Bingo has traditionally been an important means to recruit funds for important social causes. Churches, schools, charitable organizations and fund-raising groups have been using Bingo to successfully raise funds for decades.

With origins traced back to 16th century Italy, the game then called Beano arrived in the U.S. only in 1929, where it was soon christened as Bingo by a New York salesperson. Its popularity started growing rapidly however when a Catholic priest from Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania started using Bingo as a way to raise church funds. His success was quickly copied by many churches and organizations nation-wide.

Being a social game by nature, Bingo turned out to be an ideal means for raising funds. Participators enjoy socializing in a fun and entertaining atmosphere as well as the thrill of the balls falling, thereby receiving 'value' for their donations.

In today's fast-paced world, a new chapter in the history of Bingo is being written with more and more people choosing to play Bingo on the Internet from the comfort of their home. In this new setting, Bingo remains primarily a social game with players forming virtual communities as they play, but sadly the connection to charity has been all but lost. Software companies are now the operators of the virtual halls instead of churches and non-profit organizations.

This development is raising concern among many in the Internet community, and new ways are being sought to bring the spirit of charitable giving back into the game.

Some websites offer promotions that benefit the environment and not only the players, like planting a tree for every deposit made by players. Others donate regularly to specific causes.

One new effort recently launched by a group of Internet veterans lets the players make the choice about which causes they feel are the most worthy of their support, with current causes ranging from dealing with world hunger, to reforesting North America, to caring for alley cats in the UK. The venture then donates at least 10% of whatever its members spend on online Bingo to the charitable causes the members have chosen.

These and other similar efforts have the potential to make a big impact. The amount of people playing online bingo is growing rapidly as are the revenues derived by gaming companies, said to be billions of dollars annually. Some estimates peg global online bingo revenue growth at as much as 40% per annum. If the connection between Bingo and Charity can be rekindled, we all stand to gain.

A percentage of these revenues going to fund social causes can make a big difference to the world we live in, and all that is required to make this happen is that players choose to support such efforts and help others while they are having fun playing bingo, as has always been the case.