How to write the perfect nomination

Each January the Au40 Nominations Co-Chairs tackle the difficult job of selecting fifty finalists from a field of more than two hundred nominations. It’s not an easy task; as a result, we use an online template that restricts submissions to 1200 words or less. The new format allows for a more equitable selection process.

NOMINATOR QUESTION:

In response to the Nominator question, provide your personal recommendation—let the judges know why you, as the Nominator, believe the Nominee deserves recognition. Give the judges anecdotes and personal stories that distinguish your Nominee from the others. Give the judges something to remember, and tell them why you respect the Nominee enough to take your personal time to offer them for consideration.

NOMINEE QUESTIONS:

In response to Nominee Questions 1 and 2, provide as much detail about the your professional and philanthropic accomplishments as possible.  Be specific.  Judges look for tangible evidence of professional success and community contribution.

Below you will find examples of good nomination submissions:

NOMINATOR QUESTION EXAMPLE:

Describe the Nominee’s qualities that make him/her worthy of acknowledgment.

Over the years, I have found John to be the most passionate, determined and dedicated leader that I’ve ever met, and yet he remains humble despite his huge success, while always keeping the back of his mind that the journey is just as important as the destination.

Besides just being an entrepreneur, John has never measured his happiness by the success of his companies.  He gets his joy from seeing his employees succeed, mentoring other entrepreneurs, spending time with his “little’” Juan, and by surrounding himself with great people doing big things in the community.  John has actually inspired several employees, including myself, to become a “Big” within the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization. 

John’s passion and dedication has translated into every aspect of his life; it is contagious.  Example is one of the few companies where you can bring your dog to work, employees aren’t considered coworkers and are more like friends, and we all embrace the work hard, play hard mentality.  He quickly taught me to understand and embrace the value of resourcefulness, creativity and perseverance: it’s a matter of “when”, not “if” or “not yet” instead of “no”.   Over the years after placing countless Example “pole signs” (illegally on pretty much every street corner in town), I also quickly learned: “don’t ask for permission, but beg for forgiveness.”

 NOMINEE QUESTION #1 EXAMPLE:

Describe your professional accomplishments and/or achievements and how this has effected your field of work.

 Once the captain of a sailboat John Smith  has remade himself as founder and CEO of one of the fastest growing companies in the nation.  Through John’s unfailing persistence, the company has come a long way since its humble beginnings in 2005.

 In 1998, John was personally working on the product using his basic techniques and humble beginnings.  Since then, production of the product has moved to several large-scale manufacturing plants around the country. He has employed 65 people here in Austin and continues to hire more.

 Originally, the product was only sold in small areas.  Since then, John and his co-founder have led the company’s sales in spreading distribution to 30% of stores nationwide, including X Store, Y Store, Z Store, and others.

John launched the company with $5,000 of his own savings and hard work.  Since then, Company has succeeded in raising dollars to keep the company growing, including the most recent investment of a $11 M stake purchased by a Bigger Company. Last year the company’s gross revenue broke 15 M and plans to expand production in 2013.

 Throughout the Company history, John has never compromised on the quality of the product, despite the need to keep costs down.  As a result, John has become an example for product quality in the industry.  In fact, this year Magazine said Company has the “Best Product” after a head-to-head comparison of other products.

NOMINEE QUESTION #2 EXAMPLE:

Expand upon your community involvement, including board, committee, and/or group activities.

John is a dedicated volunteer and board member with Organization.  He was matched with Juan, when Juan was 9 years old.  Although the minimum commitment for the program is one year, John has now been a volunteer to Juan for almost six years, serving as a stable, reliable friend while Juan went through the tumultuous middle school and high school years.  In a recent interview about their friendship, John says he doesn’t see their connection ending anytime soon.  He hopes to see Juan graduate from college, and if fact, intends to know Juan for the rest of his life. In addition, John is one of the largest individual donors to Organization in 2010-2011.

John has also personally championed promotions that directly benefited Organization. Last year in John donated his time in money in supporting a Gala for Organization, the event was the most successful to date and raised $ in 2008. John was responsible for coordinating volunteers as well as chairing the event.

Finally, John supports aspiring entrepreneurs in Austin through a busy schedule of speaking engagements to business schools and organizations in Austin, providing advice and support for those just starting the journey. He is also a board member of Local Entrepreneur Association and has performed marketing tasks for Event 1 and Event 2. These events raised over $ for the organization which helped establish future speaking engagements continuing the assistance and education of entrepreneurs here in Austin.