Is Next Rising Star a Scam? What the Contest Rules Actually Say

Next Rising Star has a lineup of names that would make any parent of a performing kid stop scrolling: Ciara, KIDZ BOP, Popstar!, Rolling Stone, Heather Morris from Glee. The prize is $20,000, a music video, and a magazine cover. Public voting starts October 26, 2026.

When something looks that good, the next search is usually "is this a scam?"

I've asked that same question about a Colossal contest from the inside. My son Julian and I competed in Colossal's Baby of the Year and reached the semifinals, a run that got us featured on Boston 25 News. Next Rising Star is a separate contest that I haven't entered, but it runs on the same Colossal system, under the same kind of rules, with the same fee structure. So I read the official contest rules for this one line by line, checked the charities, and looked at what has actually been reported about them.

Here's the honest answer: Next Rising Star is not a scam. It is a commercial fundraising contest with real prizes, disclosed fees, and fine print worth understanding before you enter or donate. Below, I go through the questions parents are most likely to have, one at a time.

Who Actually Runs Next Rising Star?

Colossal Management, LLC runs Next Rising Star. The rules describe Colossal as a Delaware limited liability company and a for-profit professional fundraiser, and they say it is solely responsible for running the contest.

That distinction matters, because the brand names on the homepage can give the wrong impression:

• Ciara is the contest's ambassador. Heather Morris is a special guest. Those are promotional roles, not operational ones.
• KIDZ BOP, Popstar!, and Rolling Stone provide prize components: the video shoot, the magazine pages, and the awards show.
• Facebook and Instagram have no connection to it. The rules state this directly.

None of that is deceptive, since the rules disclose it plainly. Just know that when you contact support, change your profile, or have a problem, you're dealing with Colossal, not KIDZ BOP or Ciara's team.

Claim #1: "You Have to Pay to Win"

What the rules say: You don't have to pay anything to enter, vote, or win. Every voter gets one free vote every 24 hours after verifying through Facebook, SMS, or another approved method.

What happens in practice: Free votes are real, but donations buy additional votes. In the later rounds of Baby of the Year, the families competing for the top spots weren't relying on free votes alone. Donors were part of every serious campaign, including ours.

Is that a scam? No. It's the stated business model of a fundraising contest, and the rules disclose it. But "free to enter" and "free to win" are two different things, and parents should go in clear-eyed. You can absolutely go a long way on free votes and a committed network. Reaching the Finals almost always involves donors.

One rule protects everyone here. The parent who entered the child cannot donate or pay for votes for their own child, with any payment method. The rules say breaking this can get your child disqualified. Your support has to come from other people.

Claim #2: "Most of the Money Doesn't Go to Charity"

This one is partly true, and you deserve the actual numbers.

Here's how a donation moves through the system, according to the rules:

1. The money goes to DTCare, a 501(c)(3) public charity (EIN 83-3344803), which keeps custody of all funds.
2. Colossal's competition fee of 36.5% comes out.
3. Variable costs come out: payment processing, operating costs, and prize costs. In this contest's rules, that category has no stated percentage cap. Some other Colossal contests do cap it.
4. 1% stays with DTCare.
5. The rest is granted to the Why Not You Foundation within 30 days after the contest ends.

So of every $100 donated, at most $63.50 is left after the competition fee, and variable costs come out of that before the foundation receives anything. Donations are tax-deductible and completely non-refundable.

For context on the intermediary: when I checked DTCare's Charity Navigator profile in October 2026, it showed a 2-out-of-4-star rating. Ratings change, so look it up yourself before donating.

My take: A commercial fundraiser keeping a large share is legal, common, and disclosed. It is not fraud. But if your donors care about maximum impact, they should know about the fee stack, and you should be the one to tell them. In my experience, being upfront earns you more trust than hoping nobody asks.

Claim #3: "The Charity Itself Has Been Questioned"

This is the part most "is it a scam" posts will skip, and it's real.

The Why Not You Foundation was founded in 2014 by Russell Wilson, with Ciara joining as a board member. It focuses on education, children's health, and fighting poverty, and it has done visible work: the tuition-free Why Not You Academy charter high school near Seattle, partnerships with Seattle Children's, and youth centers with the Boys & Girls Clubs.

In early 2023, a USA TODAY investigation examined the foundation's tax filings and found that a relatively small share of its revenue went to direct charitable programs in 2020–2021, compared with what it spent on salaries and operations. CBS Sports summarized the findings, including the foundation's response. The foundation's position was that a lot of its impact flows through partners, like hospital and grocery-chain fundraising campaigns, so it doesn't show up as program spending on its own tax filings.

What should a parent make of that? A few fair points:

• The reporting covers filings from several years ago. The foundation may have changed since then, so check its most recent public filings if this matters to you.
• No one alleged that the foundation is fake or that donations disappear. The criticism was about efficiency and overhead.
• Your donors are contributing through two layers: Colossal and DTCare's fees first, then the foundation's own spending choices.

I'm not raising this to scare you away. I'm raising it because if a donor Googles the charity mid-campaign and finds this before you've mentioned it, it lands much worse than if you'd brought it up first.

Claim #4: "They'll Own My Child's Photos Forever"

What the rules say: You keep ownership of your photos. By entering, you grant Colossal a limited, non-exclusive license to use them in connection with this contest and future Next Rising Star competitions. That includes marketing, and it lasts for the full copyright term of the photos.

If your child wins any prize, the terms go much further. Accepting a prize gives Colossal and its partners irrevocable, worldwide, perpetual consent to use your child's name, likeness, voice, and city or state of residence for publicity, with no additional payment.

That's standard for promotional contests. It's still a real trade, and you should make it on purpose, not by accident. If you co-parent, also know this: the rules let the other parent or guardian request your child's removal, and Colossal may ask for custody documents to decide.

Claim #5: "There's No Way to Get Your Money Back"

True, and the rules are explicit about it. Donations are final. Votes aren't refunded if a child is eliminated, disqualified, or withdrawn. Withdrawal requests can take up to 48 hours to process.

The rules also include a mandatory arbitration clause. Disputes go to individual arbitration under Arizona law, not to court, and class actions are waived. That's common in contest terms, but it's worth knowing before you or your donors spend money.

The Real Scams to Watch For

The contest itself isn't the scam. The danger is the people who hang around it. The rules say Colossal doesn't monitor off-site activity such as social media messages, third-party "vote incentive" offers, or misleading promotions. That's where families get hurt.

Be wary of:

• Anyone selling votes or "voting services." Bots and automated voting are banned. The votes get thrown out, and the accounts involved get banned. Colossal can disqualify a child whose family is believed to have encouraged it.
• Messages claiming to be from the contest that ask for payment, passwords, or verification codes. Colossal does contact entrants by email, text, and auto-dialer, so before you click anything, log into your profile at nextrisingstar.org and confirm it there.
• Offers to "guarantee" advancement. No one can guarantee votes. Rankings shift every day within your group.

What You're Actually Getting

To be fair to the contest, here is what a winning family receives, as the rules describe it. The Public Choice Grand Prize has an approximate value of $40,000:

• A $20,000 honorarium
• A photo shoot for the Popstar! cover, plus interior pages in Popstar! and Rolling Stone. The rules call these pages "advertorials," meaning sponsored-style content rather than independent editorial features.
• A KIDZ BOP video shoot, published on KIDZ BOP's site and social channels
• A trip to the 2027 Popstar! Awards near Los Angeles, with four tickets and a red-carpet experience

Travel for the winner and one parent or guardian is covered for each experience. Taxes on the prize are the family's responsibility. A separate Critic's Pick prize, valued at $5,000, goes to one Quarterfinalist chosen by Popstar!'s editors based on a 60-second talent video.

For the full breakdown of eligibility, prizes, and the holiday-heavy schedule, see my complete parent guide to the Next Rising Star contest.

The Verdict

Next Rising Star is a legitimate, disclosed, for-profit fundraising contest. The operator is named, the charity chain is documented, the prizes are spelled out, and no purchase is required to enter.

The honest criticisms are real, though:

• Donations go through two layers of fees before the foundation receives them.
• The variable costs have no cap.
• The beneficiary's past spending has been publicly questioned.
• Winning usually takes donors, not just free votes.

None of that is fraud. All of it is worth knowing.

If you decide to enter, do it with your eyes open and a plan. When Julian was in the semifinals, the families who did well weren't the ones with the biggest networks. They were the ones who understood the system before day one.

Compete Smarter Before Voting Opens October 26

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