What are Giveaways?

A Giveaway is a free-stay contest that Stays runs on your behalf. You provide the stay, Stays publishes the campaign on Instagram and on stays.co, collects and verifies entries, picks and verifies the winner, and hands the winner to you.

How it works, in one pass

1. You build it: In the Giveaway Builder inside your Stay Dashboard, you choose the post format, optional amplification and boosting, the media to use, and the prize details (nights, guests, when the stay can be taken). Then you purchase it through your Organization's Cart.
2. Stays publishes it: Our team crafts the post from your media and publishes it on our @americanstays Instagram outlet, with a matching Giveaway Page on stays.co where travelers can enter directly. Each Giveaway has its own start and end date.
3. Travelers enter: Two separate ways. On stays.co, a one-click entry from the Giveaway Page, with no social media requirements. On Instagram, by commenting on the official post and following both @americanstays and your account. Every way to enter is free.
4. Stays picks and verifies the winner: After the entry period closes, every entry from stays.co and Instagram goes into one pool, is reviewed against the Official Rules, and one winner is drawn at random. The winner has 72 hours to accept by submitting the Winner Acceptance form; if they do not, we draw again. Then we introduce you to each other.
5. You host the stay: The winner books directly with you under your own rental agreement and house rules, and you provide the stay as described on the Giveaway Page.

Giveaways are published by Stays and then can be amplified across our network

What a Giveaway does for a host

• Followers. Travelers who enter on Instagram must follow your account (and @americanstays) for their entries to count, so Instagram entrants become followers. Travelers who enter on stays.co have no follow requirement, so do not expect every entrant to appear as a new follower, and do not read your follower growth as the entry count.
• Leads on Stays. Travelers who enter on stays.co become Leads on your Leads page, and you can invite them during and after the campaign.
• Administration. Stays handles publishing, entry counting, eligibility checks, winner selection, acceptance paperwork, and the handoff. You do not moderate, pick, or contact anyone.

How is a Giveaway different from a Promotion?

A Giveaway is a specialized type of Promotion. Unlike standard Promotions, it follows a fixed format, has a set entry period, is always published on a Stays-owned outlet, and is managed end to end by the Stays team. That consistency is what keeps it fair for participants and simple for you.

How is it different from running my own Instagram contest?

A Stays Giveaway is published to the @americanstays audience, runs under published Official Rules, and is administered by Stays (entry verification, winner selection, and the handoff). A contest on your own account reaches your existing followers, and you handle the rules, moderation, and selection yourself.

Where and how long

• Posting Outlet: Giveaways are published on our @americanstays Instagram outlet. You do not pick an outlet, which keeps the format consistent and the audience centralized. You can add your own account and other outlets as collaboration or amplification partners.
• Giveaway Page: every Giveaway also gets a page on stays.co that states the prize (nights and guests), the participating host, the start and end dates and times, when the stay can be taken, and any Giveaway-specific terms. Travelers enter there too.
• Duration: Giveaways can run for any length, usually 14 to 30 days, whichever is outlined in the planning details. The dates are set before publishing.
• Locked once live: once a Giveaway is published, its Giveaway Page terms cannot be changed. Get the prize details right in the builder.

What it costs

The Giveaway Builder shows a running cost tracker as you choose optional Amplification and Boost add-ons. Host Premium Organizations get 50% off Giveaways, applied at checkout in your Organization's Cart (partner-outlet amplification and Boost budget are billed at cost). Purchases are final except where Stays cannot publish for a reason on our end.

The steps in this guide

1. What you commit to as the prize provider
2. Create a Giveaway
3. Select the Variation
4. Acknowledge the Overview and Posting Outlet
5. Select Amplification
6. Select Media
7. Select Boosting
8. Craft the Details and prize parameters
9. Review, submit, and pay
10. Awaiting publishing
11. While it is live, and after the winner is picked