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Why do charities volunteer in casinos, of all places, in Alberta? They do it to survive. This is what’s called the charitable gaming model. With potentially tens of thousands of dollars at stake that charities need to better help their communities, these events are too important to leave it to chance. There’s a lot that could go wrong.
In Raising the Stakes, a podcast about helping charities navigate the casino system in Alberta, long-time expert casino advisor Jeffrey Dawson cuts through the noise and lays out the critical path to holding a successful event. Here’s how he helps: it’s about simplifying, streamlining, and taking all of the guesswork out of it, because planning a casino fundraiser can sometimes feel like an impossible task.
Over the course of the series, we’ll hear from members of charitable groups who highlight their need for fundraising, the tumultuous state of not-for-profits in Alberta, and speak about going through the process from beginning to end. All are welcome at this table: from newer chairpersons who need hands-on guidance, to those who know exactly who and what they need to pull off the perfect event.
Learn more about Jeffrey Dawson and Alberta Casino Advisors Incorporated at https://albertacasinoadvisors.com/
HOSTED BY JEFFREY DAWSON
WRITTEN AND PRODUCED BY JORDAN WONG
NARRATED BY RITHU JAGANNATH
EP Production Team (00:00.61)
The casino experience has changed quite a bit over the years. there was a time when volunteerism was a different thing in our community. And in the last 20 years, that's changed. It's changed quite a bit. You can even look generally in community. We've changed as a society, which of course happens.
Casinos in Alberta work hand in hand with charities, but there's a little give and take. First, charities need to get a license to have a casino event, and then they need to actually show up at the casino. That's easier said than done. There are positions that need to be filled by volunteers, and if that doesn't happen, sorry, the casino can't open. This is Raising the Stakes. It's a podcast about the role casino advisors play in helping charities pull off the
perfect casino fundraiser event because a charity's ability to help their communities might depend on just making it to the tables. There's a long road to get there. And when it comes to casino events, there's no room for error. the charity doesn't have sufficient volunteers, casinos are not allowed to open. And because that charity has accepted the responsibility to be there for those two days, if they don't show up, technically the casino.
could seek financial recourse for not being able to open. there are lots at stake there. Jeffrey Dawson has been a casino advisor since 2011. He's the owner and operator of Alberta Casino Advisors, Inc. Along with helping charities get their paperwork in on time to the Alberta Gaming Liquor and Cannabis Commission, Jeff works hard to make sure charities have everyone they need in order to open up the casino. Even for charities who've been doing this for a really long time,
Getting a large group of volunteers for anything is no easy feat. Getting volunteers to commit and to do work on a casino that's on a volunteer basis, it's a bigger challenge. And even if charities have the right number of committed volunteers, they need to account for when things inevitably go wrong. Mark should have just assumed that Murphy's Law is going to kick in and get ready for it. All right, first things first.
EP Production Team (02:19.36)
What do charities need to know about volunteers going in? And what are some of the biggest issues charities might run into? So depending on the role that the volunteer is doing in the casino, they have to get a personal background check. Also, there's a matter of making sure that certain positions cannot be held by an employee of the charity. So, for example, a charity that has an executive director or secretary or other positions, can't.
fill a certain role. So we educate the chairperson on that. The rules that the AGLC publishes on it are over 400 pages. And so we narrow down into plain language to the stuff that the chairperson really needs to know. Some charities, due to the timing of the event, have to understand that AGLC gives you your dates. You can't just say, well, we prefer this date. Once you get your dates, you have to fulfill those dates. And for example, I've had
ski club that had their dates during their largest ski event of the season and so they had difficulty filling all their positions because all their people were out skiing. So it's trying to figure out exactly what we need, what's a must-have, what's it like to have, how are we going to kind of handle these different scenarios. That's Mark Forney, Treasurer of Wildrose Humane Society, an animal shelter. Two days before the event
You're going to have volunteers that have family emergencies. You're going to have volunteers that signed up that all said how to get called into work. You're going to have volunteers that just don't show up. I wasn't prepared for the oops, oops, oops, the little things that do happen. So I really wish I had worked a little bit closer with the advisors at that regard saying, here's what we have. How could this go wrong?
on me because everything that went wrong in hindsight I could have proactively handled had I asked the right questions. My experience with other casino hosts is that they would just be like okay you need this many volunteers and you you've got the paperwork make sure you fill it out and all this where Jeff is a little more hands-on. That's Terry Lee Ropchan, executive director of the Central Alberta Crime Prevention Centre.
EP Production Team (04:31.648)
One of the things that we notice right away is that Jeff puts out a volunteer list of duties. So, you know, what times and all of this. And originally it was on paper. We fill it out. Now it's all electronic. One thing I found, and I'd be curious to see if other people that are running casinos have the same challenge, is that we have a lot of volunteers, but as soon as we say casino, it scares them away.
People are overworked and under-resourced, right? That's Sean Fraser. He's the executive director of the Evergreen Theatre Society. The casino experience has changed quite a bit over the years. And there was a time when volunteerism was a different thing in our community. And in the last 20 years, that's changed. It's changed quite a bit.
You can even look generally in community. We've changed as a society, which of course happens. We've got all kinds of communities and community centers that are struggling in communities in Calgary, something like 22 of them that are in a lot of difficult time, because people just don't volunteer and participate in a community way that people used to in the past. So when we used to do casinos, we would have no problem filling casino rolls and getting volunteers and all of those kinds of things. It was no issue at all. We would get all kinds of...
and it would be quite simple. Us trying to find the right number of volunteers is always a challenge. And that's one thing I'm assuming other organizations go through that as well. And Jeff and his team were absolutely fantastic helping us navigate through that. When we can't fill those spots, then Jeff steps in and he has a circle of angels that will come in kind of last minute and help out the group. I have a resource of about 200.
what I call angels. In some organizations, they can't always fill all the positions that they normally would be able to do so, and angels do step in. If you have volunteers who are committed to your organization, makes a big difference. Working through someone like Jeff is helpful in that way. Not that he will fill those roles for you, but in emergencies, he does have those accesses that we wouldn't necessarily have access to. Along with his team of angels,
EP Production Team (06:48.364)
Jeff also helps train volunteers from the charities. And it's a pretty big deal. You never know what kind of situation you might run into at an event. So we have people who are in the room with us and when you first get there you have a room full of people that are bright-eyed and haven't got a clue what's going on. We need to figure out the lay of the land and by that I mean physically how does the casino even...
function. So where do I need to be? Because you're going to have people go into all different corners of the casino to begin with to figure out where you need to be. You're going to people who often have no idea who they are because volunteers are meeting volunteers. And so you're meeting people for the first time. So it's organized chaos to begin with. We try to make sure that all the volunteers feel very comfortable in their role. People just really find their training very helpful and useful. Then we were at a casino where an actual major blaze occurred.
There was a three alarm fire, full blaze, emergency evacuation required, and it was minus 40 out at the time, and all the volunteers got out safely. They got to their vehicles. We had to move all their vehicles in the same location on the parking lot, make sure everybody was warm and safe. I went over.
talked to the head of security, told them all the volunteers are accounted for, where they're located. And he was absolutely amazed. He says, you know where all your volunteers are? He was just absolutely amazed that we had everybody safe and accounted for. And our volunteers were very appreciative because this is almost a lifesaver if you want to use that term. The head of security told me that in his lifetime, he had one other emergency evacuation. And that situation, he said,
he found the advisor, he asked the advisor where his volunteers were and the advisor said, I don't know. He had no idea where a single volunteer was and didn't even care. I realized very quickly that, you know, we need to be talking to volunteers about what to do in case of an emergency. And so one of the things that we do in training is we tell them where the emergency exits are, where the closest fire extinguisher is, where our muster point is. And what surprises me is I've had literally
EP Production Team (08:56.814)
Five different ATLC inspectors say they've never heard an advisor do that before. All the advisors should be doing this. Well, I tell them, well, you make the rules. You tell them that they should be doing this. And it just goes to show you can never be too prepared. Even when the place isn't on fire, there are things to look out for. If you have someone that has mobility restrictions, I say, OK, this position here is seating 90 % of the time. Maybe that would be best for someone who's got mobility issues, who's got people who are colorblind.
I found that one particular role is not good for someone who's colourblind. What Jeff does different from other casino advisors is he puts it all together. What he offers is a combination of what charities need most, oversight, attention and resources. He knows how things are done, what makes an effective advisor, and if casinos need volunteers, well, he's got volunteers and advisors to spare. When I first got involved and I looked at
how the support I got from previous advisors as a chairperson. I said, I don't want to be that person. I want to be the person to support you from the very beginning to the very end. Over the years, you just learn and if I see something that we can improve, I do it. So we're constantly innovating. When you're using an advisor, the fee structure is set by AGLC. The fees that you pay the advisor are the same.
regardless. And also the casino reverses those fees so reality you're a free resource to you. So you might as get the best resource you can. It's like renting a car. Why pick an economy car when you can get the luxury car for the same price?
Doing a casino event can be difficult, but it's rewarding. And with the right support, it's even more manageable. There's a difference between advisors that Sean, Mark and Terry Lee have used in the past and their experience with Jeff. The easier Jeff makes the process, the less it feels like work. Rather than just being something charities have to do because they need to, it helps to remember that it's a night or two at a casino. The one thing I wish I had known is how fun it is.
EP Production Team (11:04.61)
because when you're, it's a great time. Like that's one thing I really wish people understood, you're having a lot of fun while you're in there.
You get to talk with people. It's a fun event. It's a positive event. You're there for all the right reasons. People out on the floor, they're having fun for the most part because it's a fun time there at the casino. And if people are worried about, I don't know what I'm going to do, nobody does when you first go in. That's not a problem. That's why you have the advisors. So listen to the advisors. They're there with a smile on their faces. They know exactly what they're doing. They're going to make sure you succeed.
So go in, have a great attitude, go in expecting to have fun and go in knowing that people aren't going to let you fail. There's a lot that can go wrong and the process isn't always straightforward. So having a good advisor is a game changer. With a good advisor, it shouldn't feel difficult. As we've heard over the course of the series, planning the perfect casino event is way too important to lead to chance.
That was season one of Raising the Stakes, a podcast about casino advisors helping charities navigate the casino system in Alberta.
EP Production Team (12:22.222)
Another Everything Podcast, production.
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