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How to create a photo contest: seven steps, from theme to winner.
A good photo contest needs a clear theme, simple rules, a fair way to pick the winner and a prize people believe in. Here is how to set one up, and how to run it on Rawly, where every entry is shot live in the app and the community votes.
Seven steps
Decide who it is for.
Friends, a photo club, a community or a whole city. On Rawly anyone can enter a challenge, so think about who you will tell. If the contest promotes a business, a product, a venue or an event, it is a brand challenge: see step 5.
Pick one clear theme.
One idea people can shoot today works better than a broad one: morning light, something red, your street after rain. Write one line that says what counts.
Write the rules down.
Who can enter, the deadline, how many entries each person gets, what is not allowed (old photos, heavy edits, AI images) and how the winner is picked. On Rawly one entry per person, shot live in the app, with no gallery uploads and no filters, is built in.
Choose how the winner is picked.
A jury, a public vote, or both. Votes feel fair but fake accounts can tilt them; a jury is quick but closed. On Rawly the community votes and you can pick the winner yourself. If you do not pick within 3 days of the close, the most-voted entry wins. Votes from accounts younger than 7 days do not count.
Set a prize, or none.
A prize is optional, but it brings entries. On Rawly a challenge has a prize pool of at least 2 Token, the currency you can buy in the app. Businesses run brand challenges instead, paid by invoice.
Settle the photo rights first.
Say who may use the photos and how. On Rawly photographers keep their copyright, and starting a challenge does not give you the right to use the entries. A brand challenge includes a 12-month licence to the winning photos; for anything else, ask the photographer.
Tell people and close on time.
Say where to find it, keep the deadline and announce the winner where everyone can see it. On Rawly the deadline, the result and the payout all happen in the app.
Three ways to run it on Rawly
| Challenge | Private challenge | Brand challenge | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Friends, clubs, communities | When you want the final word and to be the only one who sees the entries | Businesses, brands, venues, events |
| Who starts it | Anyone on Rawly | Anyone on Rawly | Rawly, on the brand's own account, once the invoice is paid. It is shown as Sponsored |
| Who picks the winner | You can pick. With no pick within 3 days of the close, the most-voted entry wins | You pick. With no pick within 3 days, the winner's share is split equally among the entrants | The brand picks, up to 10 winners. With no pick within 3 days, the most votes win |
| Prize pool | From 2 Token | 2 to 650 Token | From €30, plus Rawly's service fee from €150, quoted per challenge |
| Where the pool goes | 75% to the winner, 10% shared by everyone who voted, 15% to Rawly | 75% to the winner, 10% to the community pool for Rawly's open challenges, 15% to Rawly | 75% to the winners, 25% shared by everyone who voted. Rawly takes nothing from the pool |
| How the winner is paid | Jeton, withdrawable where cash-out is open* | Jeton that cannot be withdrawn | Jeton, withdrawable where cash-out is open* |
| Use of the winning photo | None. Ask the photographer | None. Ask the photographer | A 12-month, non-exclusive licence for the brand (Terms §5) |
* Jeton can be withdrawn at €0.06 per Jeton from 500 Jeton. Withdrawals are currently open in the EU, the UK, the US, Canada and Switzerland. Other countries are being worked on, and playing is open everywhere. Actual earnings depend on challenge outcomes. If nobody enters a challenge or a private challenge, the whole budget goes back to the person who started it.
Before you start
- Adults only. Everyone on Rawly is 18 or over, so it is not the place for school or youth contests.
- Businesses run brand challenges. Rawly's Terms do not allow commercial use of the app without written permission. A contest that promotes a business, a product, a venue or an event runs as a brand challenge, under the brand's name. Write to hello@rawly.app.
- No rights by default. Entrants keep the copyright to their photos. Starting a challenge gives you no right to use them. Ask the photographer, or run a brand challenge, which includes a 12-month licence to the winning photos.
- Recognisable people. If a winning photo shows people who can be recognised, the brand may use it in advertising only with their consent (Terms §5).
- Prizes and tax. On Rawly, prize pools follow the Terms, and winners are responsible for any tax on what they withdraw. If you add a prize of your own outside the app, the rules for prize promotions depend on your country.
- Fair play. Coordinated voting, fake accounts and bought votes break the Terms and can cost the prize. Accounts that have shared a phone count as one person: one entry, and none in their own challenge.
This page is general information about running a photo contest, not legal advice. The rules that apply on Rawly are in the Terms.
Questions
How do I create a photo contest?
Pick a theme, write the rules, set a deadline, decide how the winner is picked and what the prize is, and settle who may use the photos. On Rawly you create a challenge with a theme, a deadline and a prize pool, and everyone shoots their entry live in the app.
Can I create a photo contest for free?
Entering and voting on Rawly are free. Starting a challenge takes a prize pool of at least 2 Token, the currency you can buy in the app. If nobody enters, the whole budget comes back to you.
Who owns the photos in a photo contest?
On Rawly, the people who take them. Rawly may show entries within its service, and the person who starts a challenge gets no right to use them. A brand challenge is the exception: its winners grant the brand a 12-month, non-exclusive licence to the winning photo or video.
How is the winner picked on Rawly?
In a challenge the community votes and you can pick the winner; if you have not picked one within 3 days of the close, the most-voted entry wins. In a private challenge only you see the entries and you pick; with no pick within 3 days, the winner's share is split equally among the entrants. In a brand challenge the brand picks, and with no pick within 3 days the most votes win.
Can a business run a photo contest on Rawly?
Yes, as a brand challenge. The brand pays the prize pool, from €30, and Rawly's service fee, from €150 and quoted per challenge, by invoice. Rawly then opens the challenge on the brand's own account, where it is shown as Sponsored. Write to hello@rawly.app.
Can I keep the contest to my club or my friends?
Not as a closed contest: everyone on Rawly can enter a challenge. Tell your group about it, and if you want the final word, run a private challenge, where only you see the entries and you pick the winner.
Is a Rawly challenge a game of chance?
No. Rawly's Terms describe challenges as skill-based: the result depends on the photos entered and the votes, not on chance or luck.