Patreon’s stance on raffles, lotteries and giveaways

We’re happy with our creators for locating new and thrilling methods to deliver worth to their Patreon pages. Advertising your creator web page via ingenious tiers and thrilling advantages is important to a profitable membership enterprise.

We’re wanting to applaud creator innovation, however there are some issues that we don’t permit to be featured as advantages on Patreon, akin to contests that depend on probability like raffles or giveaways. In line with Patreon’s Phrases of Use and Profit Pointers, these form of advantages are usually not allowed on Patreon.

Let’s check out and reply the commonest questions we get on this subject:

• What constitutes a raffle, lottery, or giveaway?
• Why aren’t most of these advantages allowed for use on Patreon?
• What sort of advantages might I supply to my patrons as a substitute?

What are raffles, lotteries, and giveaways?

On Patreon, a raffle is outlined as a contest that your patrons should pay to enter with a purpose to obtain a randomized probability of profitable a prize.

When making an attempt to determine if a Patreon profit could be thought-about a raffle or not, ask your self the next two questions:

• Did everybody must pay to enter the competition (i.e., by changing into your patron)?
• Would the winner of the competition be chosen via pure probability (i.e., a drawing or a lottery)?

If the reply to each of these questions could be sure, then the profit in query is a raffle and isn’t allowed on Patreon. Different types of contests that share the 2 traits talked about above, akin to lotteries or giveaways, are additionally not allowed on Patreon.

Why doesn’t Patreon permit raffles or different video games of probability?

We don’t permit raffles, or different video games of probability, on our platform as a result of we wish to shield creators, patrons, and Patreon. The legality of chance-based contests can differ relying on what nation or state you reside in. As an illustration, in the USA, the IRS views raffles as a type of gaming (aka playing). Which means that, not solely would a raffle be topic to the authorized constraints of playing nationally, it could not even be authorized within the state you, or your patrons, stay in.

We don’t need our creators or patrons, both deliberately or unintentionally, to interrupt the legal guidelines of their residence nation or state. Since our creators and patrons come from many alternative locations, permitting raffles for use as advantages would put them, and Patreon, prone to breaking native, state or nationwide legal guidelines.

Does this imply creators can’t set up contests in any respect?

Now you realize why we don’t permit raffles and video games of probability on Patreon. However does that imply you can’t set up any type of contest together with your patrons?

Operating different types of contests on Patreon is allowed so long as they fulfill the next {qualifications}:

• Successful the competition doesn’t rely on luck/probability
• A patron’s probability of profitable can’t be elevated by paying more cash (like by pledging at a better tier)

Listed here are some examples of contests which are okay to run on your patrons

We perceive patrons like collaborating in raffles, lotteries and giveaways, and that they like profitable them much more. We additionally perceive that, generally, creators have advantages they’d prefer to share with solely a restricted variety of patrons, maybe as a result of there are simply not sufficient of these advantages to offer to everybody.

So listed below are some options to chance-based contests which are inside our Phrases of Use and Group Pointers (and can nonetheless give your patrons the satisfaction that comes with profitable).

1. Make a contest that depends on creator company

For a contest to be allowed on Patreon, the winner can’t be decided by pure probability.

Nevertheless, you might use another, non-chance-based type of motion to resolve which patron wins — as an illustration, you might run a contest the place you choose the winner(s) based mostly on some established standards, akin to talent or choice.

For instance: Let’s say you’re a photographer who makes a speciality of canine portraits. To advertise a brand new membership tier to your followers and patrons, you create a contest titled “Chihuahuas at Work,” through which you publish pictures in your Patreon web page of tiny canines in several uniforms: development employee doggies, dentist doggies, you get the thought. You ask your patrons to go away humorous feedback under the pictures, after which, you select the 5 feedback that make you giggle probably the most — these patrons every obtain a prize (maybe a print signed by your Maltese poodle, Fifi).

Why is that this contest acceptable: this contest relied on creator selection, or judgement, fairly than probability to choose the winner.

This contest is just like #1. However fairly than you selecting the winner of the competition, the winner is determined by your patrons.

For instance: Let’s say you might be an illustrator who is understood for the drawing of workplace provides — particularly staplers. Critically, you draw a imply stapler. You wish to reward your loyal office-supply loving patrons, in addition to entice some new ones, by making a contest for them. To kick off the competition, you create a Patreon publish that incorporates a downloadable, black and white PDF of your most up-to-date stapler illustration. You then give your patrons per week to paint the drawings and publish them to a sure social media hashtag.

After the week is over, you choose your 5 favourite coloring sheets from the bunch. Then, in a Patreon Ballot, you ask your patrons to vote for his or her favourite one. The creator that will get probably the most votes will get a prize — a model, spanking new stapler, painted by you.

Why is that this contest acceptable: the winner was chosen by a Patreon ballot, not by probability.

3. Make a raffle that’s open to everybody

To make this type of contest work, your contest needs to be open to everybody (not simply your patrons). Your contest can’t be hidden on Patreon behind a “Patron Solely” publish, nor can or not it’s be obtainable, and even marketed, to your patrons alone.

For instance: Let’s say you’re a skilled guitarist. You’re in an all-guitar band, which makes a speciality of making metallic music appropriate for elevators and resort lobbies. You might be releasing a brand new album titled, “Hospitality in the important thing of E minor.” To assist the album launch, you host a raffle, and the winners get a free obtain hyperlink to your new album.

You share your raffle on different social media accounts, not simply on Patreon, permitting all of your followers equal entry to the prize. Then, you reside stream the raffle drawing, which is viewable to your entire followers (no buy needed).

Why is that this contest acceptable: operating this contest doesn’t violate our profit pointers as a result of there is no such thing as a buy essential to enter. Additionally, this sort of raffle is okay to make use of on Patreon as a result of it’s marketed to your entire followers, not simply your patrons.

4. Make a primary come/first serve contest

To make this type of contest work, the winner of the competition needs to be chosen on a primary come/first serve foundation.

For instance: You’re a video creator who movies themselves constructing well-known castles out of sand. First, you publish a video in your Patreon web page of you constructing the Recreation of Thrones fort, Winterfell. You then inform your patrons that the primary 5 folks to touch upon the video will get a free vial of sand from your personal private assortment.

Why is that this contest acceptable: the winner of this contest was decided by who commented in your video first, as a substitute of probability.

5. Give a profit to your most loyal patrons

Generally creators wish to share a sure merchandise of merchandise with their patrons, however they don’t have sufficient of it to offer to everybody. If you wish to give merch as a profit to a restricted variety of your patrons, it’s okay to base your giveaway on patron loyalty.

For instance: You might be an aquarium fanatic and podcaster. You made restricted version, fish-shaped hats to promote as merch at podcast conventions. However you continue to had some hats left over after conference season ended.

You wish to give them away to all of your patrons, however you don’t have sufficient for everybody. So, you solely give them to the highest 5 patrons who’ve supported you for the longest.

Why is that this profit acceptable: it’s acceptable as a result of the receiving patrons have been decided by an element moreover probability.

6. Create a better tier that’s solely obtainable to a specific amount of patrons

One other option to make use of restricted portions of merchandise is to incorporate them as advantages for a higher-priced tier, which might solely be open to a sure variety of your patrons.

For instance: You’re a meals author who makes a speciality of quick meals. an amazing deal about hamburgers, and your patrons love you for it. You have been digging via your workplace the opposite day, and also you discovered 5 copies of your out-of-print e book, “French Fries, and so on.” You signal the within cowl, and embrace the e book as a profit in a brand new $100 tier, which is barely obtainable to 5 patrons.

Why is that this profit acceptable: it’s acceptable as a result of your patrons are paying on your restricted merch, fairly than an opportunity to win it.

There are two issues to remember with the upper tier mannequin:

• The quantity of people that wish to pledge on this stage all must obtain the identical prize.
• Since these patrons could be receiving such particular merch, be sure to are pricing this tier at a better stage than your different tiers.

In conclusion

We’re dedicated to serving to our creator neighborhood achieve success and receives a commission, and a part of that’s ensuring creators perceive our Phrases of Use and Group Pointers.

We hope that we’ve given you some clarification on what sort of contests are and aren’t allowed by Patreon. We additionally hope that we’ve given you inspiration for contests you might run rather than chance-based raffles, lotteries, or giveaways. In the event you’re excited by studying extra about different Belief and Security associated matters, take a look at the remainder of our Belief and Security collection.

Additionally, when you have any questions on our profit pointers, or about whether or not a selected profit is allowed on Patreon, be at liberty to ask us at pointers@patreon.com.