Classic form

Award nomination form

Most award nominations fail because the person writing one has no idea what the judges score. This form fixes that by printing the criteria immediately above the boxes, capping each answer, and asking the three questions a panel is going to ask anyway. It is a classic form, so the criteria stay on screen while the three answers are written.

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Welcome screen of the award nomination form example
The welcome screen respondents see first. The image was generated for this example.

The form itself

A static copy of the finished form, exactly as it renders. Nothing here can be filled in or submitted, so read it as a reference and build your own from the button above.

Meridian Valley Business Awards 2026

Nominations close at 5pm on 30 June. Finalists are announced on 14 August. Judges score the written answers against the published criteria and nothing else, so write for somebody who has never heard of this business.

Who you are nominating

One category only. A nomination ticked into two is judged in neither, because the panels are separate and each scores against its own criteria. If you genuinely cannot choose, pick the one where the evidence is strongest.

You

Two things worth knowing before the next question. The nominee is always told they have been nominated and asked to confirm, and no weight at all is given to how many nominations a business receives. One good one is enough, and twenty identical ones count as one.

The nomination

Judges score three things: what was actually done, what changed because of it, and how hard it was. Answer in that order. The strongest nominations name a situation, describe the action taken, and finish with a result somebody could check.

Optional. Images and PDF only, up to five files, 5 MB each. A page from a report, a letter, a press clipping, photographs of the work.

Referees

Two referees, and a role is fine if you do not know the name, for example the president of the chamber of commerce. They are only contacted if the nomination is shortlisted, which is in the last week of July. Please ask them first.

Every field, and what it collects

The complete field list, in the order respondents meet it.

Who you are nominating

Business or person you are nominatingShort textRequired
Town or suburbShort textRequired
Roughly how many people work there?Number
CategorySingle choiceRequired
Options: Business of the Year, any size, judged on the whole picture · New Business, trading under two years on 30 June · Employer of the Year, judged on how it treats the people who work there · Sustainability, for a measurable change in how the business operates · Young Business Leader, aged 30 or under on 30 June · Community Contribution, for work outside the business itself
Do you have contact details for them?Single choiceRequired
Options: Yes, they are below · No, and I would rather you found them
Their email, if you have itShort text
Their phone, if you have itShort text

You

Your nameNameRequired
Your emailShort textRequired
Your phoneShort text
Are you nominating your own business?Single choiceRequired
Options: No, somebody else's · Yes, my own
Should the nominee know it came from you?Single choiceRequired
Options: Yes, tell them it was me · No, keep my name out of it

The nomination

What has this business done, and over what period? Up to 300 wordsLong textRequired
What difference did it make? Up to 300 wordsLong textRequired
Why this year, and not last year or next? Up to 150 wordsLong text
Anything that backs it upFile upload
Optional. Images and PDF only, up to five files, 5 MB each. A page from a report, a letter, a press clipping, photographs of the work.

Referees

First referee, name or roleShort textRequired
How to reach themShort textRequired
Second referee, name or roleShort text
How to reach themShort text
Before you submitMultiple choiceRequired
Options: I have asked both referees and they are happy to be contacted · Everything I have written here is true as far as I know · I understand the nominee will be told they have been nominated and asked to confirm
Anything else the judges should see?Long text

What makes this form work

The criteria are printed above the boxes

What was done, what changed, how hard it was, in that order, immediately before the three questions that ask for exactly those things. A nominator reading it writes to the scoring sheet without ever seeing the scoring sheet, which is the whole job of a nomination form.

One category, and the reason is given

The panels are separate and each scores against its own criteria, so a nomination ticked into two categories is judged in neither. Saying that on the form is more effective than a rule in the guidelines, and the advice to pick where the evidence is strongest is what people actually need.

Word caps are set where the judge feels them

Three hundred words, three hundred, then a hundred and fifty. The caps are on the fields themselves, so nobody writes a thousand words and has them truncated by a panel that reads the first screen. Every nomination arrives the same length, which is what makes them comparable.

Questions people ask

What makes a nomination win?

A situation, an action and a result a judge could check. Panels score what was done, what changed because of it, and how hard it was, so a nomination that spends three hundred words on how lovely somebody is scores badly against one that names a month, a decision and a number.

Should nominations be anonymous?

Offer the choice. Some nominators are customers who would rather stay out of it and some are peers whose name adds weight. Asking explicitly, right after the note that the nominee is always told they were nominated, means nobody is surprised by an awkward phone call in July.

Do more nominations help?

No, and saying so on the form saves everybody a campaign. Panels read one nomination per nominee, so twenty identical submissions count as one. Printing that line stops the rally-the-customers approach that clogs an inbox and improves nothing.

How many referees should be asked for?

Two is plenty at nomination stage, and accepting a role rather than a name lets somebody nominate without knowing the chamber president personally. Say plainly that referees are only contacted if the nomination is shortlisted, and remind the nominator to ask them first.

Build your own in about a minute

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Want the steps in the builder? Read Design your welcome and thank-you screens, then Every form field and when to use it. For everything this generator can do, see the form maker.