Ideas for Awards Program Prizes: Seeking Input from Peers

Sarah Lubecki · 2025-07-08T18:32:55.514Z

Speaking of awards - I'm currently working on evolving our program. I'm curious to hear from others that run awards programs - what kind of prize do you offer to finalists and winners?

Ideas for Awards Program Prizes: Seeking Input from Peers | CMAweekly Customer Marketing and Advocacy Slack

13 comments

· Sorted by Oldest

Alexie Glover
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Depending on where you have customers, prizes are the hardest part! There are so many state law variations on what can be gifted and legally accepted.
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Mary Green
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I didn't know the laws varied by state. I thought it was by country and sometimes industry (like government/public sector). There isn't a place online that shows the different state laws is there?
Alexie Glover
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As a Canadian, I won't pretend to be an expert. I've always worked in conjunction with the company's legal teams to deem what can be gifted. Generally, there are additional concerns by industry specifically for gov/pub sec. With all of the award programs that I've supported, I've used the marketing opportunities and trophies as the main prizes. Often have also included nominal swag and conference passes. However I know some states have laws about the monetary value of particular prizes, which could include airfare, etc. Golden rule: defer to legal!
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Grace Corey Simpson
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We present our winners with a trophy on stage at our customer conference and then offer them free tickets to the next year's conference (which they can always decline if it's against their company policy!)
👍3
Christine Newman
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Our winners prizes are listed here: https://www.blackbaud.com/impact-awards/requirements. Main one is free conference pass. We also invite the finalists to the conference reception, give them a digital badge, and feature them on our website and in other comms.
👍1
Amy
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Trophy on stage with photo opp with CEO/LT goes a long way.
👍2
Sarah Wylie
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Ashley Ward following
❤️1
Taylor Page
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We do a trophy and have in the past done a donation to a charity (based on a vetted short list we pull together)
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Shannon Howard
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We do a physical award. In the application, we ask them who the award should be made out to (the education program owner, the team, or the name of their academy). When we confirm their win, we ask the best address to ship the award to. We also offered the person who took the time to submit the application a small gift (under the limit for most companies). We set a budget and picked a few options in that range that people could choose from. You can see those here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1AiNme77UrbKqJOnvJrzr1p3ux04jEbqemlHq4XUXqvA/edit?usp=sharing We used a simple Google Form to ask them which gift they'd prefer and the best personal mailing address (not stored).
Alexie Glover
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Shannon Howard that starter herb garden is soooo cute 🥹
👍1
Christine Newman
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Shannon Howard love the small gift idea
❤️1
Iulia Davidoiu
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Sarah Lubecki in a program I ran, we developed a plan of activities for the winners, to make it "a year of celebrations". It included small gifts on special occasions, free conference tickets, first pick of speaking slots at events (where they were also celebrated for the awards on-stage), a series of winners profiles (like stories, but focused on the individual and their own journey, career and advice), etc. It was a nice mix of activities that would highlight them as leaders and build their brand, while also creating new content for us. It actually worked out pretty well, we had positive feedback from the winners and nurtured the relationship with them. Hope this helps! 🙂
Shannon Howard
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Iulia Davidoiu Love that idea!

Alexie Glover
·
·
Depending on where you have customers, prizes are the hardest part! There are so many state law variations on what can be gifted and legally accepted.
💡1
Mary Green
·
·
I didn't know the laws varied by state. I thought it was by country and sometimes industry (like government/public sector). There isn't a place online that shows the different state laws is there?
Alexie Glover
·
·
As a Canadian, I won't pretend to be an expert. I've always worked in conjunction with the company's legal teams to deem what can be gifted. Generally, there are additional concerns by industry specifically for gov/pub sec. With all of the award programs that I've supported, I've used the marketing opportunities and trophies as the main prizes. Often have also included nominal swag and conference passes. However I know some states have laws about the monetary value of particular prizes, which could include airfare, etc. Golden rule: defer to legal!
👍2
Grace Corey Simpson
·
·
We present our winners with a trophy on stage at our customer conference and then offer them free tickets to the next year's conference (which they can always decline if it's against their company policy!)
👍3
Christine Newman
·
·
Our winners prizes are listed here: https://www.blackbaud.com/impact-awards/requirements. Main one is free conference pass. We also invite the finalists to the conference reception, give them a digital badge, and feature them on our website and in other comms.
👍1
Amy
·
·
Trophy on stage with photo opp with CEO/LT goes a long way.
👍2
Sarah Wylie
·
·
Ashley Ward following
❤️1
Taylor Page
·
·
We do a trophy and have in the past done a donation to a charity (based on a vetted short list we pull together)
❤️2
Shannon Howard
·
·
We do a physical award. In the application, we ask them who the award should be made out to (the education program owner, the team, or the name of their academy). When we confirm their win, we ask the best address to ship the award to. We also offered the person who took the time to submit the application a small gift (under the limit for most companies). We set a budget and picked a few options in that range that people could choose from. You can see those here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1AiNme77UrbKqJOnvJrzr1p3ux04jEbqemlHq4XUXqvA/edit?usp=sharing We used a simple Google Form to ask them which gift they'd prefer and the best personal mailing address (not stored).
Alexie Glover
·
·
Shannon Howard that starter herb garden is soooo cute 🥹
👍1
Christine Newman
·
·
Shannon Howard love the small gift idea
❤️1
Iulia Davidoiu
·
·
Sarah Lubecki in a program I ran, we developed a plan of activities for the winners, to make it "a year of celebrations". It included small gifts on special occasions, free conference tickets, first pick of speaking slots at events (where they were also celebrated for the awards on-stage), a series of winners profiles (like stories, but focused on the individual and their own journey, career and advice), etc. It was a nice mix of activities that would highlight them as leaders and build their brand, while also creating new content for us. It actually worked out pretty well, we had positive feedback from the winners and nurtured the relationship with them. Hope this helps! 🙂
Shannon Howard
·
·
Iulia Davidoiu Love that idea!