How SEAL Awards slashed operational work and grew submissions by 35% with Evalato

With Arabella Solaybar, Awards Event Producer, SEAL Awards

SEAL Awards is an environmental advocacy organization that recognizes leadership in corporate sustainability and environmental journalism. Their goal is to inspire environmental action through recognition.

The organization runs global programs such as the SEAL Business Sustainability Awards, Environmental Journalism Awards, and Research Grants for early-career scientists. Entry fees help fund reforestation projects, journalism grants, and environmental research.

As participation increased, running the programs became harder to manage with existing tools.

Major pain points

Before Evalato, the SEAL team relied on spreadsheets, Google Forms, email threads, and separate tools for judging and communication.

The three major challenges they faced were: 

• Fragmented workflows — Entries, judging, scoring, and data exports were handled across different tools, which meant a lot of manual coordination to keep everything in sync.
• Poor experience for applicants and judges — Without a centralized system, submitting or reviewing entries felt unintuitive and required frequent support.
• Limited visibility and tracking — The team had no real-time insight into submissions, judging progress, or where applicants dropped off, making planning and outreach difficult.

“It was time-consuming, prone to error, and difficult to scale.” – Arabella Solaybar, Awards Event Producer, SEAL Awards

How Evalato helped

As SEAL Awards expanded in reach and submissions increased, managing the programs became more challenging with the tools they used. Evalato brought applications, judging, and communication into one platform, making the process easier from the start.

The biggest improvements came from focusing on clarity and automation.

• All-in-one platform — Applications, judging, and communication are now handled in a single system. This removed the need to switch between tools, saved hours of manual work, and reduced the risk of errors.
• Professional experience for entrants and judges — The intuitive interface of Evalato and custom branding made submitting and reviewing entries straightforward and credible. Automated workflows also reduced the amount of hands-on coordination needed from the team.
• Real-time tracking and insights — SEAL now has full visibility into applications in progress, submitted entries, drop-offs, and judging progress. This made it easier to plan, adjust outreach, and stay on top of the process as it unfolded.

“Evalato has enabled us to focus more on impact and outreach instead of operational firefighting.” — Arabella Solaybar, Awards Event Producer, SEAL Awards

The results

After moving to Evalato, the impact was immediate and measurable:

• 40–50% less admin work — Fewer manual tasks, fewer emails, and no more tool juggling.
• 35% increase in submissions — Better UX and automated reminders led to higher completion rates.
• 2X larger judging panel — Evalato’s intuitive judging interface made it easier to onboard more experts.
• Positive feedback from users — Applicants and judges consistently mention the smooth, professional experience.
• Better decision-making — Clear data insights that helped refine outreach campaigns and category planning.

“Evalato has been more than just a platform; it's a partner in growth, enabling us to scale our awards program while staying true to our mission of accelerating environmental progress.” — Arabella Solaybar, Awards Event Producer, SEAL Awards

Want to reduce operational work and increase submissions like SEAL Awards?

Check out Evalato’s features behind these results.

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