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How is Zeffy free?
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Disclaimer: The information provided in this guide is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Laws vary by state, and each organization is responsible for its own compliance.
Verdict: Official sweepstakes rules are the short public document that keeps your drawing legal. They tell entrants who runs it, how to enter, what they can win and how the winner is picked.
When people hear "official rules," they picture pages of tiny print from a fast-food chain. That is not what a small nonprofit needs. Official sweepstakes rules are a short, public document. Think of it as a one-page agreement between your organization (the sponsor) and every person who enters.
The rules do one big job: they keep your drawing legal. A sweepstakes can run in every US state because it includes the free way to enter the law requires, with the same odds as a paid entry. A raffle, where people must pay for a chance to win, depends on your state's rules. The rules put how your drawing works in writing, where every entrant can read it.
So the rules are not a legal extra on top of a sweepstakes. They are the sweepstakes. Without them, entrants can't see how to enter, when the drawing happens, or how you'll pick a winner.
If you're not sure whether your drawing is a sweepstakes or a standard raffle, see how a sweepstakes compares to a raffle. On Zeffy's free sweepstakes platform, the official rules are written for you from your campaign details.
Laws vary by state, and each organization is responsible for its own compliance. The rules are where you show entrants you've done that work.
For a small nonprofit: if you run a sweepstakes, you need official rules. The real question is not whether to have them, but whether you write them from scratch or start from a template.
Below is each section in the order most rules documents use. Each one is short. Most fit in two or three sentences.
This sits at the very top of the rules, usually in capital letters. It tells entrants they can enter and win without paying or donating. It also says that giving money does not improve the chance of winning.
It is a legal requirement, and it always comes first.
The sponsor is the organization running the sweepstakes. List your organization's legal name, mailing address and a contact email. Entrants should know exactly who is behind the drawing and how to reach you.
In Zeffy, this comes from your organization's details and writes into the rules automatically.
Say who can enter. This usually covers:
Keep it simple and specific. "Adults 18 and older" is clearer than vague wording.
Give the start date and time and the end date and time, with the time zone. Entries received outside this window don't count.
In Zeffy, your campaign dates set this window, and they write into the rules automatically.
This section explains both ways in:
The free method must be real and easy to find. On Zeffy, it's built in: anyone can claim one free entry per email per day through the free entry form, with the same odds as a paid one. The form opens from the official rules, shown on the same campaign page.
Two more Zeffy details belong here. You set a total number of entries for the campaign. And organizations that are not 501(c)(3) charge every entry the same base rate, with no bundle discount.
Whether someone gives or enters for free, every entrant lands on the same free donor record in your Zeffy CRM, and Zeffy sends a receipt for every transaction.
Describe each prize clearly. Then give its approximate retail value (often written "ARV"). That is what the prize would normally sell for. Add the total value of all prizes.
Also cover:
One rule matters for fairness: prizes can't depend on how much someone paid. On Zeffy, that's built in. A free entrant can win the same prize as anyone else.
Prize size also matters for paperwork. New York and Florida have registration and bond rules for prize pools over $5,000, and Florida's law doesn't apply to nonprofit organizations. Zeffy doesn't currently accept sweepstakes with more than $5,000 in prizes in New York or Florida, so keep your prize pool at or under $5,000 there.
You usually can't give exact odds in advance, because you don't know how many people will enter. So rules typically say the odds depend on the total number of eligible entries received. Some organizations also note the total number of entries available.
Say when the drawing happens, who does it, and how. The key words are "at random" and "from all eligible entries." That makes clear free and paid entries go into the same pool.
On Zeffy, a draw date is required. Each entry gets a number and is emailed to the entrant automatically. Your draw date writes into the rules, and on that date your organization picks the winner the way the rules describe.
Explain how you'll contact the winner (email or phone, for example) and how soon after the drawing. Then say how long the winner has to respond, and what happens if they don't. Most rules say you'll draw an alternate winner.
Publicity: say whether you'll share the winner's name, and where (your website, newsletter or social media). Many organizations ask for permission and let winners opt out.
Privacy: tell entrants how you'll use their information. For a nonprofit, that might be running the sweepstakes and sending updates about your work. Link to your privacy policy if you have one.
Close with a way to reach you with questions or to ask who won. A contact email is enough.
For a small nonprofit: none of these sections needs legal language. Each one answers a plain question an entrant would ask. If you can answer the question in a sentence or two, you've written the section.
Fill in your details below. The template builds all ten sections as you type, with the free entry and the "No purchase necessary" notice already in. Copy it or download it as a text file. It is a plain-language starting point, not legal advice: if your prize is large, have someone with legal knowledge review your rules before you publish.
Fill in your sweepstakes details
On Zeffy, the official rules and the free entry are written into every sweepstakes for you.
Get your official rules written for youA plain-language starting point, not legal advice. Laws vary by state, and each organization is responsible for its own compliance.
For a small nonprofit: this outline covers what entrants need to see. Filling it in by hand is doable for a one-time drawing (our guide to running a sweepstakes fundraiser covers the rest of the setup). If you run sweepstakes often, letting your platform build the rules from your campaign saves you from redrafting every time.
Zeffy is the free all-in-one fundraising platform with a donor CRM built in, and Zeffy sweepstakes follow the same rules structure you just read. You don't start from a blank page. Here's how it works:
Behind the page, Zeffy runs the free entry: one per email per day, with the same odds as a paid entry. Each entry is numbered and emailed automatically. When the draw date comes, your organization picks the winner the way the rules describe.
A few more details keep the campaign clean. Zeffy keeps the word "raffle" out of sweepstakes titles and descriptions. And every entrant, free or paid, is added to your free donor CRM with a receipt for every transaction.
Zeffy builds the rules and runs the free-entry mechanic. Your organization stays responsible for its own compliance, including any state registration. Laws vary by state, so check what applies where you and your entrants live.
It all costs nothing. No platform fee, no transaction fee, no credit card fee. Ever.
For a small nonprofit: this is the shortcut worth taking. You learn what each section does from this guide, then preview rules Zeffy has already written instead of drafting them yourself.
Official sweepstakes rules are not a wall of legal text. They are a short, public promise to every entrant about how your drawing works: who runs it, how to enter, what they can win and how the winner gets picked. Each section answers one plain question.
You have two good paths. Copy the fill-in template and complete it section by section. Or set up your sweepstakes on Zeffy, fill in your campaign details, and preview the rules it writes, with the free-entry form and the "No donation necessary to enter" notice already on the page. Either way, have someone with legal knowledge look over the rules when the prize is large.
Official sweepstakes rules are the public document that explains how your sweepstakes works. They name the sponsor, who can enter, the entry dates, how to enter for free or with a donation, the prizes and their value, the odds, and how the winner is picked and contacted. They are what keeps your drawing a legal sweepstakes.
Yes. The rules are what make your drawing a legal sweepstakes: they show entrants how to enter, including the free way the law requires, and how the winner is picked. Laws vary by state, and each organization is responsible for its own compliance.
Most rules include a "No purchase necessary" notice, the sponsor, eligibility, the entry period, how to enter (including the free way), prizes and their approximate retail value, odds, how and when the winner is picked, how winners are notified, publicity and privacy, and a contact for questions.
For a sweepstakes, a free way to enter is what makes it a sweepstakes rather than a paid drawing. The "No purchase necessary" notice tells entrants that free way exists and that giving money doesn't improve their odds. On Zeffy, the rules open with this notice, and the campaign page shows a "No donation necessary to enter" notice under the entry options.
The sponsor, meaning your organization, is responsible for the rules. On Zeffy, the platform writes the official rules from your campaign details, and you preview them before publishing. For a large prize, have someone with legal knowledge review them.
Every Zeffy sweepstakes includes the free entry the law requires: anyone can claim one free entry per email per day, with the same odds as a paid entry. Entrants open the free entry form from the official rules on the campaign page.
It depends on where entrants live and how big the prizes are. New York and Florida have registration and bond rules for prize pools over $5,000, and Florida's law doesn't apply to nonprofit organizations. Zeffy doesn't currently accept sweepstakes with more than $5,000 in prizes in New York or Florida. Laws vary by state, and each organization is responsible for its own compliance, so check the rules that apply to you.
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