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Creating and Managing Nomination Programs

Updated

Use Nomination Programs to effortlessly collect submissions, manage approval and voting rounds, and celebrate your nominees and final winners—ensuring everyone feels seen and appreciated.

 

  1. Value and Impact of Nomination Programs
  2. Creating a Nomination Program
  3. Settings
  4. Adding the Nomination Programs Widget to the Homepage
  5. Manage
  6. Reporting on Nominations
  7. Implications and Things to Consider
  8. FAQ

 

Value and Impact of Nomination Programs

Nomination Programs help you:

  • Gather nominations from a wide group of employees.
  • Use approvals and voting rounds to narrow down submissions.
  • Recognize winners with awards.
  • Notify non-winners that they were nominated and share key nomination details.
  • Add a structured way to run contests, awards, and peer nominations.
  • Give clear visibility into nominations and the stage of review they are in.
  • Automate notifications and recognitions for both winners and nominees.

This keeps your programs transparent, fair, and engaging for your whole company.

 

Creating a Nomination Program

 

 

Use these steps to create a Nomination Program from start to finish.

  1. Log in to your Awardco platform.
  2. On the homepage, select the “Admin” button at the bottom of the left navigation menu.
  3. From the left navigation menu, click “Recognition,” “Programs,” then “Nomination Programs.”
  4. Select “Create Nomination Program,” name the program, and select “Create Program”.

 

 

Settings

General Tab

After creating a Nomination Program, you’ll see the full list of settings in the General tab.

General Settings:

  • Program Name.
  • Program Description: Brief description to help users identify the program (125-character limit).
  • “Learn More” Link Message: Text shown when users select "learn more" for program information (2,000-character limit).
  • Program Cover Image: Upload a header image for the program; recommended dimensions are 1200 x 600 px, with a maximum file size of 50 MB.

Nomination Eligibility

  • Giver Eligibility
    • Select “Everyone” to allow all users to submit nominations.
    • Select “Limit Givers” to define eligible users by:
      • Users: Specify individual users.
      • Metadata: Define eligibility using metadata tags, e.g., users with "VP" or "Manager" titles, or users tagged as "Employee" in one category and "Part-time" in another.
  • Recipient Eligibility
    • Select “Everyone” to allow all users to receive nominations.
    • Select “Limit Recipients” to define eligible recipients by Users or Metadata, using similar logic as above.
      • Select “Same as Giver” when working with metadata to match recipients to the same metadata group as eligible givers.

 

 

Submission Period

  • Use Submission Period to schedule when employees can submit nominations. This controls nomination collection on the employee side, not the full program management timeline.
    • Select the program start date and time.
    • Enable “Add an end date” to set the program end date and time.
    • Select the time zone for the program.

 

 

Rules Tab

Nomination Rules

  • Recipient Configuration:
    • Determine if only individuals, groups, or both groups and individuals can be nominated.
    • If Groups is selected, set the minimum and maximum number of individuals per group.
  • Toggle between yes/no to allow a person to nominate themselves.
  • Enter the number of nominations an individual can give or select “Unlimited Nominations.”
  • Toggle between yes/no to allow a person to nominate the same person multiple times.

 

 

Questions Tab

In the Questions tab, you can tailor the nomination form by updating the default questions and adding any additional prompts needed to collect the right information for your program.

  • Primary Question: The primary question is “Why do you want to nominate this person?” You can modify the text and order of this open-ended question to fit your program, but it cannot be deleted. The answer to this primary question is what appears in the feed as the recognition text if you choose to send recognitions to your winners and nominees.
  • User Select Question: The User Search Question is "Who would you like to nominate?" You can modify the text and order of this question, but it cannot be deleted. Because this question is included on the form by default, you do not need to add an additional User Selection type question just to pick the nominee. Only use a User Selection type question if you need an additional user-based question elsewhere in your form.


 

Click “Add Question” to create additional questions for your survey. You can choose from the following types:

  • Short Answer: Prompts concise written responses.
    • Enter the Question Text.
    • Check the Participant’s Answer is Required box if applicable.
    • Click “Save.”
    • Note: The character limit for a short answer is 600.


       
  • Long Answer: Invites detailed written responses.
    • Enter the Question Text.
    • Check the Participant’s Answer is Required box if necessary.
    • Click “Save.”
    • Note: The character limit for a long answer is 4,000.


 

  • Single-Select: Similar to a multiple-choice question, a Single-Select question allows only one answer.
    • Enter the Question Text.
    • Add multiple answer options by typing an answer and hitting enter.
    • Check the Participant’s Answer is Required box if necessary.
    • Click “Save.”

 


 

  • Multi-Select: Allows participants to choose multiple answers.
    • Enter the Question Text and the answer options.
    • Check the Participant’s Answer is Required box if needed.
    • Click “Save.”



 

  • File Upload: Prompts respondents to upload a file.
    • Enter the Question Text.
    • Check the Participant’s Answer is Required box if necessary.
    • Click “Save.”

 

 

  • Media: Prompts respondents to upload a media file.
    • Enter the Question Text.
    • Check the Participant’s Answer is Required box if necessary.
    • Click “Save.”

 

 

Reorder questions by dragging and dropping the six-dot icon next to any question, except the primary question, which cannot be reordered at this time.

 

Evaluation Settings Tab

Nomination Programs support Evaluation Settings, which let you run multiple rounds of approvals and voting to narrow your list of nominees and submissions to ultimately determine your winners.

Voting

Use a voting round when you want voters to narrow a larger pool of nominees into a smaller group. During the round, each voter reviews their assigned nominees and selects a set number to move forward. When the program administrator starts the round, they define exactly how many nominees each voter can choose to advance.

Assign nominations to voters:

  • Voting assignments are always made manually.
  • You can filter nominations by metadata such as department, location, or role.
  • You can bulk assign voters to save time when managing a large number of nominations.
  • Make sure every nomination has an assigned voter before starting the round.

When managing the program, the program admin selects “Start Round,” and identifies how many nominees each voter can select from the total assigned to them. This setting controls how many nominations can move forward to the next round.

 

 

Example: A voter has 10 nominations and can vote for 2 to move on.

 

*Example image of what a voter will see for a voting round

 

Approval

An approval round is best used as a simple “yes/no” check on nominations.

Choose your approval type in settings:

  • Supervisor approval:
    • The nomination automatically goes to the nominee’s supervisor; no manual assignment needed.
  • Manual assignment:
    • Unlike an automated supervisor routing above, nominees will NOT automatically have an assigned supervisor from the start.
    • Manually assign approvers as nominations come in.
      • Filter nominations by metadata like department, location, or role.
      • Bulk assign approvers to save time when you have many nominations you want to assign to one person.

 

*Example image of what an approver will see for an approval round

 

In Evaluation Settings, you can create different types of rounds, such as a first approval round followed by a second voting round, by selecting Add Round. Rounds act like stages in a review pipeline. In each round, a specific group of approvers or voters reviews nominations and decides which ones move forward. This lets you narrow the list step by step until you reach your final winners. You can also delete a future round from Evaluation Settings if needed, but you cannot delete a current or past round.

There is no limit to the number of rounds, but 2–3 rounds are ideal.

 

 

Recognize Tab

Use Recognize to configure recognition settings for nominees and winners.

Nominees

  • Select the email template for nominee notifications.
  • Recognizing Nominees Upon Submission:
    • Toggle on send recognition at time of nomination if you would like recognitions sent to employees when they are nominated (in real time). 
      • We highly recommend recognizing nominees upon submission to build momentum and drive awareness throughout the Nomination Program process; simply knowing they were nominated increases the overall value and cultural impact of the program.
    • If you choose to recognize nominees on submission, select whether the recognition is public or private, and choose the feed banner image. 
    • Note that the same email template you select for nominees can also be selected as the winner's email template below in settings.
  • Only nominees who are manually removed from the Nomination Program by an admin will not receive a notification.
  • Feed Banner: This image will appear on the nominee’s recognition in the feed.
    • Use a 1200x300 image for the recognition in the feed.
    • Ideal for distinguishing recognitions.

Note: It is recommended to start from the standard Recognition email template for nominee notifications, then adjust the content to fit your specific Nomination Program.

 

 

Winners

  • Select the email template for winners.
  • Select the budget from which the points will be pulled to be awarded to the winner.
  • Select the Award Network that the points will be associated with.
  • Feed Banner: This image will appear on the winner’s recognition in the feed.
    • Use a 1200x300 image for the recognition in the feed.
    • Ideal for distinguishing recognitions.

Note: It is recommended to start from the standard Recognition email template for nominee notifications, then adjust the content to fit your specific Nomination Program.

 

 

Adding the Nomination Programs Widget to the Homepage

The Nomination Programs Widget appears in a dedicated homepage widget for maximum visibility. From the widget, employees can click to quickly access the Nomination Program(s). You cannot open your Nomination Program until this widget has been added.

Setting up the Nomination Programs Widget:

  1. On the homepage, select the “Admin” button at the bottom of the left navigation menu.
  2. From the left navigation menu, click “Customize” then “Homepage Editor.”
  3. On the left-hand or right-hand side of the homepage editor, click “Add Content” and add “Nomination Programs.”

 

 

  1. Optional, edit the widget title if desired.
  2. Add the Nomination Programs widget to the mobile homepage layout as well, making sure it is visible and easy to access.

 

 

It is recommended to move this widget closer to the top of your homepage, at least above the “Recognition Feed” widget. Ensure you also preview the widget placement on the mobile homepage.

For more detailed instructions on customizing your layout, please refer to our Homepage Editor support article.

 

 

Manage

 

 

Once the program is live, you will manage it via the Manage tab. From here, you can view all submissions, progress through rounds of review, and recognize winners and nominees.

 

All Submissions Tab

This is the main page for managing nominations once your Nomination Program is live. Before opening nominations, you must first add the Nomination Programs widget to the homepage. The “Open Nominations” button will not appear until this widget is added.

  • Selecting “Open Nominations” makes the program visible and available to eligible participants directly within the homepage widget, allowing them to discover the program and begin submitting nominations.

Note: If you schedule a start date in the Submission Period settings, you do not need to manually select “Open Nominations.”

 

 

Once the Nomination Program is open, you will be able to start round 1.

Complete the Nomination Programs widget setup on both desktop and mobile before selecting Open Nominations.

Use the “All Submissions” page to keep track of what is happening in your live program.

 

 

From here, you can:

  • See all nominees in the program, filter nominations by metadata, and download a CSV file.
  • Review nomination metrics, nominee metrics, and participation rate for the program.
  • Share the link, or a QR code, to take individuals directly to the Nomination Program.
  • View nominee status, for example, pending approval, in voting, winner.
  • See the number of nominations each person has.
  • Sort nominations.
  • See who is assigned for round voting or approvals for each nomination.

To control when nominations are open and closed:

  • Select “Close Nominations” when you are ready to stop new entries for the round.
  • Re-open nominations if you want to accept more nominations and have not started Round 1.

Before you can start a round, you must manually assign its approvers and voters from the Evaluations page (unless you've opted for an automated approval round where approval is assigned to supervisors).

Unlike many standard Recognition Programs, you do not assign approvers or voters before opening a Nomination Program; this step happens later, on the Evaluations tab on a round-by-round basis.

 

Evaluations Tab

Use the “Evaluations” page to manage the rounds already configured in Evaluation Settings.

From here, you can:

  • See all the rounds and their results.
  • Start or stop rounds.
  • Assign reviewers.

If you wish to add another round or delete a future round, you'll do that in Evaluation Settings, not on the Evaluations page.

Once your approvers and voters are assigned, you can:

  • Start the first round when you are ready to begin the review.

Note: You cannot start a round until every nomination has been assigned an approver or voter.

 

Voting Round

Use a voting round when you want voters to narrow a larger pool of nominees into a smaller group. During the round, each voter reviews their assigned nominees and selects a set number to move forward. When the program administrator starts the round, they define exactly how many nominees each voter can choose to advance.

Assign nominations to voters:

  • Voting assignments are always made manually.
  • You can filter nominations by metadata such as department, location, or role.
  • You can bulk assign voters to save time when managing a large number of nominations.
  • Make sure every nomination has an assigned voter before starting the round.

When managing the program, the program admin selects “Start Round,” and identifies how many nominees each voter can select from the total assigned to them. This setting controls how many nominations can move forward to the next round.

 

 

  • Example: A voter has 10 nominations and can vote for 2 to move on.

Voter experience:

  • Voters are notified by email as soon as they are assigned a nomination to review. If multiple nominations are bulk-assigned to the same voter, they receive a single email notification rather than a separate email for each nomination.
  • They can click a link in the email to open their nomination for review.

 

 

  • Voters can also find the nominations needing their review on the homepage by going to Manage > Approvals > Nominations. 

 

 

  • They select the allowed number of nominees from their group.

 

 

  • Their choices determine which nominees move on to the next round or become finalists.
  • Once their selection is made, they will select “Confirm Selections” to move nominees to the next round.

 

 

Approval Round

An approval round is best used as a simple “yes/no” check on nominations.

Choose your approval type in evaluation settings:

  • Supervisor approval:
    • The nomination automatically goes to the nominee’s supervisor; no manual assignment needed.
  • Manual assignment:
    • Unlike an automated supervisor routing, nominees will not automatically have an assigned supervisor from the start.
    • Manually assign approvers as nominations come in:
      • Filter nominations by metadata like department, location, or role.
      • Bulk assign approvers to save time when you have many nominations you want to assign to one person.
    • An admin can start the round once nominations have officially closed and all submissions have an assigned reviewer.

 

 

  • Make sure every nomination has an approver.

Review before starting the round:

  • All nominations in the round.
  • Who is assigned to approve each nomination.
  • Confirm that the setup looks correct.

Approver experience:

  • Approvers are notified by email as soon as they are assigned a nomination to review. If multiple nominations are bulk-assigned to the same approver, they receive a single email notification rather than a separate email for each nomination.
  • They can click a link in the email to open their nomination for review.

 

 

  • Approvers can also find the nominations needing their review on the homepage by going to Manage > Approvals > Nominations. 

 

 

  • For each nomination, the approver approves or denies it.

 

 

Ending Rounds

Once reviewer decisions are made, the Nomination Program administrator will close the round.

 

 

The round will be finalized, and no further changes can be made after the round has ended.

You can’t move to the next round unless all decision makers have made their decisions for the round. 

If there are still pending nominations that require approval, the Nomination Program administrators can:

  • Approve remaining nomination(s), or
  • Deny remaining nomination(s)

 

 

Winners Tab

When all rounds are complete, use the “Close Final Round” button to finish your program. Doing so does NOT automatically notify winners; you have the opportunity to recognize winners on the Winners page.

 

 

From the Winners page, you can:

  • See the final list of winners.
  • Review the final status for all nominees.
  • Confirm who will be recognized and celebrated.

 

Recognizing Winners

Use the Winners page to:

  • Send recognitions for winners based on your award settings.
  • Make sure winners receive:
    • Their points or awards.
    • The correct program messaging and branding.
  • Recognitions can be scheduled to be sent for a later date or immediately.

Note: There will be no “from” shown when the recognition is given. The Program Name will appear here instead.

 

 

The Winners tab will show even while the program is still running and winners are not yet selected. As a reminder, closing the final round adds winners to this page, but it does not automatically notify them or send their winner recognition.

 

 

Notifying Nominees Who Did Not Win

As a reminder, nominee notifications can be sent in two places:

  1. In real-time: Nominees can be notified the moment they are nominated. (Configure this using the Send recognition at time of nomination submission option in the program settings).
  2. From the Winners page: Notifications can be sent at the end of the program if they were not already sent upon submission.

These notifications let nominees know they were recognized and display the response to the primary nomination question, showing them exactly why they were nominated or what they did well. This helps keep the program positive by making sure nominees know their efforts were recognized.

 

 

Reporting on Nominations

Use the “All Submissions” page in your program settings as your main reporting view.

 

 

On this page, you can:

  • See the status of each nominee (for example, pending, in review, winner, not selected).
  • See the total number of nominations in the program.
  • View who is assigned to each nomination or round.
  • Review participation rate and other high-level metrics.
  • Export or review data (as available) via a CSV file to share with leaders or track program success.
  • View winners and those who received nominations via the recognition details report. 

 

Implications and Things to Consider

When you set up a Nomination Program, keep these points in mind:

  • Budget and awards:
    • Make sure your award budget matches the number of expected winners.
    • Decide if all winners get the same award or if you will have tiers.
  • Approver and voter workload:
    • Be conscious of how many nominations you give a single reviewer to approve or cast votes on.
    • Use filters and bulk assignment to spread work fairly.
  • Timeline:
    • Clearly define:
      • Nomination open and close dates.
      • Each round’s start and end dates.
      • When the winners will be announced.
  • Communication:
    • Tell employees:
      • Who can nominate.
      • What makes a strong nomination.
      • How and when winners will be chosen.
    • Plan announcements for:
      • Program launch.
      • Nominations closing.
      • Winners and nominees notifications.
  • Data and fairness:
    • Use consistent criteria in your program questions.
    • Make sure approvers and voters understand what they should look for.
    • Use multiple rounds if you need more control or more review.

 

FAQ

Who can use Nomination Programs?

Nomination Programs are designed for Awardco Admins and Program Owners who manage recognition programs. End users see the nomination form and notifications you set up, but only Nomination Program administrators manage rounds and results.

What is the difference between approval and voting?

Approval is a simple pass/fail decision for each nomination. Voting lets reviewers choose a set number of nominees from a group, which is useful when you need to narrow down a large group to a smaller set of finalists or winners.

Can I have more than one round?
Yes. You can create multiple rounds of approvals and/or voting. You decide how many rounds you want when you set up the program.

When are nominees notified?

Nominees can be notified in two ways: immediately when they are nominated, if Send recognition at time of nomination submission is enabled, or at the end of the program from the Winners page if they were not already notified. If neither option is used, nominees will not receive a notification.

Can I see how many people participated?
Yes. The All Submissions tab shows participation rate, total nominations, and other key metrics for your program.

Can I nominate a group of individuals?
Yes. To allow group nominations, go to Settings, then Rules. Under Recipient Configuration, select “Groups” or “Groups and Individuals.” If you select Groups, set the minimum and maximum number of individuals allowed in each group nomination.

For those who were nominated but not winners, what text shows up on their recognition feed?

The nominee will see the response the nominator typed for the primary question, usually “Why do you want to nominate this person?”

 

If you have any questions, please contact Awardco Admin Support.

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