Top Ten Tips for Successful Prix d'Excellence Entries
Has your advancement shop produced innovative, exemplary work in the past year, with results that met high expectations? Do you envision a 2020 Prix d'Excellence as recognition of your work?
To increase the odds of success for your entry, peruse this list of Top Ten Prix d’Excellence Tips:
- Organize. Flag great advancement work throughout the year, track your past and potential submissions, and brainstorm with other advancement shops at your school to select Prix-worthy work. Designate one person to compile and proofread all submissions.
- Review. The Prix d’Excellence website contains useful resources. Comb through the past Prix d'Excellence recipients for ideas, and to ensure you are submitting a unique, innovative entry. Check the Frequently Asked Questions list for guidance.
- Strategize. Select the best category for your submission. Your odds may increase if your work fits in a less-populated category.
- Examine. Look at the judging rubric and take care to follow all criteria for your entry. Read through all the 2022 categories, as there are changes from previous years.
- Persuade. Go with your best data, both qualitative and quantitative. Your entry should answer not just what and how, but also “so what?”
- Contextualize. Don’t assume judges are familiar with jargon or your school’s / shop’s culture and context.
- Summarize. Be succinct. Limit your entry form to three pages, and do not provide the judges with supplementary material, unless submitting in categories 16-28, where supplementary creative materials are required. There is a maximum of 2 creative material files permitted for categories 16-28.
- Network. Check out what your peers are doing and what’s new in your industry, to assess if your work is truly leading-edge.
- Articulate. Clearly state your project’s objectives, and how these dovetail with both your outcomes and your school’s overall goals.
- Enter. Submit your entry early. Don’t wait until the deadline date, when the CCAE staff and host coordinators will be extremely busy.