How to Pick a Winner For a Giveaway

Giveaways are great for growing your audience and driving engagement, but choosing a winner is where trust is either reinforced or lost.

Whether you’re running a simple sweepstakes or a creative contest, your winner selection process needs to be fair, transparent, and aligned with your platform rules.

This blog post breaks down how to pick a giveaway winner the right way. We'll go through random draws, judged entries, public voting, and how tools can help.

Before you launch your giveaway, your terms and conditions should clearly outline:

• How many winners there will be
• When and how winners will be selected
• Who is eligible to win
• What criteria will be used (if any)

If you're running a chance-based giveaway, state that winners will be picked by random selection. If it’s merit-based (e.g. essay, photo, or video), make sure you clearly explain the judging criteria.

With your terms and eligibility clearly defined, the next step is choosing a winner, and that depends on what kind of giveaway you’re running.

If your entry method is simple, like signing up to a newsletter or submitting a form, the fairest way to select a winner is at random.

The best ways are:

• A random winner generator
• A random number generator if entries are numbered
• Exporting entries and using a spreadsheet + randomiser

Bonus points if you use a third party software with fraud detection so you can prove to your audience it's completely fair.

For skill-based contests, you’ll need a judging process.

You should:

• Publish your criteria clearly (e.g. creativity, clarity, relevance)
• Create a simple scoring rubric for internal or external judges
• Shortlist strong entries first, then score and average

Having multiple judges helps reduce bias. You can also think about assigning weighted scores if some criteria matter more than others.

Letting people vote on entries is a great way to boost visibility, drive shares, and make your contest feel more interactive, just make sure it stays fair.

You can try:

• Set a clear deadline so voting doesn’t drag on
• Mix in judging to balance popularity with quality (e.g. votes count for 30%)
• Highlight the top entries as voting progresses

These are good ways to encourage sharing, adds excitement, and gives recognition even before the final winner is picked

Once winners are chosen:

• Announce them publicly (with permission)
• Email winners directly
• Document the process in case of disputes

Using a trusted third-party platform so you can show off your winner selection process helps build credibility.

Runner-ups are a great way to reward more participants and create extra buzz around your giveaway.

You might offer smaller prizes, exclusive discounts, or product samples, just enough to make it feel worthwhile without overshadowing the main prize.

Be clear in your terms about how many runner-ups you'll select and what they'll receive.

Laws vary by country. In some regions, chance-based giveaways have to follow strict rules so they don't become lotteries.

Always:

• Check local regulations
• Include a no-purchase-necessary clause if required
• Consider age restrictions and prize value disclosures

You should always include terms and conditions:

Choosing a winner fairly is just as important as running the giveaway itself. Whether you’re drawing at random with a random name picker, scoring entries or picking the winner based on other criteria, make sure your process is clear, consistent, and documented.

The more transparent and structured your selection is, the more trust and goodwill you’ll build with your audience.