As an association leader, you know how important it is to reinforce the value of membership in your organization. After all, members will only attend events, keep up with communications, participate in discussions, take advantage of professional development opportunities, and renew their membership year after year if they feel like doing those things is worth their time and money.
Recognition is also an essential (but often overlooked) element of demonstrating membership value. While you may already send members thank-you notes after they engage with your association or at the end of the year, a formal awards program can level up your member appreciation and provide another reason for members to stay involved.
In this guide, we’ll discuss four best practices for managing your association’s awards program to make this initiative as valuable as possible for your members and your organization. Let’s get started!
1. Set Clear Goals for Your Awards Program
When you launch any new initiative at your association, you first need to know exactly what you want to achieve through it so you can focus your efforts on those objectives. To set goals that guide your awards management approach, consider:
- Who you want to recognize. Some association awards honor individuals—who might be members, non-members, or both—and others recognize organizations in their local community or professional vertical. Plus, while many awards involve members or employees nominating potential recipients, others may allow recipients to submit their own applications (e.g., if they’re entering a contest).
- Why you want to recognize those recipients. In most cases, your awards will appreciate or acknowledge accomplishments, although some awards may include a component of supporting future work in the same vein as those achievements (which is where awards and grant management overlap).
- What you want to recognize recipients for. Member-specific awards might reward engagement within your organization (reaching membership milestones, taking on leadership roles, completing professional development courses, etc.). However, you can also honor work outside your association that benefits the community or your members’ profession as a whole.
No matter which of the above options you choose, always keep your association’s mission in mind and ensure your awards program goals support it.
2. Promote Award Opportunities Across Multiple Channels
Especially when your awards program is just getting off the ground, the best way to maximize participation is to create as many touchpoints as possible for members to find out about your opportunities. To achieve this, develop a multi-channel marketing strategy that involves sharing content through:
- A dedicated awards page or microsite connected to your association’s website
- Email blasts and newsletter mentions
- Mobile messages sent via SMS or your member engagement app
- Social media posts on the platforms your members use the most (e.g., LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok)
- Print communications such as flyers and direct mail
Across every channel, make sure to:
- Include essential information in each message, such as eligibility criteria, award categories, and application deadlines.
- Link to a streamlined submission form to encourage nominations.
- Leverage automation where possible so your team can work efficiently and stick to a consistent communication schedule.
After your first round of marketing, review data from each channel to see which communications drove the most engagement and conversions. This way, you can focus on the methods and messaging strategies that are proven to be the most effective for getting your members to participate in your awards program going forward.
3. Publicly Recognize Award Winners
Recognition is arguably the most essential part of any awards program. Besides celebrating award winners’ accomplishments, public appreciation reinforces the value of your program and can inspire other members to work harder toward their goals since they’ll know they could also be recognized in the future.
Here are a few popular ideas for honoring award winners:
- Presenting tangible rewards—not just certificates and plaques, but also small gifts or monetary prizes if appropriate.
- Creating digital badges that members can add to their profiles in your online member directory or portal.
- Hosting an event where winners can receive their awards in front of friends and family.
- Posting shoutouts on your association’s website or social media accounts that explain why a winner received a particular award.
- Submitting press releases to local news outlets to spread the word about your award winners in the community.
Like with other member appreciation initiatives, keep award winners’ preferences in mind when choosing recognition methods. Track the responses to your chosen ideas and adjust your approach accordingly. Additionally, if a winner would prefer to stay out of the spotlight, respect their wishes and mail them their tangible rewards without a public component.
4. Leverage Awards Management Software
Most administrative processes at your association become significantly easier when you have the right tools for the job, and awards management is no exception. However, most awards platforms on the market only help with collecting submissions, meaning you have to combine them with spreadsheets and other tools to create an end-to-end system that’s still somewhat disjointed.
Rather than going through this hassle, look for comprehensive awards management software that includes all of the following features in one platform:
- Drag-and-drop builders for creating branded nomination forms and awards microsites.
- Multi-round review capabilities so several judges can score each application in one place, which is both fairer to nominees and more convenient for reviewers.
- Built-in communication tools to help spread the word about your program and notify winners efficiently.
- Robust reporting and analytics that make it easy to see what you’re doing well and where you have room to improve your awards management approach.
Make sure your chosen awards platform also integrates with other essential tools in your organization’s tech stack, such as your association management system (AMS), payment gateway, and member engagement solutions. This way, data will transfer seamlessly across platforms, and all of your software will work together to streamline operations and further your association’s mission.
An association awards program is a great way to recognize members and increase engagement—as long as you manage it properly. Use the best practices above as a starting point, remembering to adapt them for your unique audience and organizational needs to get as much value out of your program as possible.
