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Choosing the Best Applicant: Why Eligibility Criteria Matters So Much

Published May 26, 2015 in Leadership

Creating the perfect call for entry can be difficult. It takes time and effort to ensure it includes all the important information potential entrants will need. But, which part of your call for entry (CFE) will help interested parties figure out wether they should submit an entry? The answer is eligibility criteria.

What is Eligibility Criteria?

Eligibility criteria are a set of rules or standards that an applicant needs to be meet to be eligible for the awards. These criteria help entrants understand what the program is about and what kinds of submissions to submit.

Take, for example, an awards program that focuses on on black and white photography. One Eligibility Requirement could be: “Only photos shot with black and white film are eligible for review.” Now a photographer who wanted to submit a photo that was shot in color and edited to black and white is no longer eligible for the award. Because they have this information they can now look for a different photo that does meet the criteria.

Why is Eligibility Criteria So Important?

Including eligibility requirements helps ensure entrants understand what the program expects of their submission.

This is important for several reasons:

1. It will help entrants submit better entries to the right categories. If they have a clear understanding of the focus of each category, they will be able to decide where their entry will fit best.

2. Proper eligibility criteria will reduce the number of support calls your staff has to deal with. Questions about whether something is right for a category, or what kind of entries your program is actually looking for will become a thing of the past.

3. It will help weed out potential entries that aren’t a fit. If the criteria is laid out clearly enough interested parties will be able to tell on their own whether they should apply or not.

All these reasons will help increase the quality of submissions you receive, resulting in better entrants and a happier staff.

How to Construct the Perfect Call for Entry

But there’s more to a CFE than eligibility requirements. To create an effective and easy to read CFE there are several element you need to consider. Check out the SlideShare below to learn how to make the most of your call for entry.

 

Looking for a little extra help creating the right CFE for your awards program? Download our Call for Entry Toolkit and begin building the perfect CFE, today! 

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Miriam Hancock

Miriam Hancock
Miriam is the Marketing Coordinator for OpenWater. When she isn't writing and designing content she paints and cooks for her own personal blog.

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