Scaling up: how to grow your awards programme

Growing your awards programme is the goal, right? Everyone wants to see their entry numbers climb year after year. But when that growth actually happens - when you go from 50 entries to 200, then 400, and you're staring down 500 - you quickly realise that email attachments and spreadsheets aren't going to cut it anymore (assuming you want to retain some level of sanity!).

But scaling up isn’t just about processing more entries. It’s about growing your programme without losing the factors that made it successful in the first place. Here’s how to get it right.

Get your infrastructure nailed early

That spreadsheet system that worked brilliantly for 50 entries? It's going to buckle under the weight of 500. Invest in proper awards software before you're desperate - ideally when you're at about 60-70% of your current capacity. Migrating systems during peak season is nobody's idea of fun.

Build a scalable judging model

You can't just throw more judges at the problem. Design a judging framework that can flex: consider preliminary rounds to filter entries, or category-specific panels rather than everyone reviewing everything. Clear scoring guidelines become essential at scale - they ensure consistency and speed up the process considerably.

Automate the repetitive stuff

Confirmation emails, deadline reminders, judge assignments, score compilation - anything you're doing manually more than twice should be automated. Specialised awards software is a massive help here, as it can handle all the admin tasks with ease, leaving you to redirect human energy towards tasks that need human input.

Protect your entrant experience

When you're processing hundreds of entries, it's all too easy for customer service to slip. But keeping entrants happy is key to the success of your programme, so quick responses to queries, clear communication, and smooth submission processes become even more critical at scale.

Plan your timeline backwards

With more entries comes more time needed for judging, deliberation, and finalist notifications. Map out your timeline from your ceremony date backwards, building in generous buffers. What took two weeks at 50 entries might need six weeks at 500.

Making your programme bigger and better is, naturally, what most awards managers are aiming for. Doing that without damaging your reputation, customer service - or your sanity - is perfectly possible if you plan ahead, put your entrants first, and take advantage of today’s specialised software platforms.

If you’d like to find out more about how AwardStage can help you scale up your awards programme, just drop us a line - we’d love to chat to you!