Squaremouth Awards $30,000 in a Contest They Thought Would Last One Year, but Was Won in 23 Hours

Last Updated: February 28, 2019July 26, 2024 — 2 min read

ST. PETERSBURG Fla. February 28, 2019 — Travel insurance comparison site, Squaremouth, understands most travelers don’t read their policy documentation. In an effort to highlight the importance of reading a policy from start to finish, Squaremouth hosted a top-secret national contest that ended in a $30,000 payout.

Squaremouth launched the Pays to Read contest on February 11, 2019, with the aim of rewarding $10,000 to the first person to read through their policy documentation. The contest was slated to last 12 months. If a winner came forward in that time, Squaremouth would give them $10,000, and donate an additional $10,000 to Reading Is Fundamental, a children’s literacy charity. If there wasn’t a winner, Squaremouth would still donate $10,000 to Reading Is Fundamental.

To find the contest winner, Squaremouth hid the contest details in its policy documentation. Much to Squaremouth’s surprise, Donelan Andrews, a school teacher from Georgia, read her entire policy and claimed the prize in just 23 hours.

“When we first spoke with Donelan, her dedication to reading and teaching stood out immediately,” says Squaremouth CEO Chris Harvey. “Her enthusiasm inspired us to make additional donations.”

To honor Donelan’s commitment to her schools, Squaremouth gave an additional $5,000 to each of the schools where she teaches in Georgia – Upson-Lee High School and Lamar County High School. The money will be used to contribute to each of the school’s work-based learning programs and to buy new textbooks.

About The Winner

Donelan teaches high school students important life skills as part of Georgia’s work-based learning program, such as work ethic, how to find jobs, and how to interview. One of the skills she emphasizes to all of her classes: the importance of reading contracts.

“Teaching students to read their contracts has always been close to my heart because of my consumer economics background,” Donelan says. “I always read every contract I sign. It really paid off for me this time!”

The prize will fund a special vacation for Donelan and her husband: a trip to Scotland to celebrate their 35th wedding anniversary and her upcoming retirement. She applied for retirement through the state of Georgia a week before winning the Pays to Read contest.

“We were on the waitlist for the trip of a lifetime to Scotland, and they just called us and said a spot has become available if we want it,” Donelan says. “This will certainly pay for almost all of that trip!”

More information on Squaremouth’s Pays to Read campaign can be found here.

Want to speak with us? Please contact our Pays to Read team at (727) 260-5012 or (727) 619-7262. We are available Monday through Friday, from 8am to 4pm ET.