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Looking for the best awards management software in 2022? We compared dozens of platforms and selected the top 10 you might want to consider. Plus, we've given you some extremely useful tips on what to look for when choosing your awards management platform.Have a look!
Maybe you’ve seen your competitor use an awards management system and want to check what it can do for you. Or you just want to find one for your awards. Either way, you might not be fully aware of WHAT and WHY you should be looking for.Let’s start with the simplest explanation you’ll find online.
Awards management software is a cloud-based platform that helps you manage your awards in a simpler, faster and smoother way. You create and manage your program entirely online: collect and handle entries, set and monitor the judging process and release results.
Here’s the process visualized.
Ok, that's a no-brainer - it’s the purpose of any software. However, the amount of time an awards management software saves you is truly impressive. With Evalato, for instance, you can save 70% - 80% staff time on average. Now that’s what we’re talking about!
“Using Evalato has saved a considerable amount of staff time [70% staff time saved] which has greatly increased our ability to provide better quality and more frequent awards programs.’’, Garrett Mickley, AIBD Communications DirectorRead AIBD case study here.
It’s like living in a smart home - you can automate all tedious tasks. Awards management software streamlines your workflow, empowers and simplifies the evaluation process, automates repetitive tasks, and helps you manage everything with a click of the mouse.Here's for example of how applications management could turn into a breeze with Evalato.[video width="1840" height="1020" webm="https://evalato.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/evalato2020-main-x2-new.webm"][/video]Yes, managing applications could be that easy!
Every good awards management software has the function of automating your communication with judges and applicants. That's a huge time saver and reduces immensely the risk of miscommunication. The other important thing is that the system calculates the evaluation results for you, so it eliminates the element of human error.
First and foremost, an awards management platform removes the lengthy and tiring administrative procedures so that you can focus on growth! Second, top solutions include analytic tools where you can measure results and act accordingly. They also have integrations with Google Analytics, Hubspot, Zapier, or other tools so that you can collect data, track conversions and streamline all your processes. Some even offer sales tools to boost the number of entries and payments you receive.
If you are good at your job, you’ll know that happy applicants and judges are key to a successful awards competition. A good awards management solution makes their participation smooth as butter as well. It’s that simple.
Here are the essential features you should be looking for: 🕵
The more you can customize, the better. You need to be able to customize the style and colors of your webpage/registration form, the currency, language, forms, program URL, and anything else you deem important.
Most solutions provide the option to easily create a webpage for your awards. Other solutions like Evalato go the extra mile and also offer the option to embed your awards registration form directly into your website. If you have a stellar website for your awards, you should definitely consider an embeddable registration form as it's the better option in terms of brand awareness, SEO, and an uninterrupted customer experience.
It’s recommended that applicants and judges have their own online space to work in. Even better if that workspace has “resume” functionality so progress can be saved and resumed at any time.
An awards management system allows you to handle all applicant communication easily: this should include confirmation emails, application status updates, deadline reminders, judge invitations, and so on.
Obviously, that’s a key feature for any awards management system. The most popular voting types are score voting, popularity voting, simple review option and points voting. Public voting is a must if you want to boost your awards visibility. Don't settle with a platform that offers anything less than that
If you want to skyrocket your numbers, make sure the platform you choose has analytic tools and can integrate with Google Analytics or other solutions you use. That way you can make decisions based on analytics data and grow both - your awards and your business. Now that you know the features any software for managing awards needs to have to do its job, let's have a look at our top 10 picks in 2022. Note that this is not a ranking and the software solutions are listed in no particular order.👇🤩
Evalato is one of the leading solutions on the market due to its unrivaled customizability, ease of use, flexibility, and robust set of features. It is designed to make awards management a breeze, streamline all your processes, and help programs grow exponentially.Unlike most similar solutions, Evalato offers an embeddable registration form for your website along with the standard option for creating an awards webpage. Evalato also provides you with tools to boost the number of award entries you receive. Another distinctive advantage of the platform is that it offers unlimited free testing - you can simply sign up and test it, no strings attached.
Source: Capterra; last update: April 2022
Pros: unlimited free testing; exceptional UX; embeddable registration form and flexible sales tools that go with it; score normalization
Cons: it doesn't have a free plan
Price:
Specifically created for grants, scholarships, and similar programs, SurveyMonkey acquired Fluidreview (also an awards management platform) a few years ago. It offers lots of features tailored to grantmakers. They also offer special discounts for nonprofits. To see how much the solution will cost you, you’ll need to ask for a quote. They don’t offer a free trial.
Source: Capterra; last update: April 2022Pros: discounts available for non-profits is availableCons: no free trial; no free plansPrice: custom quote only; annual plans start at $7,000 USD **last pricing data update: April 2022; Source: SurveyMonkey Apply official website
Judgify has been around for quite a while. It is the only software on the market that offers a free plan, but it is extremely limited in features and volumes.
Source: Capterra; last update: April 2022Pros: free plan availableCons: lots of limitations in the Free and Pro plansPrice:
*last pricing data update: April 2022; Source: Judgify official website
OpenWater is one of the oldest awards management solutions on the market. It is suitable mainly for big organizations since it doesn’t have small-budget pricing options. OpenWater also offers a virtual conference platform. A free trial is not available.
Source: Capterra; last update: April 2022Pros: mobile app for eventsCons: the starting price is high for small organizations; no free trial; no free plansPrice: the pricing is based on the number of programs, the number of admins, and some additional benefits. Starts from $8,600**last pricing data update: April 2022; Source: Open Water official website
Founded back in 2008 Wizehive (Zengine) is a solution designed specifically to run grants, scholarships, fellowships, internships, HR, and similar awards programs. It provides robust functionalities and some useful grant-specific features. They however don’t disclose their pricing and you need a quote to see how much it would cost. There’s no free trial.
Source: Capterra; last update: April 2022Pros: grant-specific features Cons: features and configurations can often be buried deep within menus and take time to navigate to; no free trial; no free plansPrice: by quote only; starting from US $3,995.00/year**last pricing data update: April 2022; Source: Wizehive profile on Capterra
Submittable is one of the most popular solutions out there with a special focus on impact and CSR programs, grants, and scholarships. Its pricing is by quote only so you'll need to talk to a sales rep to see how much it would cost you.
Source: Capterra; last update: April 2022Pros: grant-specific features available; Cons: by quote only; starts from $10 000 (source: Capterra)Price: by quote only; no free plans
AwardForce is a well-known awards management solution. No free trial is available, so if you want to see how the platform works, you need to request a pre-recorded demo (your email is required) or book a call with a sales representative.
Source: Capterra; last update: April 2022Pros: gallery-view feature availableCons: no free trial; no free plans; Price: tiered pricing (feature-based annual plans) *
*last pricing data update - April; Source: AwardForce official website
AwardStage is designed mainly for awards competitions and abstracts, and has a ticketing functionality which is great if you have a large awards ceremony with lots of visitors and need a ticketing solution as well. AwardStage doesn’t have a free trial version so you’d need a demo to see how it works. Capterra rating: no reviews availablePros: ticketing featureCons: no free trial; no free planPrice: feature-based annual plans
*last pricing data update - April 2022; Source: AwardStage official website
Reviewer is again a well-known solution for awards management. The platform provides a free trial with an already set-up example.
Source: Capterra; last update: April 2022Pros: option to test the platformCons: no free plansPrice: Tiered pricing: feature-based annual plans. Pricing is by custom quote only.
Submit.com is another submission management solution that has been around for a while. Free testing is not available so you need to schedule a demo to see how the product works.
Source: Capterra; last update: April 2022Pros: APICons: no free trialPrice: by quote only; starting price: €3,000.00/year**last pricing data update: April 2022; Source: Submit profile on Capterra
Yes, we’re kind of biased here, you are reading this on our website after all, but we feel that our reasons are quite sound. The award management platform Evalato is pretty much one of the easiest to use while still offering a robust set of features, and is super flexible for organizations of any type and size. Our customers say it best:
The platform has also received lots of accolades for being a top awards management solution. Here are the latest ones:
And if these reasons are not enough for you, you’re welcome to try Evalato for free - our test mode allows you to see how everything works before making a decision.
