2025 Toast Community Awards Official Rules

No purchase necessary. A purchase will not increase your chances of winning.

1. Sponsor

2. The 2025 Toast Community Awards (“Contest”) are sponsored by Toast, Inc., located at 333 Summer Street Boston, MA 02210 (“Sponsor” or “Toast”).

3. Contest Description

The Contest seeks to celebrate established Toast customers who are making an impact in the industry. The Contest has three categories in which a customer may enter to win. Those categories and their respective descriptions are:

• The Spirit of Service Award: Celebrates a business going above and beyond to deliver exceptional hospitality.
• The Visionary Award: Celebrates a business growing in an innovative way.
• The Dream Team Award: Celebrates a team or individual who uplifts those around them.

4. Eligibility

Only existing Toast customers, located within the United States, who have used Toast Services (as defined in the Toast Merchant Agreement, available at https://pos.toasttab.com/merchant-agreement) for a period longer than six (6) months prior to May 15, 2025 may apply for and be eligible to win the Contest. However, anyone may vote for a Finalist during the Voting Period to determine the Winner. Businesses owned by employees of Sponsor or their immediate family members (spouse, parents, siblings, and children) and household members of each such employee are not eligible for the Contest. Incomplete, unreadable, unintelligible, and fraudulent entries and any entries that violate these Official Rules will be disqualified.

5. Entry

Owners, operators, employees, and other staff of existing Toast customers, as well as clients of customers, may submit an application on behalf of their own business or other Toast customer business, (each, an “Entrant”) by filling out the required fields contained on the Contest landing page. Each application will be considered an “Entry.” Limit one (1) Entry per individual, per award category; multiple Entries in a category will not increase chances of winning. Toast reserves the right to validate any information in the Entries and disqualify any Entries that contain false or misleading information.

Entries must be received no later than 10:00 AM ET on June 13, 2025 (the “Entry Period”) to be eligible. Sponsor’s computer is the official time-keeping device for the Contest. Entries constitute permission to use Entrant’s name and statements for purposes of advertising, promotion and publicity (including online posting) in any and all media now or hereafter known throughout the world in perpetuity, without additional compensation, notification or permission.

6. Voting

Once the Entry Period has ended, a panel of Toast Employees will select the top 3 Entries in each of the 3 categories based on the judging criteria delineated below (the final 9 being the "Finalists").  Toast will use reasonable efforts to attempt to contact each finalist via the email and phone number shared on the nomination form or that is otherwise readily publicly available. Finalists will be required to submit a short self-filmed video answering provided questions about why they should win the category in which they are nominated. Videos are due within 72 hours of the finalists being contacted. Toast will publish the videos and they will be used to determine the winner in each category. 

Additionally, voting for the Finalists will open to the general public, including without limitation the Finalists themselves, at 10:00AM ET on Friday, July 11, 2025, and all votes must be received by 12:00:59 PM ET on Thursday, July 31, 2025 (the "Voting Period") to be eligible. The votes for each finalist will be tallied and the Finalist with the most public votes will be declared the winner. 

7. Judging Criteria

Selection of the Finalists will be determined based on the written explanations of each category provided in the Entries as set forth above. Voters should also evaluate the written explanation based on the following criteria:

8. Winner Selection

A total of 3 winners (one winner in each category) (each a "Winner" and together "Winners") will be selected on Monday, August 11, 2025. Each winner will be notified via email and phone to the Winner’s email address and phone number shared on the nomination form. The odds of being selected as a Finalist are dependent on the number of Entries received and the quality of those Entries. 

A Winner will be required to complete and return an Affidavit of Eligibility, liability/publicity release, and/or W-9 form, except where prohibited by law.  Winners must provide Sponsor with their social security number or applicable tax identification number in accordance with IRS regulations to enable the Sponsor to issue a Form 1099-Misc. If a potential winner fails to complete, sign and return these documents within five (5) business days, an alternate entrant may be selected in his/her place according to the Judging Criteria. Only two (2) alternate potential winners may be contacted per category.

9. Prizes

The Winner of each category will receive Prizes as follows:

• The Spirit of Service Award: Celebrates a business going above and beyond to deliver exceptional hospitality.
  • Award: $10K + Toast Menu refresh (approximately a $1,000-$2,000 value)*
  • Recognition of Winner at Toast’s Toast on Tour: Boston event 
  • All expenses paid, round-trip travel to Boston and two-night hotel stay for Toast’s Toast on Tour Boston event 09/14/2025—09/16/2025)***
  • Dinner with Toast Leadership
• The Visionary Award: Celebrates a business growing their business in a super innovative way.
  • Award: $10K + $1,000 software credit 
  • Recognition of Winner at Toast’s Toast on Tour: Boston event
  • All expenses paid, round-trip travel to Boston and two-night hotel stay for Toast’s Toast on Tour Boston event 09/14/2025—09/16/2025)***
  • Dinner with Toast Leadership
• The Dream Team Award: Celebrates a team or individual with a superhuman ability to uplift those around them.
  • Award: $10K + $2,500 gift card to be used for a team event
  • Recognition of Winner at Toast’s Toast on Tour: Boston event
  • All expenses paid, round-trip travel to Boston and two-night hotel stay for Toast’s Toast on Tour Boston event 09/14/2025—09/16/2025)***
  • Dinner with Toast Leadership

*Must be redeemed by 12/31/25.

**Free software will be provided as a credit (up to $1,000) of whatever Toast software the Visionary Winner is already using. Use of software is subject to all applicable Terms of Use. 

***”All expenses” are limited to airfare, lodging, food, and transportation up to $3,000 combined and do not include beverages. No expenses other than those listed in the preceding sentence will be covered by Toast. Airline/carrier and hotel will be determined solely by Toast. Toast will pay for 1 person per Winner business. Toast will pay for all meals and transportation during this trip for the Winner. Winner is responsible for paying for and arranging travel accommodations for any additional individuals. Attendance/admission of any additional individuals at Toast’s company event is in Toast’s sole discretion, and Toast reserves the right to remove any individuals from the company event at any time and for any reason.

10. Prize Conditions

Each Winner is solely responsible for paying any federal, state, local, and income taxes and any other costs and expenses not expressly covered by Sponsor in these Official Rules.

A Prize may not be assigned or transferred and must be accepted as awarded. You may not request cash or request a substitute prize

Except where prohibited by law,  further submissions by Finalists (e.g. of video or other content) constitutes permission to use Finalist's name, prize won (if the Finalist is deemed a Winner), hometown, likeness, video, photographs, statements, primary trademark(s), any trademark featured in the entry, and entry for purposes of advertising, promotion and publicity (including online posting), in connection with the Contest in any and all media now or hereafter known throughout the world in perpetuity (including future iterations of the Contest or other contests, sweepstakes, and giveaways of Sponsor), without additional compensation, notification or permission.

Prizes are awarded “as is” with no warranty or guarantee, either express or implied by Sponsor or prize providers. Winner acknowledges that the Sponsor, prize providers, and all other businesses affiliated with this Contest and their agents do not make, nor are in any manner responsible for any warranty, representations, expressed or implied, in fact or in law, relative to the quality, conditions, fitness or merchantability of any aspect of the Prize being offered.

11. Release and Limitations of Liability

By participating in the Contest, you agree to release and hold harmless Sponsor and its parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, and each of their respective officers, directors, employees, and agents (the “Released Parties”) from and against any claim or cause of action arising out of participation in the Contest or receipt or use of any prize, including, but not limited to: (a) unauthorized human intervention in the Contest (including the voting process); (b) technical errors; (c) printing errors; (d) lost, late, postage-due, misdirected, or undeliverable mail, including electronic mail whether undelivered or filtered as spam; (e) errors in the administration of the Contest or the processing of Entries; or (f) injury or damage to persons or property. You further agree that in any cause of action, in no event shall the Released Parties be liable for attorney’s fees. You waive the right to claim any damages whatsoever, including, but not limited to, punitive, consequential, direct, or indirect damages.

12. Disputes

You agree that any and all disputes, claims and causes of action arising out of, or connected with, the Contest or any prize awarded shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, and exclusively by the appropriate court located in Boston, MA. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, your rights and obligations, or the rights and obligations of Sponsor in connection with the Contest, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of Massachusetts, without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules (whether of Massachusetts or any other jurisdiction), which would cause the application of the laws of any jurisdiction other than Massachusetts.

13. Contact and Results

Sponsor shall publicly announce the Winners of the Contest through its social media channels after the Contest. To be notified of the Winners, email ToastCommunityAwards@toasttab.com with the subject line “2025 Toast Community Awards Winner List.” Requests must be received between August 11, 2025, and November 11, 2025.

14. Additional Terms

All entries become property of Toast, Inc. and such information shall be processed in accordance with Toast's Privacy Policy. In the event that the operation, security, or administration of the Contest is impaired in any way, Sponsor may, in its sole discretion, either: (a) suspend the Contest to address the impairment and then resume the Contest; or (b) award the Prizes according to the Judging Criteria from among the eligible Entries received up to the time of the impairment. Sponsor reserves the right to extend the Entry Period if it does not receive a sufficient number of Entries (as determined by Sponsor, in its sole discretion) by the date set forth above. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify and seek damages from any individual who tampers with the operation of the Contest, violates these Official Rules, or acts in a disruptive or unsportsmanlike manner. Sponsor’s failure to enforce any term of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision. Proof of sending any communication to Sponsor by mail shall not be deemed proof of receipt of that communication by Sponsor. The Contest is subject to federal, state, and local laws and regulations and is void where prohibited.