Online raffles are a great way to raise money for parochial schools, volunteer fire departments and other nonprofit organizations that were forced to cancel vital fundraising events due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Now, those nonprofits have been notified that according to state rules for those holding a small games of chance license, debit cards cannot be used to buy online raffle tickets.

Butler Catholic School, which relies on various annual fundraisers to survive and keep tuition affordable for students' families, held an online raffle in November that allowed payment by debit card.

At that time, said Kathy Dudley, the school's director of development, holders of small games of chance licenses in the county received a letter from Diane Marburger, county treasurer, informing them that credit cards could not be used to buy online raffle tickets.

Dudley immediately added that information to the online raffle, but debit cards continued to be used for the online raffle at Butler Catholic.

But Marburger sent out another notice in the last week that included a newspaper article from Schuykill County reporting that PayPal confiscated $13,000 from the account of an animal rescue there that accepted plastic payment for a raffle.

So instead of the state police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement, which polices the activities of small games of chance license holders, the third-party processor took action when they realized online raffle tickets were being purchased with plastic.

“They don't want to get in trouble with the law in Pennsylvania,” Marburger said of PayPal or any payment processing company seizing funds in their coffers of nonprofits allowing improper payments for raffles.

Ryan Tarkowski, communications director at state police headquarters in Harrisburg, confirmed that debit and credit cards cannot be used to pay for online raffle tickets.

“We are not aware of any charges being filed for violating the Small Games of Chance Act in this manner in recent months, but licensees should be aware that enforcement action is possible,” Tarkowski said.

Disallowing debit and credit card payment effectively eliminates all online fundraisers.

Dudley said cash or check payments for online raffle tickets is cumbersome and inconvenient for those participating in the raffle, especially when paying online with a debit card is so easy and popular.

“It's hard to raise funds in this climate without being able to use online payment,” she said. “This is really difficult.”

Dudley said the inability to accept payment via debit card will negatively affect Butler Catholic School.

“I think it will definitely lower our ability to raise revenue, simply because having an online raffle is convenient,” she said.

The online raffle of high-end items donated for the school's annual Santa's Workshop will instead be given away as door prizes in the online Storytime with Santa, which school officials invented to replace Santa's Workshop.

Twelve virtual sessions with Santa reading a different Christmas story will appear online each day, and anyone who bought a ticket can log in and watch the Jolly Old Elf read a story.

“Instead of raising the funds through a direct raffle of the items, our goal is to raise funds through Santa stories and in the process give away those gifts,” Dudley said.

The items include a weekend in Vermont, PlayStation and Xbox gaming systems with accessories, a snowblower, American Girl doll with accessories and other prizes.

“I'd like to see the rule changed, at least during (the pandemic),” Dudley said. “The state of Pennsylvania holds the keys to this.”

She said a bill was presented in the summer to the state legislature that would suspend the rule prohibiting payment using credit or debit cards, but no action was taken.

Dudley plans to reach out to state Rep. Marci Mustello, R-11th, to see what can be done to help all nonprofits facing the fundraising hurdle.

“It's a huge concern,” Dudley said. “Look at all the volunteer fire departments we have around here.”

She worries about the financial success of the Butler Health System's Caring Angel basket raffle, which is now accepting cash or a check for raffle tickets through Dec. 9 although each of the 50 baskets are being displayed online.