Awards are a popular way to identify leadership in your community and reward those who inspire others. An awards program can be a great way to proactively promote historic preservation in your community. By by pointing to the best examples, you will also raise awareness of your group's good work without spending a great deal of money.

A historic preservation awards program allows your group to engage in a fun and celebratory environment with elected officials, donors, and potential partners. If your group was established to educate, advocate, and preserve, you can present local awards to bridge connections throughout your community.

As you start to create your awards program, consider the elements described below.

Identify Program Categories

Your preservation awards might include categories for individuals, community projects, school-based projects, web-based projects, programs, volunteer achievement, and even elected officials. A diverse group of awards will encourage a more diverse group of nominees.

Develop a Nomination Process

You'll need to decide who will nominate people for your awards. Consider whether the process should be kept internal to your board and staff, or opened up to your organization's membership or even the general public. By allowing your membership to participate, you may retain more members. If you open the nomination process to the general public, you could draw in even more members and engage the press around positive preservation stories.

Form a Review Committee

Your review committee will likely be made up of staff and board members. You could also invite a guest reviewer to increase the public profile of your awards program and possibly create connections between the award winners and your local press. The guest reviewer could be your local newspaper's architecture, design, or real estate writer, or you could invite a community member or the previous year's award winner.

Design Appealing Awards

The awards your group gives out will be seen by many people in your community, not just the recipients, for many years after the ceremony has ended. The physical appearance of your awards, whether they are certificates or plaques or something else, will reflect on your group. You should create awards that the winners will be proud to display to others. Make sure your awards are visually appealing and free of errors. Each award should prominently display your group's name and logo.

Publicize the Event and Winners

Awards foster positive press, so be sure to alert the media of your awards program with a press advisory and/or press release. Use the press release to announce the winners immediately after your ceremony. Profile the award winners on your website along with their photographs. You can also profile award winners in your promotional materials and grant applications.

Learn More

Historic Preservation Advocacy Guide

Find more how-to articles about historic preservation advocacy.