After the Program

Once judging is complete and you've assigned awards, it's time to publish results and give your entrants something to celebrate. This page covers everything that happens after you publish, and how to set up next season in one click.

Publishing results

The Publish results button on the Results page controls everything. When you publish, three things happen at once:

1. The leaderboard goes public on the program page and entry gallery
2. Award badges appear on winning entries' pages
3. Certificates become available for every entrant with a submission

Clicking Publish results opens the Publish Results & Notify Entrants dialog, which shows how many entrants will be emailed and names any unassigned awards. Clicking Publish & Notify sends a one-time email to every entrant with a submitted entry, letting them know results are live and their certificates are ready.

You can click Hide results at any time to temporarily hide the leaderboard, badges, and certificates ("Results hidden"). Publishing again restores everything without re-sending notifications.

In a blind round, publishing is also the moment names come back: winners appear with their names on the results page, the gallery, and certificates.

Certificates

Every team member on every entry gets their own certificate, not just winners. This is one of the most valuable things your entrants receive from the program.

What's on each certificate

• Entrant name and their team members
• Entry title
• Program name and hosting organization
• Award badges for any prizes won: winners receive a Certificate of Achievement, everyone else a Certificate of Participation
• A unique verification URL that anyone can visit to confirm the certificate is real, marked "Issued via AwardKit"

LinkedIn integration

Each team member's certificate has an Add to LinkedIn button that opens LinkedIn with the details pre-filled:

• Certificate name (program name and any awards)
• Issuing organization (your program's hosting organization)
• Issue date (based on your program's results date)
• Credential URL (the verification link back to AwardKit)

This makes it effortless for entrants to add the recognition to their professional profile. For early-career professionals, founders, and small teams, this is one of the most valuable things they get out of entering the program.

Verification pages

Each certificate has a unique, publicly accessible verification page. Employers, partners, or journalists can visit this URL to confirm:

• The entrant submitted to your program
• The entry they submitted
• Any awards they won
• The program details and hosting organization

This gives your certificates real credibility, something entrants (and the people verifying them) appreciate.

Where entrants find certificates

Certificates appear on the entrant's entry page. Entrants reach it from the results email or from the program page; anyone opening the link confirms with a one-time code sent to an email address on the entry (no password). Each certificate's verification URL is publicly accessible, so entrants can share it with employers or in press kits without opening their entry page at all.

If an entrant can't find their certificates, confirm they are using an email address listed on the entry. You can also look up their entry under Entries, open it, and share the Copy entry link with them.

Entry gallery

The public entry gallery opens according to the Public gallery visibility setting on the Entries page: When results are published (the default), After entries close, or Hidden. It showcases all submitted entries with their summaries, categories, and links to detail pages.

Once you publish results, award badges appear on the gallery cards too.

Who to share the gallery with

The gallery is a great asset for showcasing what your program produced:

• Entrants: So they can browse other entries and share their own
• Sponsors: As proof of the program's reach and quality of work
• Social media: Post the link to celebrate winners and highlight standout entries
• Future entrants: Show prospective entrants what past programs looked like to drive next year's entries
• Your organization's leadership or members: As a recap of the program's outcomes
• Journalists and media: As a credible reference for who entered and who won

Your organization's public page at awardkit.io/your-handle keeps listing past editions, so one durable link covers this year's award and last year's showcase.

Communicating with entrants

Your entrants may not read the docs, so proactive communication makes a big difference. Here's what to share at each stage.

When results go live

Send a message through your communication channel (email, member newsletter, social media, or a partner publication) that includes:

• The entry gallery link so everyone can browse all entries and see winners
• A reminder to check their email for the results notification with their certificate link
• A note that every entrant gets a certificate, not just winners, and they can add it to LinkedIn

For winners specifically

Let award winners know that:

• Their entry pages show the award badge publicly
• The badge also appears in the entry gallery
• Their certificates include the specific award they won
• A verification page exists they can link to from press kits, LinkedIn, or their website

Tips for maximum reach

• Announce results in your community channel first, then let the email notification serve as backup. Members are more likely to engage with a message they see in context.
• Highlight the LinkedIn feature explicitly. Many entrants won't discover it on their own. A simple "Don't forget to add your certificate to LinkedIn!" reminder goes a long way.
• Share the gallery on your organization's social media. Tag winners where appropriate. This increases visibility for both your program and your entrants.
• Save the gallery link for next year's marketing. It's a portfolio of past programs and helps recruit entrants for next year.
• Send winners a press kit with the badge image, the verification URL, and a one-paragraph blurb they can drop into their announcements.

Next season: duplicate the program

Most award programs run on annual cycles. You never rebuild from scratch: open Organization settings > Programs, find this year's program, and choose Duplicate program from its row menu.

• Carries over: categories, groups, and entry fees; the entry form and questions; judging rounds and criteria; awards and prizes; pricing tiers and discount codes.
• Starts fresh: the timeline and judging dates; entries and entrants; judges, scores, and results. The copy starts in Test mode with no dates set.
• If the name carries a year, the suggested name rolls it forward ("Design Awards 2025" becomes "Design Awards 2026").

Duplicate works on archived programs too, so last season is exactly what you start next season from. See Organizations.

Then:

1. Set next year's dates on the Overview timeline and refine categories, criteria, and questions based on what you learned
2. Bring the judging panel back with the judging CSV import (judges do not carry over, since panels change year to year)
3. Go live and announce next year's program, using last year's entry gallery link as social proof

Once next season is live, Archive this year's program from the same Programs page. Archived programs stay listed on your public organization page as past editions, and entrants keep the links to their own entries.