How Great Photos of Your Prize Will Build Buzz and Generate Donations
A series of top-notch, colorful, inspiring images will motivate donors to participate in your TapKat sweepstakes and serve as powerful assets to boost the reach of your campaign online, potentially far beyond your current list of donors.
Today, we’re going to look at:
The difference between mediocre photos and great photos
Where to get amazing photos of your prize
How to make sure you have permission to use them
The value of “user-generated content” on social media platforms
Include Great Photos on Your TapKat Sweepstakes Site
Humans are incredibly visual creatures. Research at 3M Corporation concluded that human beings process visuals 60,000 times faster than text. With a quick glance, we pick up visual cues that inform our daily decision-making processes whether we’re conscious of it or not.
This is why TapKat heavily features an image slider for photos and video at the top of your sweepstakes page. When your donors land on the site, they’ll get an immediate impression of the prize: what it is, and whether they want it. Let’s make a good first impression!
In short, great images accomplish the following:
Clearly and accurately depict the prize
Capture the allure of the prize
Help the viewer visualize how great it would be if they won.
However, just because the prize is amazing doesn’t mean the photos will automatically be great. For instance, which Ford GT would you enter to win? It’s the same car—but looks very different!
In early 2026 the Shelby American Collection ran a sweepstakes for a 2006 Ford GT and raised over $3.5 million dollars.
Which vintage Corvette looks most exciting to you? Which draws your eye?
The National Sprint Car Hall of Fame launched a sweepstakes for this 1963 Split-Window Corvette Fuelie Coupe and raised $20,000 in the first 6 days.
Which Grand Canyon do you want to visit? Of course, it’s the same Grand Canyon, but one photo captures the majesty of this iconic American landmark while the other seems more like a tourist’s snapshot.
Dream vacation packages are very popular sweepstakes prizes on the TapKat platform, and can be easily sourced from our prize partners.
Hundreds of fundraising sweepstakes have run on the TapKat platform, and the ones that feature beautiful photos of their prize typically see greater success. A good rule of thumb is to choose photos that make you want to enter the sweepstakes. And when necessary, hire someone to take the right kinds of photos.
Where to Source Images for Your TapKat Fundraising Sweepstakes Site
Pulling photos from a Google image search is not a good way to source your sweepstakes images, since virtually all are protected by copyright law. Asking AI to create images is also not a good option, for several reasons! However, there are some excellent and inexpensive ways to find great images,especially if your prize is an experience:
If booking through a travel agency, ask them to provide images.
If you source your prize through one of our prize partners, theyoften provide images that check all the boxes.
If your prize is a specific item, such as a motorcycle, car or camper, reach out to the prize provider to ask for images.
If your prize comes from a dealership/manufacturer… They will almost always have beautiful, professionally-shot images on hand. Be sure to ask permission before uploading them to your TapKat sweepstakes site.
If your prize comes from a private owner…Ask if they have any images! Or, they may be willing to take photos for you with their smartphone.
If your prize is handy… Speaking of smartphones, if you have access to the prize, go ahead and snap your own photos. Just make sure you have great lighting and limit distractions in the background.
If you really want to make a splash…Hire a professional photographer to make the prize images pop. This is key to a really successful sweepstakes.
No matter which avenue you choose, make sure the final images always make you want to enter the drawing. If they don’t, chances are good that you need to get better pictures!
User-Generated Images are Great on Social Media
While our testing has demonstrated that beautiful, professional-level photography is the way to go for your sweepstakes site, we have also discovered that on social media, donors love to see “user-generated content.” These are the rougher, more “real” photos and videos that you can take on your SmartPhone devices.
Why do these kinds of images and videos work? In a world being flooded with AI-generated imagery, your homegrown photos help donors connect with the realness of your sweepstakes. If you have someone who can jump in a video and talk about the sweepstakes with the prize right there, that’s great, too!
Use your professional-grade images on the TapKat sweepstakes site, and in your initial social media posts. Then, get creative with your prize and take your own photos and video to post online and help donors see how real the prize is. Check out a video the Shelby American Collection created to promote their sweepstakes:
How to Choose and Prepare Your Images
When you’re logged in to your TapKat dashboard, uploading your images is easy. You will need:
4-6 excellent images of your prize
1-2 images of your nonprofit in action
Make sure that your images are in a horizontal, or landscape, orientation. This way, they will showcase your organization and the prize most effectively on the TapKat campaign page. Exact dimensions are provided when you’re logged into your TapKat dashboard (and our smart tool will automatically crop images if needed).
Select photos of your nonprofit in action that clearly demonstrate what you do and who you serve. If you raise money for shelter pets, let’s see some adorable adoptables in the images! If you work with kids, show us the smiles! If you preserve nature, sprawling images of pristine landscapes will do the trick.
Sourcing great images is one of the most important aspects of your campaign. If you’re ready to get your fundraising campaign started and generate more money for your nonprofit, click here to sign up now.
