HOW TO WRITE A GREAT NOMINATION

1. Select appropriate Nominee and relevant Award:

To start writing a great nomination you must first give due consideration to worthiness of which nominee is best suited from the pool of members within the Club/ Branch. This step is worth doing and worth doing properly so once you have identified a member/s who have contributed you must select the most appropriate and aligned award for the nominee (refer to Recognition Awards Summary pages within this manual).

2. Interview the nominee:

You can interview the nominee at length to assist you making the decision to proceed or otherwise, making sure that there is available time to complete the nomination in full. Don’t just complete a nomination to make up the numbers.

3. Complete the Nomination Forms:

The key to completing the nomination form is to ensure that you assess each criteria and from your nominee interview and other information, start to assign key information against standard key criteria.

4. Develop detail around dot points to demonstrate strong compliance against each of the award criteria:

You will need to look for key differentiators and hammer home the nominee’s strengths. Depending upon the nominee, you may need to create the criteria of “other” if necessary, and go back to check the relevance of this information to the nomination. Don’t forget to create a flow in the document and paint a picture of what the person is like in words.

Keep in mind that for most awards the nomination form is all that the Meritorious Awards panel has in front of them to assess nominees and that one sentence may not be enough.

5. Check the nomination…

...and check it again! Allow enough time to critically review the document once complete. Ask others for assistance to proof read the nomination for accuracy. A fresh set of eyes and someone else who knows the person will be best placed to edit.

To check that you have prepared a great nomination ensure that you complete the following checklist to make sure you don’t make some of the common mistakes made when writing a nomination.

• Member credentials and award are aligned
• Surfguard extract of all available information attached
• Appropriate photo of the nominee attached electronically, if club nomination attach club logo
• Correct form used
• Typed application
• Enough background detail about nominee supplied
• Criteria and information aligned
• Good literacy used
• Nomination is endorsed at a club and branch level, where required
• Submit on time

What help is available?

The following help is available should you need assistance identifying the appropriate award to apply for or in the preparation of the nomination:

• Recognition Awards Manual
• Other members in your club
• The nominee and/ or nominees parents/ guardians
• Branch Office and Officers
• SLSQ Membership Development Staff.

Before you make a call though, have a look through the frequently asked questions to see if yours is answered.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Who is eligible for awards?

The award selection criterion stipulates who is eligible to nominate for awards. Some awards are open to non surf life saving members.

How is the age category of the nominee calculated for the award?

The age category is calculated as at 30 September of that Season.

Who can submit a nomination?

Nominations can be written by anyone, but need to be endorsed at both club and branch level.

Nominations will not be accepted at SLSQ without both club and branch endorsement.

Do I need club and branch endorsement?

Yes every nomination must have club and branch endorsement, to ensure the progression of the best candidate from every level. This will ensure that the state winner is selected from the best in each branch.

How do I nominate?

A completed nomination form must accompany every award application. This should be typed out on a computer. Club and branch endorsement must be completed for awards to be accepted.

What do winners receive?

Each award may have a different reward for the recipient.

Are nominations confidential?

Information contained within the nomination will be viewed by the award judging panel to determine the appropriate recipient. This information may also be used for media promoting the accomplishments of award nominees and winners. This information will not be shared with members external to these parties. All contact details of the nominee and the nominator will be kept confidential.

Can I provide supporting information (such as DVD’s, certificates, media articles

etc)?

Supporting documentation is welcome with the award applications. The more information the meritorious awards committee can see, the better their judging can be.

Do I have to apply online?

No, however all applications must be typed, not handwritten. You may send the applications in via post or email. These will need to be received by the due date to be eligible for selection.

How is the nomination assessed?

Nominations will be assessed by the relevant Meritorious Awards panel (Refer to the section in this manual ‘Selection of Award Recipients’). Panel members are called for and endorsed by the SLSQ Board of Directors. The panel utilises the award specific selection criteria to determine the award winners.

When will the award winners be announced?

Awards may be announced at different times or at different events throughout the year. Please refer to the relevant page in this manual for specific details on each award.

Where do I get more information on the awards?

Information can be found in the awards nomination circular.

RECOGNITION AWARDS TIMELINE 

The timing of recognition awards (including the call for nominations and presentation of recipients) is critical. Timing has been carefully considered to ensure that progression for the grassroots volunteer is clear, legitimate, & credible.

Where awards align there is progression from Club to Branch, to State, and onto National awards.

The process through this timeline is:

1. Clubs prepare member nominations and submit Branch online nomination forms
2. Branch Meritorious Panels or similar, select a recipient in each category
3. Branch to prepare nominations and submit nominations through the SLSQ Online nomination form. Branch recipients will become State finalists.
4. State finalists are judged (some are interviewed)
5. State recipients are announced and presented at the SLSQ Awards of Excellence Dinner
6. Relevant State award recipients go on to National to be judged by the National Meritorious Panel/s (all finalists either make a presentation or are interviewed)
7. National recipients are announced & presented at the SLSA Awards of Excellence.

Key benefits of a progressive awards timeline include:

• Streamlining the progression of recipients from Club to National.
• All State finalists will have been recognised as the best in their State.
• Recipients are recognised closer to the time in which they have carried out the work over one season.
• Increased legitimacy and credibility of awards.
• Improved streamlining of administration.