Giveaway Questions to Ask
You have the prize; what is left is the question people answer to enter. These 49 questions are for small shops, creators, group admins and whoever is holding the microphone at a raffle, and they run in the order a giveaway does: easy entry prompts, this-or-that picks, questions about the prize and the brand, trivia with one right answer, questions to call out at a live event, then closest-guess games and tie-breakers for when two entries are level. Wherever a question says 'this' or 'us', put in your own prize, shop name or numbers.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Easy entry
What would you do first if you won this?
Why ask it
A plan takes one line to type and is different for every entrant, so the thread reads like a conversation and not a column of the word 'done'. Reply to a few answers while entries are still open: people who arrive later tend to write more when they can see someone is reading.
Who would you share the prize with, and why them?
Why ask it
It brings a second person into the entry without a tag: the entrant describes a sister or a coworker in words and nobody is pulled into the thread. Before you turn it into 'tag a friend to enter', read the promotion rules of the platform you are posting on, because required tags and shares are exactly what those rules tend to cover.
Fill in the blank: my week would be better with ____.
Why ask it
The blank does half the typing, which matters on a phone. It suits a general prize such as a gift card, where there is no product to ask about. Say in the post that every answer counts as one entry and the winner is drawn at random, so nobody thinks the cleverest blank wins.
What is the best thing you have ever won?
Why ask it
Entrants with a story tell it: a meat raffle, a coloring contest at age seven, a goldfish at a fair. Plenty will answer 'nothing, ever', and that is a fine entry and a good line to quote back when you announce the winner. It asks nothing about your business, so it works on a new page whose followers have not tried the products yet.
What are you celebrating, or hoping to celebrate, this month?
Why ask it
Made for a prize that is a treat: a dinner voucher, a cake, flowers. Birthdays, exam results and a paid-off car all turn up, and the winner's answer can become your announcement if you ask their permission first. Skip it when the prize is practical, where it reads as forced.
Which emoji sums up how much you want this?
Why ask it
The lowest-effort entry here, for when you want a big count and do not plan to read the thread. One-emoji entries are just as easy for accounts that exist only to enter giveaways, so put in your rules who can win (a real person, in your delivery area) and look at the drawn account before you announce it.
What is your favorite thing about this time of year?
Why ask it
A seasonal question that leaves nobody out, since people can answer with the weather, the food or a day off. Name the season in your version. The replies give you wording for the rest of the month's posts: if half the thread says soup, write about soup.
Which town or city are you entering from?
Why ask it
Use it when the prize has to be collected in person or can only be shipped so far: the answers show whether your entrants can actually claim it. A town is as narrow as a public comment should get, so do not ask for a street or a zip code, and state the pickup or delivery area in the post itself so you are not redrawing after a winner turns out to live three states away.
What is one thing on your wish list right now?
Why ask it
A natural fit for a gift card or store credit, because the entrant is already spending it in their head. Keep a tally of what gets named. Items that come up again and again are candidates for the next prize, or the next thing to stock.
This or that
Prize one or prize two: which would you take home?
Why ask it
Show both options side by side and numbered, so the reply can be a single digit. The winner gets the one they named, which means both must be in stock on draw day. The split is honest feedback on which to reorder.
If you won, would you keep it or give it as a gift?
Why ask it
Before a gift-giving holiday the thread tilts toward giving, and that is your cue to mention wrapping or delivery dates in a reply. Do not favor the generous answers when you pick. You advertised a draw, and a draw does not grade character.
Would you rather win one big prize or see five people win smaller ones?
Why ask it
Ask this in the giveaway before the one you are still planning, because the answer is the plan. Should the thread lean toward five winners, split the next prize. Five announcements also means five chances for a follower to see somebody like them win.
Would you rather win something useful or something you would never buy for yourself?
Why ask it
This sorts your audience into groceries-and-gas people and spa-day people, and most will explain themselves without being asked. Read the reasons more closely than the count. They tell you how to describe the next prize as well as what it should be.
Breakfast for dinner, or dessert first?
Why ask it
For a cafe, bakery or restaurant voucher. Nobody needs to know your menu to answer, and you can reply to each side with the dish that matches. Neither answer is wrong, so there is no gate here: use it when the goal is a lively thread, not a smaller field.
Open it the day it arrives, or save it for a special occasion?
Why ask it
A question for prizes that keep: a candle, a jar of something, a voucher. Savers usually name the occasion, so if the prize has an expiry date, put it in the post now and nobody finds out at an anniversary dinner that the voucher has lapsed.
Would you take the gift card, or the mystery box worth about the same?
Why ask it
Only post it if the winner can have whichever they chose. The mystery box has to be worth what you said it was, so put an approximate value in the rules and keep a list of its contents from before the draw. The box side of the thread tends to be the chattier one, since people start guessing what is inside.
Prize and brand
What is your favorite thing from our shop, or the first thing you would try?
Why ask it
The second half is there so that somebody who has never bought from you can still enter. Whether a purchase can be made a condition of entry depends on the law where you and your entrants live, so ask before you word a question that only customers can answer.
Which item in the bundle are you most excited about?
Why ask it
To answer, an entrant has to look at the photo long enough to see everything in the bundle, which is why you photographed it. Label the items if they are hard to tell apart. Whatever gets named least is the piece to swap out next time.
How did you first hear about us?
Why ask it
Cheap research with an entry attached. New followers will say 'this giveaway', and it is worth knowing how many of them there are, because they came for the prize and the posts in the week after the draw decide whether they stay. Longtime customers get the same single entry as everyone else unless your rules said otherwise before the first comment.
What size, color or flavor would you pick if you win?
Why ask it
A practical one: it saves a round of messages after the draw, and someone who has chosen a size has already pictured owning the thing. List only the variants you can supply. If the winner's pick sells out before the draw, offer the choice again and do not substitute quietly.
What should we give away next?
Why ask it
Skip past the jokes (a car, a house, your delivery van) and count the realistic answers that repeat. Those are the prizes people would come back for. Thank a few suggestions by name, and if you later use one, say whose idea it was.
What would you use this for that we have probably never thought of?
Why ask it
The inventive replies make a good follow-up post. Message the person and ask before you quote them, because entering a giveaway is not the same as agreeing to appear in your marketing unless the rules said so up front. Not for a prize with one obvious use: nobody has a surprising plan for a pizza.
What would you name this?
Why ask it
If the best name wins, this is a judged contest and not a draw: say who is judging and what they are looking for before the first entry. The simpler route is to give every suggestion one entry in a random draw and choose the name separately. Either way, state in the rules whether you may use a submitted name, and ask how judged contests are treated where you operate.
What caption belongs under this photo?
Why ask it
Post a picture with some life in it: the shop dog next to the prize, a cake halfway through collapsing. If the funniest caption wins, that is a judged contest and the judge should be named, and 'most likes wins' is the version to avoid, because it rewards whoever has the most friends to round up. Drawing at random from all the captions and giving the funniest a mention is the route with the fewest arguments.
Where would this go? Show us the shelf, wall or corner as it looks today.
Why ask it
A photo entry cuts the number of entrants and raises the effort of those who stay, which suits a larger prize. Some comment sections do not take photos, so offer a form or a message as a second way in. Say whether you may repost the pictures, and expect a few messy rooms: tidiness is not what you are drawing for.
Trivia
What year did we open?
Why ask it
The answer sits on your about page or the sign over the door, and sending entrants there is the point. In an open comment thread the first right answer is copied by everyone after it. That is fine as long as the post says all correct answers go into one random draw and being first earns nothing.
Which of our products is in this close-up?
Why ask it
For a shop with enough of a range that the answer takes a minute of browsing. Crop tightly but fairly: a texture or a corner of the label, not a blur. Post the full photo with the winner's name and a link to the product, because everyone who guessed will want to see whether they were right.
True or false: everything in this prize bundle was made within ten miles of here?
Why ask it
A guesser has an even chance at true or false, so this filters nobody. Its job is to teach one fact about the business, so choose a statement you would like repeated. Give the answer and the story behind it when you announce the winner.
How many of our products can you count in this photo?
Why ask it
Count them yourself twice and write the number down before you post. Anything half hidden behind another item will start an argument, so either show every piece clearly or word it as 'that you can see'. Unlike most entry trivia, this cannot be searched, so it thins the field for real.
Which planet in our solar system is closest to the sun?
Why ask it
Mercury. Easy on purpose, since an entry question is there to let people in and a nine-year-old at a family event should be able to answer it. Keep anything harder for breaking a tie.
How many keys does a standard piano have?
Why ask it
Eighty-eight: 52 white and 36 black. It fits a music shop, a school fundraiser or a concert-ticket prize. Called out at an event, take the first raised hand and not the first shout, or the prize goes to the loudest table every time.
Which is the only letter of the alphabet that does not appear in the name of any U.S. state?
Why ask it
The answer is Q. Anyone can look it up, so treat it as a way in and not a test: every correct answer goes into the draw. The fun is in the wrong first guesses, and J, X and Z will each get a confident vote before someone checks New Jersey, Texas and Arizona.
Can you unscramble this word: W-A-Y-G-A-V-I-E?
Why ask it
This one spells 'giveaway'; swap in the name of the prize or your shop. Check twice that no letter got dropped and that the jumble has only one solution, because an unsolvable puzzle is an unwinnable giveaway. It takes a few seconds to crack, and people enjoy being seen to get it.
What are the three differences between these two photos?
Why ask it
Put the number in the question so entrants know when they have finished looking. Collect answers by message or form if you can, since in public comments the first solver hands the answer to everyone below. Keep the original and the edited image side by side in case someone finds a fourth difference you did not intend.
Live events
Who is holding the ticket that ends in these three numbers?
Why ask it
The plain raffle call, and still an easy draw for a room to trust, because everyone watches it happen. Have someone with no stake pull the stub, read the number twice, and announce in advance whether the winner must be in the room. Selling tickets for a draw is regulated in many places, so ask your local authority what applies before you charge for one.
Heads or tails?
Why ask it
Everyone stands and puts hands on their head for heads or on their hips for tails, you flip a coin, and the wrong side sits down. Each flip clears about half the room, so a hundred people are down to one in roughly seven. Offer a thumbs-up, thumbs-down version from the start so that guests who stay seated are in the game.
Who traveled the farthest to be here today?
Why ask it
No skill needed, only a raised hand and a place name, and the room enjoys the bidding as the distances climb. Take people at their word for a T-shirt. For a prize worth arguing over, a ticket draw is fairer than a claim nobody can check.
Whose birthday is closest to today?
Why ask it
It works with twenty people or two thousand, and now and then somebody's birthday is that very day, which the room loves. Say before you ask whether a birthday last week counts or only ones still to come. If two people share the date, have a second question ready and do not split the prize on the spot.
Who is sitting on the chair with the sticker underneath?
Why ask it
Nobody has to speak or know anything, so it suits a shy crowd or a hall with a poor microphone. Place the stickers before doors open and note which seats, in case nobody finds one and you have to go and look. Leave out seats reserved for staff, speakers or sponsors, since a prize that lands there looks arranged.
Who has a pen, a coin and a paper receipt on them right now?
Why ask it
A pocket-and-purse scramble where the first person holding up all three wins. It favors the front rows, so keep it for small prizes and run it more than once with different items. Choose things anyone might carry and nothing private: no medication, no cards with numbers on them.
Who can name all three of tonight's sponsors?
Why ask it
Warn the room early that a question about the sponsors is coming, and they will listen to the thank-yous for once. Take a raised hand from a different part of the room each time you ask. Change the number to match your event, and accept a near miss on a long company name.
What was the secret word I said during the stream?
Why ask it
For a live stream: it shows the entrant was watching and not entering from a repost afterward. Say the word once, slowly, and put it on screen too for viewers who watch with the sound off or rely on captions. Close entries at a stated time and draw from all correct answers, since stream delay makes 'first to type it' a test of connection speed.
Guesses and tie-breakers
How many candies are in the jar?
Why ask it
Count as you fill it, write the number down and seal it in an envelope or tell one other person. Announce before the first guess whether the winner is the closest overall or the closest without going over. Two identical guesses are common enough to plan for: the earlier entry winning is the usual fix, and it needs to be in the rules.
To the nearest dollar, what is the total retail value of everything in this basket?
Why ask it
Entrants have to study every item to guess, which the businesses that donated them will appreciate. Add it up from receipts or shelf prices on one stated day, and keep the working. Give the answer with the winner's guess beside it so that the result explains itself.
How much does the whole prize weigh, to the nearest ounce?
Why ask it
Good for a cake, a pumpkin, a hamper or a bag of coffee. Put it on a kitchen scale on camera for the reveal, which gives you a second post out of one giveaway. Name the unit in the question: guesses in a mix of ounces, pounds and grams are a chore to compare.
How many entries will this giveaway have when it closes?
Why ask it
Nobody can look it up, you included, and anyone can verify it afterward by counting. Fix the closing time down to the minute and the time zone. Decide whether a comment edited after posting still stands, because a guess changed in the last hour is close to a sure thing.
What number between 1 and 1,000 am I thinking of?
Why ask it
It is only fair when the number is fixed before the first guess. Write it on paper and photograph it next to something dated, or hand it to someone outside the business. Without that proof, whoever loses a close call will assume you chose the number after seeing the guesses.
In 25 words or fewer, why should this prize go to you?
Why ask it
The classic judged tie-breaker, and the word limit is what keeps it readable. Name the judge and the standard (funniest, most original) in advance, and steer away from rewarding the saddest story, which pushes people to overshare in public. A judged answer and a random draw can be treated differently by the rules where you live, so ask before making this the main way to win.
Rock, paper or scissors?
Why ask it
For two people tied on a stage or at a counter: best of three, with the crowd counting them in, and no judgment call left for you to make. Online it gets clumsy, since both have to reply by a deadline without seeing the other's choice. There, a second random draw between the tied names is simpler, provided your rules said that is how ties are settled.
Running a giveaway question from post to prize
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Choosing the entry question
Match the effort to the prize
A one-word answer is a fair ask for a ten-dollar voucher, and a photo or a short story is a fair ask for a weekend away. When the question costs more effort than the prize is worth, the casual follower drops out first, and the people left are the ones who enter everything.
Decide between a draw and a judged contest first
If the winner is drawn at random, the question is only a way in: any answer counts, and the post should say so. If the best answer wins, you are judging, and entrants deserve to know who the judge is and what they are looking for. Pick one before you write the question, because switching after entries arrive is the fastest way to be accused of fixing it.
Ask one thing
Follow, like, tag, share, answer and sign up is six jobs for one entry. Every extra step loses people, and some steps may not be allowed as entry conditions on the platform you are using. One question and one clear way to answer it is enough.
Avoid answers that work as passwords
A first pet, a first car, a mother's maiden name, the street you grew up on and a birth year are all common account-recovery answers. A giveaway that collects them in public comments looks like a scam even when it is not one. Nothing in this list asks for them, and your own versions should not either.
What to post alongside the question
The short rules every entrant should see
Who can enter (age and area), when entries open and close with the time zone, what counts as an entry and how many each person gets, how the winner is chosen, how and when they will be told, and how long they have to claim. Six lines in the caption cover it. Longer terms can sit on a linked page.
Read the platform's own promotion rules
Each platform publishes rules for promotions and updates them. They commonly deal with whether you may require tags or shares to personal profiles, and with stating that the platform is not sponsoring or running the giveaway. Read the current version on the platform's help pages before each giveaway instead of relying on a summary, including this one.
Ask what the law requires where you and your entrants are
Whether you can require a purchase, whether a draw needs registering or a permit, what the minimum age is, and whether a prize of a given value brings tax paperwork all differ by country and often by state. For a small prize, start with the website of your local consumer or gaming authority. For a large one, an hour of a lawyer's time costs less than a giveaway you have to cancel.
Keep contact details out of public view
Never ask entrants to comment an email address or a phone number. Collect delivery details from the winner alone, in a private message or a form, after the draw. If entry is by form, say what you will do with the addresses and do not add anyone to a mailing list they did not ask to join.
Drawing a winner people will trust
Freeze the list at closing time
At the minute entries close, export or screenshot them. Remove anything that breaks a rule you posted, such as a second entry or a wrong trivia answer, and number what is left. Keep that list until the prize has been delivered.
Use a method you can show
A random number generator run against the numbered list, a comment-picking tool, or folded slips in a bowl all work. What matters is that you record it: a screen recording or a phone video of the draw answers most complaints before they are made.
Draw two alternates in the same sitting
Pull a second and a third name in order and keep them to yourself. If the winner does not claim within the window you announced, the prize passes to the next name with no fresh draw and no room for second thoughts.
Announce from one account and warn about copycats
Fake accounts copy a page's name and photo and message entrants to say they have won, then ask for a fee or card details. Say in the giveaway post that the winner will hear only from this account and will never be asked to pay anything or enter a card number. Report the imitations as you find them.
Staff, family and friends
Say in the rules whether employees and their households can enter. If your cousin wins a fair draw and there was no such rule, the recording of the draw is all you have to point to.
If the giveaway goes wrong
Hardly anyone enters
The question is probably asking too much, or the entry has too many steps. You can make entering easier partway through, as long as earlier entries still count. Do not shorten the deadline or add conditions once people have entered.
The winner never answers
This is what the claim window and the alternates are for. Send one message, wait the time you announced, then move to the next name and say publicly that the prize went unclaimed and has passed to the alternate.
A trivia answer turns out to be arguable
Accept every answer that can reasonably be defended and put them all in the draw. Quietly choosing your preferred answer is worse than admitting the question was loose.
Someone says it was fixed
Reply once, in public and calmly, with the rule and the recording of the draw. Do not argue past that. Other entrants are reading, and a method shown plainly is what settles it for them.