How to Use Bonus Roles in Giveaway-Bot

Reward VIP members, server boosters, and loyal fans with extra giveaway entries

Published: October 19, 2025 • Reading time: 10 minutes

What Are Bonus Roles?

Bonus roles are one of Giveaway-Bot's most powerful features for community engagement. Instead of giving every member an equal chance to win, you can reward specific roles with extra entries—multiplying their odds of winning without excluding anyone from participating.

For example, a server booster might get 10 entries while regular members get 1. Both can win, but boosters have a 10x higher chance. This incentivizes members to support your community through boosts, activity, or purchases, while keeping giveaways fair and accessible to everyone.

Real Result: A gaming server increased server boosts by 340% after implementing bonus entry giveaways. Members saw the tangible benefit of boosting and actively chose to upgrade.

Why Use Bonus Roles?

🎁 Reward Loyal Members

Show appreciation for active participants, long-time members, or those who contribute to the community. Bonus entries are a tangible thank-you that costs you nothing but means everything.

📈 Increase Server Boosts

Server boosters unlock perks like better audio quality, custom URLs, and more emoji slots. Offering bonus entries incentivizes members to boost, directly improving your server.

💰 Monetize Your Community

If you sell VIP roles or premium memberships, bonus entries add value to those purchases. Members get better giveaway odds on top of other perks, making it easier to justify the cost.

🔥 Drive Engagement

Tie bonus entries to activity roles (awarded for sending messages, joining voice, etc.). Members will naturally engage more to earn those roles and improve their giveaway odds.

How Bonus Roles Work: The Math

Understanding the mechanics helps you set fair and motivating bonus amounts:

Entry Calculation

Every member starts with 1 base entry. If they have a bonus role, they receive 1 + bonusamount total entries.

Example Setup:

  • • Regular members: 1 entry
  • • @Server Booster role: +9 bonus = 10 total entries
  • • Giveaway has 100 regular members + 10 boosters

Total Entries:

  • • Regular members: 100 × 1 = 100 entries
  • • Boosters: 10 × 10 = 100 entries
  • • Pool total: 200 entries

Win Probability:

  • • Regular member: 1/200 = 0.5% chance
  • • Booster: 10/200 = 5% chance (10x better!)

💡 Key Insight: Bonus entries don't guarantee wins—they improve odds proportionally. A member with 10 entries has 10x better odds than someone with 1, but it's still random. This keeps giveaways fair while rewarding valuable members.

Setting Up Bonus Roles (Command Method)

The fastest way to add bonus entries is via the /start command with the bonusrole and bonusamount parameters.

Basic Syntax

/start duration:2d winners:1 prize:Discord Nitro channel:#giveaways bonusrole:@Server Booster bonusamount:9

Parameter Breakdown

bonusrole

What it does: Specifies which Discord role receives extra entries

Format: @RoleName or role ID

Example: bonusrole:@Server Booster

bonusamount

What it does: How many EXTRA entries the role receives (on top of base 1)

Format: Positive number (1-1000)

Example: bonusamount:9 = 10 total entries (1 base + 9 bonus)

💡 Tip: Use bonusamount that's 1 less than your target. Want 10 total? Set bonusamount:9

Setting Up Bonus Roles (Dashboard Method)

The dashboard provides a visual, user-friendly way to configure bonus roles without memorizing command syntax.

  1. 1. Open Dashboard: Login at giveaway-bot.de/dashboard and select your server
  2. 2. Click "Create New Giveaway": Fill in basic fields (prize, duration, channel, winners)
  3. 3. Expand "Advanced Options": Click the dropdown to reveal bonus role settings
  4. 4. Select Bonus Role: Dropdown shows all roles in your server—pick the one to reward
  5. 5. Set Bonus Amount: Number input for extra entries (e.g., 9 for 10 total)
  6. 6. Preview and Launch: Live preview shows "Members with @Role get X bonus entries"

Dashboard Advantage: You can see exactly how the bonus will display in the giveaway embed before launching, preventing mistakes and typos.

Strategic Bonus Role Configurations

Here are proven bonus role setups for different community goals:

Strategy #1: Server Boost Incentive

Goal: Increase server boosts for perks

Setup:

  • • Regular members: 1 entry
  • • @Server Booster: bonusamount:9 (10 total)

Why it works: 10x odds is significant enough to motivate boosts ($5/month) but not so high that regular members feel excluded. Announce in your giveaway: "Server Boosters get 10x entries!"

Strategy #2: VIP Membership Value

Goal: Add value to paid VIP roles

Setup:

  • • Regular members: 1 entry
  • • @VIP Member: bonusamount:19 (20 total)

Why it works: If VIP costs $10-15/month, 20x giveaway odds is a compelling perk. Include this in your VIP sales pitch: "20x better chance in every giveaway!"

Strategy #3: Activity Rewards

Goal: Encourage participation and engagement

Setup (Tiered):

  • • New members: 1 entry
  • • @Active (Level 10+): bonusamount:4 (5 total)
  • • @Regular (Level 30+): bonusamount:9 (10 total)

Why it works: Rewards organic engagement tracked by leveling bots (MEE6, Amari, etc.). Members chat more to level up and get better giveaway odds—win/win.

Note: Giveaway-Bot only supports one bonus role per giveaway currently. For tiered systems, run separate giveaways for each tier or alternate which role gets bonuses.

Strategy #4: Event Participation

Goal: Increase attendance at voice events, game nights, etc.

Setup:

  • • General members: 1 entry
  • • @Event Attendee: bonusamount:14 (15 total)

Why it works: After hosting an event, give participants a temporary role. Run a giveaway within 24 hours where that role gets 15x entries. Members will join future events for the perk.

Choosing the Right Bonus Amount

The ideal bonus amount depends on your community size, role exclusivity, and goals. Here's a decision framework:

Role Type % of Server Suggested Bonus Reasoning
Server Booster 5-10% 9 (10 total) Moderate boost, feels rewarding without overwhelming
Paid VIP 1-5% 19 (20 total) High value for paid perk, still fair odds for others
Active Member 20-30% 4 (5 total) Common role = lower bonus to maintain balance
OG/Founding 1-3% 29 (30 total) Rare, sentimental role = generous bonus
Moderator 2-5% 9 (10 total) Thank volunteer mods without excluding community

⚠️ Avoid Excessive Bonuses: Bonuses above 50 (51 total entries) start to feel unfair to regular members. If >20% of winners are always from the bonus role, reduce the amount.

Rule of Thumb: Bonus role members should win 30-50% of the time. If they're winning 80%+, dial back the bonus amount.

Communicating Bonus Entries to Your Community

Transparency is key. Members need to understand why certain roles get bonuses and feel the system is fair.

Best Practices

✅ Announce in Giveaway Description

Use the description parameter to clearly state bonus roles: 

description:"🎁 Server Boosters get 10x entries! React to enter 🎉"

✅ Create a #giveaway-info Channel

Pin a message explaining your bonus role system: which roles get bonuses, how much, and why. Reference this in every giveaway.

✅ Display on the Giveaway Embed

Giveaway-Bot automatically shows bonus roles in the embed: "Members with @Server Booster receive 9 bonus entries!" No extra work needed.

❌ Don't Hide Bonuses

Secret bonuses breed resentment. If members discover bonuses they didn't know about, they'll feel the giveaway was rigged. Always be upfront.

Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

❌ Mistake: Bonuses Too High

Setting bonusamount:99 (100 total) makes regular members feel like they have no chance. Participation drops.

Fix: Keep bonuses 5-20x for most roles. Only go higher (30x) for ultra-rare roles like Founders.

❌ Mistake: Forgetting to Set Bonus Amount

Specifying bonusrole:@VIP without bonusamount does nothing. Both parameters are required.

Fix: Always pair bonusrole with bonusamount: bonusrole:@VIP bonusamount:19

❌ Mistake: Using @everyone as Bonus Role

Setting bonusrole:@everyone gives everyone the bonus—which defeats the purpose of rewarding specific groups.

Fix: Only use specific roles. If you want equal odds, just don't set a bonus role at all.

❌ Mistake: Not Promoting the Bonus

Running bonus giveaways without telling non-bonus members how to earn the role wastes the incentive opportunity.

Fix: In your giveaway announcement, add: "Want 10x entries? Boost the server! /boost for info"

Advanced: Rotating Bonus Roles

For maximum engagement, rotate which role gets bonuses across different giveaways:

Example Weekly Rotation

  • Monday: Regular giveaway, no bonuses (everyone equal)
  • Wednesday: @Server Booster bonus (encourage boosts mid-week)
  • Friday: @Active Member bonus (reward chatters before weekend)
  • Sunday: @Event Attendee bonus (reward Saturday game night participants)

This keeps all member segments engaged. Boosters have Wednesday to look forward to, chatters have Friday, event-goers have Sunday. Everyone gets at least one bonus opportunity per week, plus fair giveaways on other days.

💡 Pro Tip: Create a public calendar or pinned message showing which role gets bonuses on which days. Members will plan their activity around it—exactly what you want!

Conclusion

Bonus roles transform giveaways from pure luck into a reward system that drives community behavior. Whether you want more server boosts, higher engagement, VIP sales, or event attendance, bonus entries provide a powerful, cost-free incentive.

Start simple: give your server boosters 10x entries on your next giveaway and announce it prominently. Track how many new boosts you get in the 48 hours after the announcement. Most servers see a noticeable spike—proof that members respond to tangible rewards.

Remember: bonuses should feel rewarding but not exclusive. Keep the odds fair, communicate transparently, and use bonuses strategically to build the community you want.