Running a member awards program is one of the most powerful ways an association can recognise excellence and deepen member engagement. But when the process is manual and time-intensive, the administrative burden can quickly undermine the program's impact.

That was the challenge facing the Australia-based Family Business Association. Managing two award seasons per year across five categories, the team found themselves manually rebuilding their program from scratch each cycle, copying categories and content with no efficient way to carry work forward.

Since switching to Award Force in 2019, that experience has transformed. 

The ability to copy an entire season: entry forms, categories and associated content, in just a few clicks has been a significant time-saver. Beyond setup efficiency, the platform improved how their team communicates with entrants, with targeted broadcasts helping drive increased submissions and overall program growth.

"I particularly like that you can link different content to specific categories within the same season, then copy across when you run the same awards again," says Sarah Herft, Education and Awards Program Manager at FBA. "It's easy to see duplicates, and for the nominees to upload docs, files, videos and more."

Herft says that the Award Force team consistently goes above and beyond, often stepping in directly to help resolve any issues they’ve faced, while the built-in Help tool in the application provides a quick reference when a refresher is needed.

For associations running seasonal recognition programs, the right platform can mean the difference between a program that grows and one that stalls under its own weight.

To see how Award Force helps associations run smarter recognition programs, visit awardforce.com.