Form questions

Award nomination questions judges can score

Ask 10 to 12. Never skip the category, the main written answer with its word limit stated above it, and the nominator's contact details. Judges score the written answer, the category tells them which criteria apply, and the contact lets them check a claim before a finalist is announced.

An award nomination has to give judges evidence they can score against the criteria, written by someone who knows the nominee's work first hand. These questions tie the story to one category and one criterion, cap its length, and ask for a number or document that backs it up.

The questions

The nominee

  1. Nominee's nameNameRequired

    For a business award, use the business name as short text instead.

  2. Nominee's organisation or businessShort text

  3. Town or suburbShort text

  4. Does the nominee know you are nominating them?Single choice

    Yes; no, it is a surprise; not sure.

  5. Nominee's email, if you have itShort text

    Short text, since the email component renders nothing on a published classic form.

  6. Nominee's phone, if you have itShort text

The category

  1. CategoryDropdownRequired

    Write each category's eligibility rule into its option, such as trading under two years.

  2. Does the nominee meet that category's eligibility rule?Single choice

  3. How long has the nominee been doing this work?Dropdown

The nomination

  1. What has the nominee done? Up to 300 wordsLong textRequired

    Ask for the time period and the limit in a paragraph block above.

  2. What difference has it made? Up to 200 wordsLong text

  3. Which judging criterion does this best meet?Single choice

    The published criteria as options, so the nominator writes to one of them.

  4. One number that shows the impact, if there is oneShort text

    People helped, money raised, hours given. A figure a judge can quote.

  5. Anything that backs it upFile upload

    Letters, clippings, photos of the work. Images and PDF only.

  6. A link to the work online, if there is oneShort text

  7. Referee, name or roleShort text

  8. How to reach the refereeShort text

You and consent

  1. Your nameNameRequired

  2. Your emailShort textRequired

  3. How do you know the nominee?Dropdown

    Colleague, manager, customer, community member, family, this is a self nomination.

  4. Should the nominee know it came from you?Single choice

  5. Before you submitMultiple choiceRequired

    Two ticks: what I have written is true; the organisers may contact the nominee and referee.

  6. May the organisers publish your nomination text if the nominee becomes a finalist?Single choice

Which questions to make required

Six questions are required: the nominee's name, the category, the main written answer, and the nominator's name, email and confirmation. Without them a nomination cannot be judged or checked. Evidence, referees and impact figures stay optional, because a nomination for a volunteer who has quietly helped for twenty years may have no clippings to attach, and should not lose on paperwork.

The form built from these questions

A static copy of the finished form, from its own example page.

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.

Three ways to change this bank

For a staff recognition award inside a company, replace categories with the company's values as a dropdown, ask for two examples from the last twelve months, add the nominee's team and manager, and drop the publishing consent if winners are only announced internally. For a student prize, add the student number and course, make an academic referee required, and ask for a transcript upload in place of general evidence, since judges will compare results. For a council citizen award, add an eligibility question about living or volunteering in the council area, the community group the nominee works with, and a separate step where the nominee confirms they are willing to be considered before judging begins.

Questions people ask

How do you set a word limit on a nomination answer?

State the limit in the question label and again in a paragraph block above it, since a classic field description is not shown to the person filling in the form. Tell nominators that judges stop reading at the limit, and suggest drafting the answer somewhere words can be counted before pasting it in.

Can one person be nominated in more than one category?

Usually, but ask for one nomination form per category. A single form covering several categories produces a written answer aimed at none of them, and judges for each category end up reading about work that belongs to another. Say the rule in a paragraph above the category question.

Should the nominee agree before judging starts?

For public awards, yes, at least before a finalist is named. Some people do not want attention, and others work in roles where publicity creates problems. Organisers commonly contact each nominee to confirm they are willing to be considered, which is why the form asks whether the nominee knows about the nomination.

How can judges score nominations without bias?

Give judges a copy of the responses with the nominator's name, email and relationship removed. The response export is a CSV with one column per question, so those columns can be deleted before the sheet is shared. Judges then score the written answers against the criteria, not against who wrote them.

What evidence makes a nomination stronger?

Anything a judge can check: a letter from someone who benefited, a newspaper clipping, a photograph of the finished work, or a figure such as funds raised. One strong document beats ten weak ones. Keep the upload optional and say in the label that nominations without attachments are judged on equal terms.

What if the nominator wants to change the nomination later?

Tell nominators on the thank you screen how to make a change before the closing date, such as submitting a fresh nomination with the word updated in the first line. Organisers can then keep the most recent submission for each nominee, using the submission time recorded with every response.

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Sources

Written and checked by the OneCraft team. Last checked .