When a client asks "who won, and how do you know?", the answer is rarely in the screenshot you posted. It is in what you kept: the entries as they stood when the giveaway closed, the rules you applied, and a record of the draw. Agencies that run giveaways for several clients usually find this out the hard way, three weeks later, when one entrant disputes the result and the post's comments have been edited or deleted.
This guide sets up a small evidence pack for each giveaway: a three-tab Google Sheet (raw entries, one entry per person, winners) plus the winner image. It uses the free Instagram Comments Exporter and the free Instagram Giveaway Picker from Lection, and it is honest about what the data cannot prove.
Why keep an evidence pack
Giveaway guidance mostly covers the rules: write clear terms, follow the platform's promotion guidelines, check local contest law. That is necessary, and none of it helps after the fact if you cannot show what happened. A pack gives you four things:
- A snapshot of the entries. Comments can be edited or deleted after the draw. The export is what existed when you pulled it.
- The rules, applied visibly. Each filter you used is a column or a step someone can check.
- A record of the draw. Who was drawn, when, from how many eligible entries.
- One folder per campaign. When a client asks six months later, you open a folder instead of searching your chat history.
None of this is legal advice. It is a bookkeeping habit that makes a dispute easier to settle.
What goes in the pack
| Item | What it is | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Raw export | Every top-level comment, untouched | Instagram Comments Exporter |
| Clean entries | One row per person, after your rules | Google Sheets, or the giveaway picker's entries list |
| Winners | Winner and backups, with the draw time | Giveaway picker |
| Winner image | A PNG with the winners, draw time and eligible entry count | Giveaway picker |
| Rules and notes | The giveaway terms as posted, plus row counts at each step | Your own notes tab |
Step 1: Set up the sheet
Create one Google Sheet per giveaway and name it with the client and campaign, for example "ClientName spring giveaway 2026". Add four tabs:
- Raw: the untouched export.
- Entries: one row per person after your rules.
- Winners: the winner, the backups and the draw details.
- Notes: the giveaway terms (paste the caption text), the post URL, the dates, and a few counts you fill in as you go.
Keep a consistent layout across clients. After the third giveaway you will not need to think about it.
Step 2: Export the raw entries when the giveaway closes
- Install the free Lection extension and log in to Instagram in the same Chrome profile. You can use the client's account if they have given you access, or any account that can see the post.
- Open the Instagram Comments Exporter, paste the post or Reel URL and load the comments.
- Download the CSV or Excel file and import it into the Raw tab. In Google Sheets: File, Import, Upload, then "Replace current sheet".
Do this right after the closing time in your terms, and note the time on the Notes tab. Each row is one top-level comment with the username, the comment text, likes and the date. Replies to comments are not listed as separate rows, so if your terms allowed reply entries, say so in your notes and tell the client the export does not include them. The full export walkthrough is in how to export Instagram comments to Google Sheets.
Do not edit the Raw tab afterward. If you need to change something, do it on a copy.
Step 3: Build the one-entry-per-person tab
Copy the Raw tab into Entries, then apply the rules you announced, in this order:
- Filter first. If the terms required tagged friends or a hashtag, filter for those on the Entries tab before removing duplicates. Otherwise a person's weaker first comment can survive and their qualifying one gets dropped.
- Remove duplicates on the username column. Data, then Data cleanup, then Remove duplicates, with only the Username column ticked. Sheets reports how many rows it removed.
- Delete excluded accounts. The client's own account, staff, partner brands and anyone the terms disqualify.
If you would rather not do this by hand, the Instagram Giveaway Picker applies the same rules in the page: one entry per person, a minimum number of distinct tagged accounts, a required hashtag or keyword, and a list of accounts to exclude. It can then download the entries list with a clean layout: entry number, username, full name, comment, tags, number of comments on the post, time and profile link. Use whichever you prefer, but record which one you used.
On the Notes tab, write down three numbers: comments in the raw export, unique people, and eligible entries after the rules. For example: 1,204 comments, 861 people, 388 eligible. Those three lines answer most disputes before they start.
Step 4: Draw and record
Run the draw in the giveaway picker after setting your rules. You choose the number of winners (up to 20) and backup winners (up to 10). It uses your browser's cryptographic random number generator, every eligible entry has the same chance, and the same account cannot win twice. Loading comments and drawing are free, with no comment cap.
Then:
- Screen-record the draw, from loading the comments to the result. A 90-second clip is a stronger record than a screenshot.
- Download the winner image. It is a PNG showing the winners and backups, the date and time of the draw, the number of eligible entries and the number of comments loaded. It carries usernames only, no profile photos. Save it in the client folder and post it with the announcement if they want one.
- Copy the winners into the Winners tab with the draw time and the eligible entry count from the image.
Draw once and announce that draw. If you redraw until you like the result, the evidence pack is worth nothing, and the clip will show it.
Step 5: Check what the data cannot prove
The comments export does not tell you whether someone follows the client's account, liked the post, or is a real person. Before you announce:
- Open each winner's profile and check the follow and like requirements if your terms had them. If a winner fails, move to the next backup and note why.
- Look at the profile for obvious signs of a giveaway-only or bot account.
- Note on the Winners tab that you checked, and what you found.
Checking three winners by hand takes a few minutes. Checking three hundred entrants would not, which is why the eligibility filter comes first.
Step 6: File it
Put the sheet, the screen recording, the winner image and a PDF of the giveaway caption in one folder named after the client and the campaign. Share the sheet with the client as view-only.
How long to keep it depends on your contract and on the contest law where entrants live. Comments contain people's names and words, so do not keep the entries longer than you need them, and delete the data when the retention period in your agreement ends. If a client asks you to delete it sooner, do.
Limits to know about
- Top-level comments only. Reply entries are not in the export.
- No follower or like check. Neither tool verifies follows or likes.
- You need to be logged in. The tools read what your own Instagram login can see, in your own browser.
- Rate limits are Instagram's. Very large giveaways can stall partway. Wait a few minutes and load again, and compare the row count against the post's displayed total. The displayed total can include replies, so a small gap is normal.
- A snapshot is not a certificate. The export proves what you pulled and when. It does not prove the comments were genuine, and Lection is not an official Instagram picker.
- Rules and law are yours. Follow Instagram's promotion guidelines and the contest rules where your entrants live.
Repeating it for every client
Once the template exists, a giveaway takes about as long as the draw itself. Duplicate the sheet, paste the new export into Raw, run the same steps and file the folder. If you also report on a campaign's comments, the same export doubles as the raw material for the report.
When you run many campaigns and want exports to land in Sheets on a schedule instead of by hand, start the 30-day Standard trial. It is free for 30 days, then $29 per month, a card is required, and it is for first-time subscribers only. It unlocks Google Sheets delivery, hourly to weekly schedules and 20 URLs per run. You do not need it for anything in this guide: the free tools and a spreadsheet are enough.
FAQ
What should I keep from an Instagram giveaway? The raw comment export, the cleaned entry list, the draw record (winners, time, eligible count), the winner image, a screen recording of the draw and the giveaway terms as posted.
Can I do this for free? Yes. The comments exporter and the giveaway picker are free to use and have no comment cap. Downloading the full entries list from the picker needs a free Lection account.
Does the export include replies? No. It lists top-level comments, so tell entrants to comment on the post directly.
Can the picker check that people follow the account? No. It only reads comments. Check your winners by hand before announcing.
Is the draw random? The picker uses the browser's Web Crypto random number generator and gives every eligible entry the same chance. For a public giveaway, announce the first draw and record it.
Does this work for a client's account I do not own? You need an Instagram login that can see the post. For a public post, that can be your own account. Get the client's agreement before you handle their entrants' data.