The OpenWater Blog

Difficulties of Running Awards Programs Offline

Running awards programs offline has its benefits. For one, it is the way awards programs have operated historically. Many people are hesitant about change and want to stay with what they are comfortable with, which is understandable. Also, having submissions made through the mail and email will not cost your organization any money. However, when you examine all the extra time and effort it takes running awards programs offline, it becomes evident that an investment in awards management software is well worth it for your awards program and your sanity.

Organization of Submissions

Receiving submissions through the mail and email may not seem like a challenge, but organizing all that information into a spreadsheet can turn daunting. It is very easy to lose track of submissions, and once you fall behind it can be hard to catch up. Those who run awards awards programs offline have their inbox flooded with submissions, creating the possibility of some getting lost in the mix. Awards management software does all the sorting for you in one convenient place, allowing you to focus on other tasks.

Judging of Submissions

The judging process can be another headache for you while running awards programs offline. Judges may have trouble following what you thought were simple scoring guidelines. Judges also can get confused with exactly what set of criteria they need to apply to a specific award. It can be frustrating having to continually clarify what you intended for judges. These obstacles don’t even cover the process of organizing and calculating judge’s scores. Using awards management software gives you the ability to display clearly what you want judges to do, and their scores are entered directly into the system.

Processing Payments

Collecting submission payments is another process that can take up a good chunk of your time when running awards programs offline. Submitters need to record the cost of their entries, and then send their payment along with their paperwork. You then need to process the credit card transactions or checks yourself. Awards management software gives you the ability to set prices that are clearly displayed to the user. Payments can be made securely online without any effort on your part.

Photo: karl sinfield via Flickr

Matt

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