When award applicants find out they didn’t make the cut, many of them feel disappointed, overlooked, or undervalued by their association and peers. Don’t let unsuccessful award applicants dwell in this discouraged state. Instead, have a plan in place to ensure they feel appreciated and motivated to continue their involvement in association activities.
The last thing you want is for unsuccessful award applicants and nominees to lose interest and quietly withdraw from association activities after not winning. Stroke their bruised egos and keep them involved by building these communication and engagement tactics into your awards program timeline.
Award applicants are emotionally invested. They go from the high of getting nominated or showing you their best work to the low of feeling rejected and dejected. Some start to question everything related to the awards program, your association, and their place in it.
How you handle delivering this disappointing news and subsequent communication has a ripple effect on their future association participation and renewal decisions.
Set realistic expectations during the award application process. You don’t want to discourage entries, but you should mention the fact that not everyone wins. Tell them about the value of participating no matter what the result and the opportunities for recognition.
To head off any doubts, emphasize the transparency and fairness of your awards program by describing the judging process and criteria, including your efforts to eliminate bias and conflicts of interest.
Create a tip sheet and a short video montage of advice from past winners on putting together a successful entry.
Set up an automated email on your awards management platform that lets applicants know when you’ve received their submission. Tell them when they’ll hear from you next.
Award applicants deserve to hear personally from you about their fate before the association announces the winners. Don’t let them figure it out on their own.
First, let’s talk about nominees, who require a different approach than award applicants. Some nominees don’t even know they’ve been nominated. Deliver the bad news first to the nominator. Ask them if the nominee knows they’ve been nominated because, if they do, you will deliver the news and acknowledge their efforts. Don’t give away this valuable touchpoint with a member.
Reach out to both nominees and applicants as soon as possible before any news gets out about finalists or winners. Use email templates to speed up the process but ensure (double-check) they’re personalized appropriately. Don’t add insult to injury by sending a carelessly customized email.
Thank the applicant for the time spent on their entry. Provide feedback if possible. For example, at the World Beer Cup competition, judges provide constructive comments for each beer entered and sampled. They explain why they sent it on to the next round or why they didn’t. They also note strengths and areas for improvement to help entrants improve their brewing skills.
To ensure you get feedback, build it into the judges’ workflow in your award management software. Give them a framework for their feedback so they can make their comments easily and consistently.
Later, you’ll follow up with unsuccessful applicants about how to get further involved, but not quite yet. Let them digest their loss first. The emotional bite will lessen in a few weeks.
When dozens of entries are submitted for an award category, besides picking a winner, recognize the best ones as honorable mentions or finalists.
Once a few weeks have passed, reach out to non-winners whose entries and stories you’d like to feature in newsletter spotlights. Offer the worthy ones an opportunity to contribute their expertise and experience as a case study for a conference session, webinar, or online course module.
Host opportunities for award entrants and winners to come together as a community. At craft beer competitions, entrants are invited to gatherings where they can build relationships with fellow brewers and judges.
Invite entrants to apply for a volunteer judge or awards committee position. See if they’re interested in serving as a mentor in an individual or group setting. Most importantly, request their feedback on the awards experience so you can make improvements to the program.
Use your award management platform to schedule automated follow-ups about volunteering opportunities and other activities. Monitor email open rates and event attendance among non-winners to measure the success of your follow-up efforts.
Awards programs are an engagement pipeline for future participants, judges, volunteers, and leaders. Applicants have already shown their commitment to your association’s mission. Instead of losing their interest, keep in contact with them and invite them to get involved in association activities.
Get more tips on attracting member interest and running your awards program—while doing everything else on your plate—in our Ultimate Guide to Awards Management.