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AWARDS OF MERIT ENTRY TIPS These tips are meant to answer the most common questions we receive or address those areas where entrants have had problems in the past. It is hoped that they will help you prepare entries that are acceptable, will meet the criteria to receive a Merit Award, and will compete well for a nomination to the Awards of Excellence competition. They are intended as helpful hints only, and should be used in conjunction with the official application rules in the Award Application itself. ELIGIBILITY
IS YOUR PROGRAM AWARD WORTHY? The Merit Awards are meant for programs that are innovative and produce tangible results. They are not meant to just give your agency a pat on the back for doing the usual job your are supposed to do. The program must have produced tangible results. This receives the highest number of points in the jury process. You must demonstrate the results of your program so that the jury can understand what was accomplished. If the jury cannot determine what you did, how many people were helped, etc., it will not be able to give your program the points it may deserve. Suggestions for the type of questions to address include:
The program must be innovative. Our definition of innovative is "the techniques or procedures are not in common practice among agencies of similar size." Innovation receives the second highest number of points in the jury process. If your program has innovative twists on a program that is in common use, be sure that you emphasize what is different. Use the information in the lists of previous award winners (available online in searchable format in the Solutions Database or in the listing of winners to help you determine if other agencies seem to be doing something similar. If you find similar programs, decide if your agency is a different size, has a different angle or has produced significant results. CATEGORY: How to decide to which category an entry belongs? You may enter the same project/program in more than one category. To do so, you must submit separate entries tailored to the award category and pay a separate application fee. Administrative Innovation focuses on how a program is administered. If you have developed a specialized approach to how a program works, improved efficiency in your operation, improved the operation of your agency, etc., the entry would go here. Program Innovation focuses on the programs and their results. How the program is administered may be important, but what it accomplishes is the prime factor.
Project Design focuses primarily on the building, project, or landscape design only. If the design is unique and excellent, this is the category to use. If what is important is the program, the funding, or an aspect other than design, it belongs in a different category. THE APPLICATION Be sure the application follows the rules. Use the cover page and no more than three additional pages (or four additional pages for project design.) Summary. No more than 100 words. All words count. You do not need to repeat the name of the agency. The name will be printed in the contact information that will appear with the summary. The summary should be concise and informative. You don't need to go into history here and it is not the place for agency promotion. Focus most of your attention on the description of the program and the results. Make sure the reader will understand how the program operates, whom it serves, the roles of the various participants, and quantify your results. Don't just tell us how great it is and how wonderful your agency and director are in glowing terms. This summary is the basis for what appears in the award catalog and in the Solutions Database on the NAHRO Web Site. It is the first thing the jury reads and the only thing that many will read. Make sure that it describes the program and what it accomplished. Additional Sections. Address each of the additional sections appropriately following the descriptions in the application. Page lengths given are merely suggestions. SCORING CRITERIA Look over the scoring criteria so that you understand what the jury will be looking for, and produce your application accordingly. If the jury cannot find the information they need to understand the program, the role of the agency, the specific results, the cost and financing, and how the program is innovative, they cannot give the application the full score that it deserves. APPLICATION FORMAT Format is 25 copies on plain white paper, simply stapled in the left corner. Since we have to store and ship these copies, binders, notebooks and covers are discarded before they are sent to the juries. So save yourself time and money. Just be neat and readable. It is recommended that you have someone read the application over for you and be sure you do an edit for usual spelling and grammar so errors can be corrected before they are sent in. Many applications do not seem to have had this step taken and the errors detract from the good program being described. Be sure to sign the application and include your application fee. If you are enclosing several entries in the same package, include a list in a cover letter so we don’t miss any. One check for multiple entries is acceptable. There are no refunds for any reason. Additional materials. Other than the photographs and plans required with the Project Design applications, additional materials are not required. You may choose to send them if you believe they will help to explain your program. You should include 25 copies of them as well. If they are expensive to reproduce or mail, you may initially send 15 copies and then send the additional 10 if you are nominated for the Award of Excellence. All materials become the property of NAHRO. Project Design: Because of the expense of producing copies of color photos, Project Design entrants may submit 15 sets of their entries. If they are nominated for the Award of Excellence, they will be required to submit the additional 10 sets of the application with photos for the Excellence Jury within two weeks of notification. Also be sure to include all of the required plans. QUESTIONS? For further information contact:
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