Frequently asked questions
Most people land here before they've created their sweepstake. That's fine. The answers below cover what it is, how it works, what's allowed, and what we do with your data. If something's missing, email us and we'll add it.
The basics
What is Guess My Time?
Guess My Time is a free web app for running a closest-guess sweepstake on a charity event. The organiser — usually a fundraiser, club captain, or comms lead — sets up a sweepstake for a sponsored walk, run, ride, or marathon. Friends, family, and colleagues guess what time the participant will finish in. After the event, the organiser publishes the actual time, and the closest guess wins. The sweepstake page links out to whichever fundraising page the organiser already uses, so donations go straight to the charity.
Is it really free?
Yes. Creating a sweepstake, sharing the link, collecting guesses, and announcing a winner are all free for individuals. There's no trial, no card on file, no premium tier hiding the useful features. A paid tier for charities and employers running multiple events under one account is planned for late 2026, but the core product stays free for personal fundraisers.
Where does the money go?
Straight to your fundraising page. Guess My Time doesn't take donations, doesn't process payments, and doesn't take a cut. When someone clicks "donate" on your sweepstake, they go directly to your JustGiving, Enthuse, GoFundMe, or other fundraising page. We never touch the money. That's deliberate — it keeps us simple, keeps you in control, and keeps the regulatory picture clean.
Do I need an account to create a sweepstake?
Yes, the organiser needs an account. It's a quick email-and-password signup, no card required. The account lets you edit the sweepstake, publish the final time after the event, and run more than one sweepstake from the same dashboard. We use the email to send you a few transactional messages (sweepstake created, time published, winner announced) and nothing else.
Do supporters need an account to guess?
No. Anyone with the link can submit a guess. They enter their name, an optional email if they want to be notified of the result, and their guess in hours, minutes, and seconds. That's it. No signup, no password, no friction. The lower the barrier, the more guesses you get, the better the sweepstake works.
Running your sweepstake
How do I share the sweepstake link?
Every sweepstake has a short link in the format guessmytime.com/s/your-slug. Copy it from the dashboard and paste it anywhere — WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram bio, work Slack, a printed flyer with a QR code. The page is mobile-friendly, loads fast, and shows your headline, the event details, and a single form to submit a guess. Most organisers share the link two or three times in the weeks leading up to the event and pin it somewhere prominent.
Can someone guess more than once?
The intent is one guess per supporter. We flag likely duplicates by checking the submitting network and name together, but a determined person can submit again from a different network, so the rule is enforced by trust as much as by software — and that's appropriate for a friendly fundraiser.
What happens if two people guess the same time?
If two guesses are equally close to the actual finish time, the earlier-submitted guess wins. We record the timestamp of every entry, so there's an unambiguous tiebreaker. The dashboard shows you the full ordered list of guesses after you publish the result, so you can see exactly who came closest and who came next.
What happens after the event ends?
You publish the actual finish time from the organiser dashboard. The sweepstake page updates to show the winner, the winning guess, and how close it was. If supporters opted in to a results email, they get a short notification with the winner's name and a link back to your fundraising page in case they want to chip in one last time.
How does the winner get their prize?
That's between you and the winner. Guess My Time doesn't handle prizes — we just identify the closest guess. Most organisers offer something small: a bottle of something, a homemade cake, bragging rights, a photo with the medal. We surface the winner's name and email (if they shared one) on your dashboard so you can contact them directly.
Can I run more than one sweepstake?
Yes. Your account isn't capped. People who fundraise regularly — running clubs, repeat marathoners, parents who do the same charity walk every year — run a new sweepstake each time. Each one gets its own link, its own guesses, and its own published result. Past sweepstakes stay on your dashboard so you can look back at what worked.
Can I edit the sweepstake after it's live?
You can edit the description, the event date, the link to your fundraising page, and the cosmetics (headline, photo) at any time before you publish the result. Once a guess has been submitted, you can't change the event format in a way that would invalidate guesses — but minor edits are fine.
Legality, safeguarding, and money
Is running a sweepstake on Guess My Time legal in the UK?
Yes, for the format we support. A Guess My Time sweepstake is free to enter (no payment is required to submit a guess), the prize is at the organiser's discretion, and the winner is decided by skill or proximity rather than by chance alone. That puts it under the Gambling Commission's "free prize draw" guidance, which does not require a licence. For a full walkthrough, see our UK charity sweepstake legal guide.
This guidance is general information, not legal advice. Rules vary by event format and prize structure. If you're unsure, check the Gambling Commission's guidance on free draws or speak to your charity's compliance team.
Is it a lottery?
No. A lottery, in UK law, requires payment to enter and a prize decided by chance. A Guess My Time sweepstake has neither — supporters guess for free, and the closest guess wins. That's why we don't need (and you don't need) a lottery licence to run one. If you ever require a payment to enter, or your sweepstake format relies purely on random selection, you're outside the free-draw model and you'll need to look at the Gambling Commission's lottery rules instead.
Is it a raffle?
Same answer as the lottery question, in slightly plainer language. A raffle is a small-scale lottery — paid entry, prize drawn at random. A Guess My Time sweepstake is closest-guess and free to enter, so it isn't a raffle. If you want to run a raffle alongside your sweepstake, that's a separate piece of work and may require a small society lottery registration with your local council.
Can I suggest a donation amount alongside the guess?
Yes, and most organisers do. The key word is suggested. A supporter must be able to submit a guess without making a donation, or the sweepstake stops being free to enter and you cross into lottery territory. We display the donate link prominently on the sweepstake page and make clear that donating is optional and goes directly to your fundraising page.
What about Gift Aid?
Gift Aid is between your supporter and your fundraising platform (JustGiving, Enthuse, etc.). Because donations never pass through Guess My Time, we have no role in the Gift Aid claim. When supporters donate via the link on your sweepstake page, they tick the Gift Aid box on the destination platform in the normal way. Nothing about running a sweepstake changes their eligibility.
Do you take a cut of donations?
No. Donations don't go through us at any point. Every penny that a supporter donates goes via your fundraising page to the charity, on whatever fee structure that platform applies. We're not a payment processor, not an intermediary, and not a registered charity. We're a free tool that helps you collect guesses.
Are you regulated by the FCA or the Fundraising Regulator?
No, and we don't need to be. The Financial Conduct Authority regulates firms that handle money or financial services — we don't. The Fundraising Regulator oversees organisations that solicit or intermediate charitable donations — we don't do that either, because money goes directly from supporter to your chosen fundraising page. We're a software tool that helps organisers run a guess-the-time game. Your fundraising platform (JustGiving, Enthuse, GoFundMe) handles the regulated bits.
What data do you collect?
The minimum needed to make the product work. Organisers give us a name, email, and password. Supporters give a display name and a time guess (plus an optional email if they want to be notified of the result). We don't ask for addresses, dates of birth, or payment details. Full data inventory, processing basis, and our position on cookies and analytics live in the privacy policy.
Where is the data stored, and how long is it kept?
Data is encrypted in transit and at rest. Organisers can delete a sweepstake (and its guesses) from the dashboard at any time. Supporters can request deletion of their guess by emailing [email protected]. Closing your account removes all associated data. See the privacy policy for hosting location, retention schedule, and our deletion SLA.
For charities and employers
Can I brand sweepstakes with my charity's logo and colours?
On the free tier, sweepstakes use a standard Guess My Time layout with space for your event headline, description, and a photo. Full visual branding — logo, brand colours, custom imagery on the sweepstake page — is part of the paid Org tier planned for late 2026. If you're a charity considering recommending the tool to supporters and branding is a blocker, get in touch and we'll talk about early access.
Can my charity run multiple events under one account?
Today, yes — any individual account can run multiple sweepstakes, and a charity's comms team could share access to one account internally. That works fine for charities running a handful of events a year. For larger programmes with many simultaneous fundraisers and multiple staff users, the planned Org tier will add proper multi-user access, central reporting, and branded sweepstake pages. Email us if you want to be kept informed.
Do you offer enterprise or team accounts for employers?
Not yet, but the Org tier we're building covers this. The intended use case is an employer running a charity-of-the-year programme, where dozens of staff fundraisers each want a sweepstake page, all under one branded umbrella, with a single point of contact at Guess My Time for support. If that describes your situation, email Mark directly — we're prioritising launch partners.
Who do I talk to about partnership or charity-sector enquiries?
Mark Rawson, the founder, handles all charity and employer conversations personally at this stage. Email [email protected]. Guess My Time is operated by Webhooks Ltd (company number 16791194), a UK software consultancy based in Tonyrefail, South Wales. We're a small, focused team — you'll get a real reply, usually within a working day.
Is there a service-level agreement or uptime guarantee?
On the free tier, no formal SLA. The app runs on the same infrastructure we use for our consulting clients and we monitor it closely, but if you're depending on it for a high-profile event we'd recommend testing the share link a few days in advance and having a backup plan (a Google Form, say) just in case. For Org-tier customers, a documented uptime commitment will be part of the offering.