch with your local station via social media or email to ask them to make an announcement on your behalf should be easy. 

Letting the team know all the details and the good cause you’re raising funds for makes it easy for them to promote your event live on air.

Get in touch with the charity

If you’re raising funds for a charity or non-profit organisation then you may be able to get in touch with the charity directly and inform them about your bingo night. 

If the charity has a website they might be able to add your fundraiser to their list of upcoming events, or they might even share details of your event on social media!

So now everyone is aware of your event and wants to buy a ticket, lets look at how you can ensure people's safety by doing a risk assessment for your bingo night.

Check out the previous article in the series: What prizes should you award? Visit the hub page and read our entire 12-part guide to organising a bingo night fundraiser here!