Building Partnerships to Address Responsible Gaming

By Amy Kugler,  NCRG Communications and Outreach Manager

It is no secret that successful partnerships are the key to growing any business, whether it is a non-profit entity or a for-profit business. An author of a recent Harvard Business Review blog article explained that every company is responsible for creating a shared value and building partnerships, regardless of industry or business model.

At the National Center for Responsible Gaming (NCRG), we place a huge emphasis on developing partnerships toward a common goal, and those essential collaborations help us to fulfill our mission. The NCRG’s ambitious agenda for 2013 is an example of striving to build partnerships across all sectors to increase awareness and understanding of gambling disorders and responsible gaming.

We’re proud of the way that we partner with innovative researchers to provide almost $1 million in research funding for 2013. Our donors also have been long-standing partners and, since our beginning in 1996, they have committed more than $25 million to fund this cutting-edge research and public education programs that are making an impact.

Beyond the NCRG’s research funding opportunities, our public education and outreach programs are expanding greatly due to incredible regional and national partners who are invested in addressing this issue. Here are some upcoming opportunities to join us as NCRG staff and leading experts travel the country and create new resources:

• NCRG Webinar Series, presented in conjunction with the G2E Online Center: Feb. 8 and Apr. 24. More dates to be announced.

•  The NCRG will host its seventh Annual Education Summit on March 14-15 in Chicago, Ill., and will announce the next awardees for the NCRG Centers of Excellence in Gambling Research.

• NCRG Treatment Provider Workshops will be hosted in Seattle, Wash., on Apr. 2 in partnership with the Evergreen Council on Problem Gambling. Additional partners and sessions in Kansas City, Mo.; Denver, Colo.; Baton Rouge, La.; and Reno, Nev., will be announced throughout the year.

• We’ll continue to produce our popular resources, such as Responsible Gaming Quarterly, the Gambling and Health series, the Increasing the Odds series and more. We also are looking to publish some of our publications in additional languages to reach more people with essential information.

• New online resources will be available on the NCRG’s website, Twitter, Facebook and Gambling Disorders 360˚, the NCRG’s blog.

None of these programs, research grants and resources are possible without stellar collaborators, and we are incredibly grateful for the dedication of the NCRG’s donors and partners, ranging from national public health organizations to local clinicians. If you’d like to work with the NCRG on any of these upcoming programs, please let me know!