Managing Your Promotion
Managing and administering promotions can be very complicated. In addition to
running the sweepstakes and selecting winners, rules must be drafted, federal,
state and local laws need to be obeyed, insurance should be obtained, winners
must be validated for eligibility, taxes must be reported, and prizes must be
delivered. Promotion Trust can manage all aspects of your sweepstakes or contest.
Our Promotions Administration Services include:
- Strategy & Prize Structure Planning. We are experts at
running successful, legal sweepstakes and contests. We provide concept
development, prize structure planning, execution management and strategic
guidance to maximize the results of your promotion.
- Full Legal Services (Domestic & International). We provide information
and advice on how best to run your sweepstakes or contest and access to legal counsel to
ensure that your promotion is compliant with all applicable U.S. federal and
state laws, Canadian provincial laws and international laws.
- Drafting Rules and Regulations. We will draft the Official
Rules to comply with all applicable laws.
- Advertising Review. We will provide you will the mandatory
legal language, abbreviated rules and disclaimers for all of your advertising
materials (print, radio, television, web, etc.). We will then review all of your
advertising, media and materials to ensure that they are consistent with the
promotional offer and with all federal and state regulations.
- Full Legal Indemnification. We will take full liability for all
of our work. We provide full indemnification to you for all of the
sweepstakes and contest services we provide (unless you disregard our recommendations.)
- Sweepstakes Insurance Coverage. Most business insurance will
not cover your company if you run into trouble running a sweepstakes. But if you
work with Promotion Trust, we will take on that risk. All of our services are
covered under a comprehensive Professional Liability Insurance policy which is
expressly designed for promotions marketing, sweepstakes and contests. Our insurance
covers all of our sweepstakes and contest services.
- State Registration and Bonds. In the U.S., the states of
Arizona, Rhode Island, New York & Florida all have regulations requiring
registration of sweepstakes or contests under certain conditions. In addition,
if the total prize value of your sweepstakes is over $5,000, separate surety
bonds for the total value of all prizes are required in New
York and Florida. Promotion Trust will manage the registration and filing of your
promotion in each state and acquire the appropriate surety bonds for the total retail value of all
of the prizes (or if eligible, file a surety bond waiver request).
- P.O. Boxes. Promotion Trust will establish and maintain Post
Office boxes for mail-in entries and the receipt of winner's lists requests. We
will compile all entries for the random drawing and, if needed, data enter all
submissions.
- Game Cards & Ballot Boxes. Need instant win game cards or
in-store ballot boxes for your promotion? Promotion Trust will design and print your
game cards (such as scratch and win, decoder cards, peel and win or
on-pack/in-pack game pieces) and promotional materials. We will then randomly
seed the winning game pieces and deliver the game cards along with instructions,
rules, and other promotional materials to your locations.
- Customer Support. Do your consumers or retailers have questions
about the promotion? Promotion Trust will provide online and toll-free answers to
all of their questions.
- Independent Judging. Promotion Trust will act as the 3rd party
independent judging organization for your sweepstakes or contest. We will interpret rules
and make fair and impartial decisions if issues arise and we will arbitrate any
consumer complaints or inquiries. This will protect you. By designating Promotion Trust as the 3rd party independent judge in the Official Rules of the
sweepstakes you (and more importantly your entrants) agree that if an issue or
complaint arises, Promotion Trust will decide how best to proceed. Courts have
upheld that decisions by 3rd party independent judges are binding and this
limits your entrants from suing if a problem occurs.
- 3rd Party Winner Selection. How do you ensure customers and
courts that your sweepstakes was fair? By having Promotion Trust pick your winners.
As an independent party, Promotion Trust has no incentive to pick your “best”
customers so we will ensure that your winners are picked fairly and impartially.
To pick your winners, Promotion Trust will compile all of the sweepstakes entries
and complete a supervised, impartial, random drawing to select the winners.
- Winner Notification, Release Documents and Validation. Promotion Trust will
notify your winners and draft and deliver the winner validation and release documents (such as the Congratulations Letter, Affidavit of Eligibility,
Advertising and Publicity Release, and the Prize and Travel Releases). We will
receive the completed paperwork from the winners and complete the validation
process to verify each winner’s eligibility in the sweepstakes or contest. We can also
perform detailed background checks on winners if needed. We will then
store and file all winner affidavits and paperwork in compliance with all applicable laws.
- Winners Lists. You are required by law to provide a list of
winners to all who request it. Promotion Trust will create an independent,
certified official winners’ list for your sweepstakes and fulfill all winner’s
list requests.
- Prize Acquisition. Promotion Trust distributes over 50,000 brand
name items so we can find the right prizes at discount prices, or we will source
and acquire custom prizes or find and negotiate with potential prize sponsors
for free prizes. See our Prize Management Services for more information.
- Prize insurance. Want to offer a $50,000 prize but only have a
$5,000 budget? Promotion Trust can help you take the risk out of a great
promotional idea by acquiring a prize insurance policy for your grand prize for
a fraction of the prize amount.
- Prize Fulfillment & Travel Management. Whether its trips, cars, TVs or cash, Promotion Trust will manage the fulfillment of all of your prizes. We will notify
winners, coordinate signing of prize releases, securely store and deliver your
prizes and provide toll free customer support to answer any questions your
winners may have.
- Tax Filings. You are responsible for reporting (and sometimes
for withholding) winnings for winners who receive $600 or more in prizes. Promotion Trust will prepare and issue the appropriate IRS tax forms to all applicable
winners and will withhold and submit the appropriate winnings and documentation
to the IRS.