No matter the size of your promotion or the prize pool, Official Rules are always necessary, as legally, they are the sponsor´s “contract with the public”. Official Rules are the only document that allows state regulators and other legal entities to ensure you are structuring your promotion in compliance with the applicable laws.

Your Official Rules must clearly state the conditions of awarding prizes. With a sweepstakes (a random drawing) and contests of skill, it is generally accepted that all prizes will be awarded. However, in many instant win games or contingency insurance promotions, prizes may not be awarded if the winning game pieces are not found or claimed or if the contingent prize remains un-awarded at an insured event.

Per the Children´s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), you are not allowed to ask or obtain personal information online from children under the age of thirteen (13).
We have found that the best way to comply with COPPA is to make simple modifications to the standard entry form to ensure receipt of parent’s information as well as minimal information from the child when entering an online sweepstakes.
Then, we can send the winner notification to the parent’s e-mail address directly to obtain permission and request any additional personal child Information.

AMOE stands for “Alternate Method of Entry”. You will see AMOE referenced when running games of chance as having a free method (other than a purchase or the requirement to put forth too much effort) is required by law.

A game of chance is a promotion whereby the Sponsor gives away a prize (or prizes) to prize winners. The prize winners are chosen by a random event (such as a random drawing or pre-seeded instant win prize). A sample game of chance is a Sweepstakes or an Instant Win Game.

A sweepstakes is a promotional event that must exclude the consideration element in order to be classified as a sweepstakes.
A lottery is different in that the third element “consideration” is required to participate and win.
Consideration can be described as any effort on the part of the consumer that must be given in order to be entered into the sweepstakes. For example, the purchase of a product or membership requirement would be defined as “monetary consideration” whereby asking a consumer to take a long survey or spend an absorbent amount of time or effort in order to receive a sweepstakes entry would be defined as “non-monetary consideration”.
In a sweepstakes where consideration is present, a free alternate method of entry (AMOE) must also be offered. The AMOE can be a simple online entry form or a write-in entry method.

No. The requirements for bonding and registration vary depending upon the structure of the promotion. Generally, New York, Florida, and Rhode Island require registration and/or bonding only when the total prize pool (the total retail value of all prizes being offered) is more than $5,000 (for NY and FL), or $500 or more (for RI).