California Form ABC-221, the Daily License Application, is how a qualifying nonprofit or civic group gets temporary state permission to sell or serve alcohol at an event. You choose the license type that matches your organization, gather signatures from the property owner and (sometimes) local law enforcement, attach a cashier’s check or money order for the fee, and file the packet with the ABC district office covering the event location at least ten days before the event.
Which License Type Fits Your Organization
Form ABC-221 covers three different daily licenses. Picking the right one depends on what your group is and what you plan to pour.
- Daily General, $75 per day, covers beer, wine, and distilled spirits. Your organization qualifies if it was formed for a specific charitable or civic purpose, is a fraternal organization that has existed more than five years, is a religious organization, or is a political organization.
- Special Daily Beer and Wine, $50 per day, covers beer and wine only. Eligibility is broader here: any existing nonprofit qualifies, including charitable, civic, cultural, fraternal, patriotic, political, religious, social, and amateur sports organizations.
- Special Temporary License, $100 per day, applies to narrower categories set out in specific Business and Professions Code sections, such as television stations, certain nonprofit corporations, and persons conducting estate wine sales.
If your group has never held a daily license before, ABC has to qualify the organization before it can process the application. Bring your IRS determination letter or Franchise Tax Board documents showing tax-exempt status, along with your tax ID number, to your local district office.
How Many Days You Can Hold in a Year
One organization cannot hold a daily license for more than two consecutive days, or more than twelve days total in a single calendar year. ABC can waive that cap for good cause, but the default rule shapes how groups with several annual fundraisers stagger their events.
What to Line Up Before You Start the Form
Several pieces need to be in place before you sit down with ABC-221.
RBS-Certified Designee
Business and Professions Code Section 25682(c) requires every nonprofit holding a temporary daily license to designate at least one person who has completed Responsible Beverage Service training and certification before the event. That person stays onsite the entire event and directly oversees anyone else serving alcohol to the public.
Certification runs through the ABC’s online RBS Portal: register an account, complete training with an approved provider, then pass the Alcohol Server Certification Exam within thirty days of finishing training. The passing score is 70 percent, with three attempts allowed. Registration and the exam together cost $3 through the portal; training providers set their own course fees separately. Certification is good for three years.
The sixty-day grace period that lets newly hired servers at permanent establishments work while getting certified does not apply here. Your designee has to be fully certified before the event date. If an ABC investigator shows up during the event and finds no certified person onsite, the permit is cancelled on the spot.
Property Owner Authorization
You need written approval from whoever owns the venue. The owner can sign directly on Section 4 of Form ABC-221, or provide a separate signed letter that lists the date, time, location, and type of alcoholic beverages to be served. If the event is at a public park or city facility, the government agency that runs it plays the property-owner role.
Police Department Approval
Local law enforcement sign-off may be required when any of these apply:
- A large number of people are expected to attend.
- The event takes place on a public street or in a public area such as a parking lot.
- The location has never hosted an event with alcohol service before.
- The event includes a casino night or controlled games.
- ABC determines approval is needed based on other circumstances.
Getting this signature is the applicant’s job. A law enforcement official can sign directly on ABC-221, or the agency can issue a separate approval letter. Some police departments take several days to turn these around, so start early.
Outdoor Event Diagram
For outdoor events, ABC may require a detailed diagram of the location on Form ABC-253, showing the boundaries of the alcohol service area.
Casino Night Pre-Approval
If your fundraiser includes casino-style games, you also have to comply with Business and Professions Code Section 19985, which requires pre-approval from the Bureau of Gambling Control at the Department of Justice. That’s a separate process from the ABC application.
Filling Out the Four Sections
ABC-221 is available on the ABC website or at any district office. It has four sections.
Section 1: Organization and License Type
Enter your organization’s legal name, tax ID number, and mailing address. Select the license type that matches your eligibility and the beverages you plan to serve, then check the box for your organization category within that license type, for example “Fraternal” under Special Daily Beer and Wine, or “Religious Organization” under Daily General. Each license type lists its qualifying categories right on the form.
Section 2: Event Details
This section captures the specifics:
- Event dates and total number of days (remember the two-consecutive-day and twelve-day annual limits).
- Hours of alcohol service, meaning the start and end times when beverages will be sold, served, or consumed.
- Event address and a location description like “Jones Park, Pavilion A” so ABC knows exactly where within a larger property the event sits.
- Whether the location is within city limits.
- Event type, such as barbecue, dinner, festival, concert, wedding, dance, or sporting event.
- Type of entertainment and whether the event is open to the public.
- Estimated attendance.
- Security guards, whether you will have them, and how many.
- Whether the event is outdoors. If yes, expect ABC to ask for the ABC-253 site diagram.
Section 2 also includes a required checkbox confirming that you understand the RBS training mandate under B&P Code Section 25682(c). You cannot skip that box; it certifies that a trained, certified person will be onsite for the full duration of the event.
Section 3: Contact Information
Give a contact person’s name, phone number, and email address. This is who ABC will call if it has questions before issuing the license.
Section 4: Signatures and Approvals
Four signatures live here. Your organization’s authorized representative signs first, attesting to their authority to apply on the group’s behalf. Below that are lines for the property owner and law enforcement, if applicable. The last line is for the ABC district office employee who approves and issues the license. Fill in the authorized representative’s name, phone number, and date next to that signature.
Where and When to File
Submit the completed packet to the ABC district office with jurisdiction over the event location, not the office nearest your organization’s headquarters. California has roughly two dozen district offices; the ABC website lists which counties each office covers. You can file in person or by mail.
ABC must receive the form at least ten days before the event, and no more than thirty days in advance. Missing the ten-day window risks outright rejection because there is not enough time for review. Pay by cashier’s check or money order made out to “ABC.” Personal checks and cash are not accepted. Once the license is issued, fees are non-refundable.
After the License Is Issued
ABC issues the temporary license on the bottom portion of Form ABC-221 itself. Post that issued license at the event site where attendees and inspectors can see it. The license authorizes alcohol sales only for the dates, hours, and location listed on the form; any deviation voids the permit.
During the event, your RBS-certified designee has to stay onsite and actively oversee alcohol service the whole time. That person is responsible for setting and enforcing responsible service policies, including refusing service to minors and visibly intoxicated guests. Again, if an ABC investigator finds no certified person present, the permit is cancelled immediately.
Federal Registration ABC-221 Doesn’t Cover
State licensing is only half the picture. The federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau requires anyone selling alcoholic beverages, including fundraising organizations and concession stands, to register as a retail alcohol dealer by filing TTB Form 5630.5d before the event. You register for every location where alcohol will be sold. Retail dealers also have to keep records of alcohol received, including quantities, supplier names, and dates.
The TTB treats a one-day charity fundraiser the same as a permanent retail operation for registration purposes, which catches many nonprofit organizers off guard.
Tax on the Revenue
Revenue from alcohol sales at a fundraising event may count as unrelated business income for federal tax purposes. The IRS treats income from a trade or business not substantially related to your exempt purpose as unrelated business taxable income. If your organization’s gross unrelated business income reaches $1,000 or more in a tax year, you have to file Form 990-T along with your regular annual return. Groups expecting to owe $500 or more in tax on that income also have to pay estimated taxes.
Whether a particular event’s alcohol revenue qualifies depends on factors like how often you hold these events and whether volunteers or paid staff handle sales. A once-a-year event run entirely by volunteers can be treated differently than regular monthly fundraisers. A tax advisor is worth a call before the event rather than after.