Fundraisers fill a lot of gaps in Pennsylvania communities.

They keep volunteer fire companies functioning. They support veterans organizations. They help churches operate food pantries, shelters and other outreach programs. They let children go to camp, outfit youth sports teams and send marching bands to perform in Florida or New York City because not every family can simply write that check.

Sometimes, all of that support starts with a little bit of gambling.

We’re not talking about casino gambling or sports betting or someone chasing a jackpot. We’re talking about raffles for everything from an afghan crocheted by a volunteer to a new car donated by a business.

These fundraisers are a dollar or $2 or $10 for a ticket. They are the simple exchange of support for opportunity.

The problem? Not everyone carries cash anymore.

Another problem? Pennsylvania still acts like they do.

State law generally requires licensed nonprofits conducting small games of chance to accept only cash or checks and to sell tickets in person or through the mail. Those restrictions were temporarily lifted during the covid-19 pandemic. Organizations could accept electronic payments and sell tickets online.

The emergency ended. The need did not.

Lawmakers have spent years trying to catch up to a reality they already acknowledged in 2020.

So what do these small nonprofits do with their small games of chance? Do they follow the letter of the law or the reality on the ground?

There’s a bit of hypocrisy in the state not letting fire companies and band boosters sell raffle tickets online. The Pennsylvania Lottery not only sells tickets online, but it also offers games available only through its app.

Pennsylvanians can use debit or credit cards to gamble at casinos or on casino apps. There are plenty of ways to spend big bucks electronically on gambling.

But you can’t support your nephew’s Alle-Kiski baseball team if you live in Wilkes-Barre. You can’t buy a ticket for the purse raffle at the church where you grew up because your job took you to Ohio.

This debate also comes as some of the same organizations are trying to navigate the fallout from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s recent ruling on skill games.

The issues are different. One concerns whether certain machines should be treated as slot machines. The other is about whether someone can buy a raffle ticket with a phone instead of a check.

But the overlap matters. Many of the same veterans organizations, civic clubs and volunteer fire companies are caught in the middle of both debates, waiting for Harrisburg to decide what their fundraising toolbox will look like.

Government doesn’t have to solve every problem overnight. But when community organizations spend years waiting for basic rules to catch up with reality, the cost of delay isn’t borne by lawmakers. It’s borne by the nonprofits trying to keep the lights on.

The state — whether it’s the administration or lawmakers — needs to be proactive in addressing issues like these rather than ignoring them until a decision is forced.

Government by crisis isn’t good government. It is government that lurches into decisions instead of making them deliberately.

It’s likely this foot-dragging isn’t about a failure to recognize the need. It’s more a combination of a wait-and-see mentality and the understanding that, in Harrisburg, even fixing the rules can be a gamble.

But sometimes the state needs to take a chance.

Every dollar a volunteer fire company, veterans organization, PTA or civic club raises on its own is a dollar it doesn’t have to ask taxpayers to provide.

This isn’t about gambling. This is about community, and these groups have earned some trust.