Vermont expressly permits chance contests without required stakes of money or valuable things. Promotion claims and winner notices must be truthful.
Planning a free giveaway or photo/video competition open to Vermont residents? This guide focuses on ordinary commercial promotions with free entry, including random drawings and submission contests using judges or public voting. Paid entries or votes, purchase-linked promotions, charitable raffles and regulated prizes need separate analysis.
Editorial review: . Sources are linked beside the guidance they support. This is an informational overview, not legal advice for a particular campaign.
Vermont’s free chance-contest provision
Vermont 13 V.S.A. §2143b permits chance contests, including sweepstakes, when entrants are not required to venture money or other valuable things. It expressly excludes the cost of mailing an entry from that restriction and preserves contests not based on chance.
Keep participation genuinely free for the format described here. Adding paid entries or votes changes the facts; do not assume that the free-contest provision covers that revised campaign.
Sources: Vermont 13 V.S.A. §2143b.
Accurate odds, prizes and winner notices
The Attorney General’s CP109 rule addresses misleading chances of winning, winner counts, prize value or availability, and false promotional materials. It also addresses misleading selected-winner framing used in prize schemes.
For a free photo/video competition, publish the judging or public-voting method and follow it consistently. Explain eligibility, deadlines, prizes and ties as practical administration guidance; public voting is not automatically established as a pure-skill contest by these sources.
Sources: Vermont AG Consumer Protection Rule CP109.
Registration and campaigns open to other states
For ordinary free commercial sweepstakes, the familiar prize-value filing regimes are in New York, Florida and Rhode Island. That does not remove Vermont's disclosure and conduct rules described above, or special rules for a different industry or format. See the registration guide and its sources for that distinction.
The state-law directory links to all 50 states and DC. A “void where prohibited” line does not itself define your eligible audience or complete a required filing.
Before opening entries
Use these practical drafting and administration steps alongside the applicable state rules:
- Identify the sponsor, eligible entrants, entry period and advertised prize.
- Explain the free entry method and how winners are selected. For submissions, describe judging criteria or voting stages and tie handling.
- Make advertisements, the form and full rules agree; do not imply an entrant has already won.
- Plan verification, notification and fulfillment, and retain the rules and selection records.
Federal advertising standards also apply. The FTC warns against misleading purchase prompts and prize claims; see its advertising guidance. Tax reporting and channel-specific rules are covered in the national sweepstakes guide.
Nearby sweepstakes law guides
Planning a promotion across state lines? Review the guides for nearby jurisdictions.
Revup
Revup helps you collect entries and manage promotion workflows. Match your campaign settings and official rules to the requirements of your actual promotion.
