Getting Started
Start with your state, then verify the right promotion rules
Use this page as a starting point if your organization wants to run a no-purchase-necessary campaign and needs to review state-specific and federal guidance before launch.
Pick a state to review the current guide, then compare it against the official state and federal resources before you publish campaign details.
Federal resources to review
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FTC lottery and sweepstakes enforcement overview
Use this for no-purchase-necessary, deceptive promotion, odds, prize-disclosure, and sweepstakes-marketing enforcement themes.
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FTC consumer guidance on prize and sweepstakes promotions
Plain-language guidance that reinforces the purchase-free and truthful-disclosure expectations teams should keep in view.
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IRS charities and nonprofits
Use this for federal tax-exempt organization rules, filings, EIN, exemption status, and annual reporting.
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IRS Topic no. 419: gambling income and losses
Use this for winner tax treatment and the basic rule that gambling-style winnings, including raffles, are taxable.
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IRS Instructions for Forms W-2G and 5754
Use this for prize-reporting, withholding, and multiple-winner handling thresholds and instructions.
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FCC unwanted calls and texts guidance
Use this if your campaign touches texts, robocalls, telemarketing, or outreach consent issues.
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USPS Publication 546
Use this if tickets, entry materials, notices, or promotion pieces are mailed and you need sweepstakes-versus-lottery guidance.
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NAAG Charities Regulation 101
High-level explanation of why attorneys general matter in charity oversight, registrations, and charitable solicitation enforcement.
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NASCO state government resources directory
Best starting point for state charity regulators, charitable solicitation offices, and AG consumer-protection contacts.
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NAGRA state and province gaming regulatory agencies directory
Best starting point for state gaming, charitable gaming, lottery, raffle, bingo, and similar regulator contacts.
What to confirm before you launch
- Whether your state treats the campaign as a sweepstakes, raffle, charitable gaming activity, or something else.
- Whether your organization needs charitable solicitation registration, gaming approval, bonding, disclosures, or entity-level filings before launch.
- How the free-entry path should be presented if no purchase is required and whether that path must be mirrored in every promotion channel.
- What prize-reporting, winner tax, texting, calling, and mailing rules apply before you announce the campaign publicly.
Browse all state guides
No published state guides are available yet. Publish the state-guide posts and this page will populate automatically.
Source framework to use in every state
- State charity regulator, usually the Attorney General, Secretary of State, Department of State, or similar office handling charitable solicitation and public charities.
- State gaming or charitable gaming regulator, usually a gaming commission, lottery commission, charitable gaming office, bingo or raffle unit, or similar agency.
- State Attorney General or consumer-protection office for prize-promotion, UDAP, misleading marketing, and complaint risk.
- State business or nonprofit registration office to confirm entity status, foreign qualification, and organizational prerequisites.
- State tax or revenue office for withholding, state reporting, and any state-specific prize or filing rules.
Tracker columns to keep for every jurisdiction
- Charitable solicitation registration
- Raffle, sweepstakes, or charitable gaming approval
- Free-entry requirements
- Prize and winner tax handling
- Mail, text, and call restrictions
- Prohibited or limited states
- Renewal and filing cadence