Once a startup decides that an airdrop is the way to go, the first step toward making it happen is to launch a public campaign. Most commonly, widespread outreach is achieved across forums and social media platforms such as Discord and Twitter. Ideally, the news energizes commotion around a platform’s debut or a newly launched feature — as well as the size of the prize.

As the campaign picks up traction, companies compile a list of potential token recipients. This can be done in different ways, such as collecting the wallet addresses of interested parties or snapping a screenshot at a set point in time to qualify a users’ eligibility by specified, metric-based criteria. If an airdrop is specified to users of a platform prior to September, for example, then the screenshot would include the wallet addresses of active users from that designated timeframe.

Sometimes companies gather additional information, like an email address, at this stage — especially if the company hosting the airdrop is seeking to expand its contact list.

After determining a batch of recipients, companies typically facilitate the airdrop through a smart contract, or a self-executing program that automates transactions. This program transfers tokens from the company’s treasury wallet and distributes it to select participants, with no action required on the recipient’s end. At this stage, companies typically publish their transaction block results to further promote the project and prove that the airdrop actually happened.