[OMS_MANAGERS] Purchasing Giveaways

[Lise Grato]

Hi Stephanie,

I had the same thought yesterday and sent an email to Sheri.

About 4 years ago I was concerned about our Movies at Monteith drawing that requires the showing of a receipt from a member business to receive a drawing ticket or a drawing ticket from one of our event vendors (member restaurants). The prize is a DVD and $20 in gift Downtown cards so the total value was around $30-45. With 4 movies we are at a max value of $180, which was under the reporting ceiling. I inquired with the state and was told I needed to set a value for the tickets. We did that based on the number of chances (tickets) and the value of the prize. So 100 tickets for a prize worth $40 = $0.40/ticket. Of course, I kept the email just in case it gets questioned in the future.

After sitting through their Money Matters presentation at the OMS Conference I'm all for being overly cautious. Reading yesterday, I clarified "raffle" and licensing. It looks like if the total prize value for the event and the year are under $10,000, a license isn't generally required for a non-profit to hold a raffle.  Here's what I found on the Charitable Gaming FAQs & Resources<https://www.doj.state.or.us/charitable-activities/charitable-gaming/charitable-gaming-faqs/> page of the Oregon DOJ website that looks relevant:

[cid:image001.png at 01D8F37E.6CD69260]

[cid:image002.png at 01D8F37E.6CD69260]

I don't know if this would count toward the $10,000/yr ceiling to not need a license.

Looking elsewhere on the web I find other issues to consider:

Q: Can you require a purchase to enter a giveaway?
A: It's illegal in the United States to run a giveaway that requires a purchase or a membership to enter. That's why, when you read sweepstakes rules, you'll see terms like: "No purchase necessary," "No purchase necessary to enter or win," or "a purchase will not affect your chances of winning."
Source<https://www.liveabout.com/no-purchase-necessary-to-enter-definition-4126050>

There was a webinar on this subject during Covid. I might be able to find my notes, but getting the official info from DOJ would be best.

Thank you,

Lise Grato
Executive Director

Albany Downtown Association
126 Ferry Street SW
Albany, OR 97321
www.albanydowntown.com<http://www.albanydowntown.com/>
W: (541) 928-2469
C: (541) 905-2908


From: OMS_MANAGERS <oms_managers-bounces at omls.oregon.gov> On Behalf Of Stephanie Wilson
Sent: Tuesday, November 8, 2022 2:09 PM
To: Oregon Main Street Network Members <oms_managers at omls.oregon.gov>
Subject: [OMS_MANAGERS] Purchasing Giveaways

Hello Everyone,

I was curious how you are running your interactive purchasing giveaways, to not be considered a lottery.
For instance when you say (spend this amount and get a punch or shop and bring in receipt to be entered, for your chance to win).....  From my understanding this is considered a lottery.  Since you are telling them they have to spend money in order to be entered for a chance to win, with no guarantee of winning.

Where as if they don't have to spend money but still have to do a task (for instance come in and sign up, or take a selfie, vote your favorite decorated businesses, etc.) with a chance to win... its different, because no purchase is necessary to win.

If you're asking them to "spend money" with a guarantee of something, even if it's a small trinket etc., then I believe you are safe, because you are guaranteeing they get something after purchasing X amount.  I think if you state how many are guaranteed to win a prize ahead of time like "while supplies last" or what not, I believe this may be ok because you are stating rules up front ( but don't quote me on that)

Not trying to be a bummer or anything, I wish they just made it easy for us to do our jobs to help promote small businesses.  These are just how I understand the rules to be, so I am interested on how you all run your giveaways to be compliant, and still drive sales to our small businesses.

If a promotion is being ran through a non-profit then maybe it changes things?  Making all those rules not applicable to the Main Street Non Profit, where as if through a business it would be different.  My program is new and we are planning, so I'm genuinely looking for advice moving forward, any helpful tips or links would be greatly appreciated.


Sincerely,
Stephanie


Stephanie Wilson
North Bend Main Street Manager
1380 Sherman Ave.
W(541)756-4613

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://omls.oregon.gov/pipermail/oms_managers/attachments/20221108/3332aa07/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.png
Type: image/png
Size: 129399 bytes
Desc: image001.png
URL: <https://omls.oregon.gov/pipermail/oms_managers/attachments/20221108/3332aa07/attachment-0002.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image002.png
Type: image/png
Size: 42850 bytes
Desc: image002.png
URL: <https://omls.oregon.gov/pipermail/oms_managers/attachments/20221108/3332aa07/attachment-0003.png>