How to Create and Run a Nomination Program
Step-by-step guide for admins to create a nomination program, configure nominator and nominee audiences, publish with a budget, and manage the program through to completion.
Who can use this feature
Requires the Super Admin admin permission.
Who this is for
Admins and program managers who want to run a peer-nomination program — where employees nominate colleagues for an award and a committee selects the winners.
What you'll achieve
By the end of this guide you'll have created a nomination program, configured who can nominate and who can be nominated, assembled a review committee, published the program to participants, and know how to manage it through to completion.
Before you begin
You have the Global permission or the Create Programs permission
You know which users should be able to nominate (everyone, specific people, or a segment)
You know which users should be eligible to receive nominations
You have at least one person available to serve on the review committee
You have a point value in mind for each winner
Creating a program requires a workspace-level permission (Global or Create Programs). Once created, anyone added as a Manager on the program can configure, publish, and manage it without needing workspace-wide admin access.
Nomination programs have their own budget pool — they do not draw from anyone's monthly recognition allowance. You set the budget when you publish.
Steps
1. Create the program
Open Admin settings → Programs → Incentives in the sidebar and click Create Program. Enter a name (for example, "Q3 Innovation Award") and choose Nomination as the program type. PraisePal creates a draft and opens the program detail page on the Settings tab.
2. Configure settings
On the Settings tab, click Edit and fill in the following:
Click Save when you're done.
Points per winner, Require nomination reason, and both audience settings (see next step) are locked once the program is published. Set these carefully before going live.
3. Choose the audiences
Nomination programs have two separate audiences, each configured on its own tab:
Nominators tab — who can submit nominations:
Nominees tab — who can be nominated:
Committee members are automatically excluded from both pools — they review nominations rather than participate. Click Refresh on each tab to preview the eligible count, then Save.
The two audiences can overlap. For example, you might allow everyone to nominate, but restrict nominees to a specific team. Or you might set both to "Everyone" for a company-wide award.
4. Add committee members
Switch to the Members tab and click Add member. Choose a workspace user and assign them one of the available roles:
At least one committee member is required before you can publish. You can add or remove members at any time during the program's lifecycle.
Finance and committee members cannot access programs while they are still in draft. They gain access once the program is published.
5. Publish the program
Back on the program header, click Publish. A dialog appears asking you to set the budget amount — the total point pool available for winners. The budget must be at least equal to the points-per-winner value.
The dialog also shows the eligible nominator count, eligible nominee count, and points per winner for review. Click Confirm publish to go live.
Once published, eligible nominators receive a notification (email and Slack DM) and can start submitting nominations. The program status changes to Active.
Before you can publish, the program needs: points per winner greater than zero, a non-empty description, a future nominations close date, at least one eligible nominator, at least one eligible nominee, and at least one committee member. If anything is missing, the Publish button stays disabled with a tooltip explaining what's needed.
6. Close nominations and select winners
When the nominations close date arrives, the program automatically closes and committee members are notified. You can also close it manually at any time from the program header.
Once closed, open the Nominations tab to review nominees. The table shows each nominee along with their nomination count. Click View on any nominee to see individual nominations — including who nominated them and their reasons.
To select a winner, open a nominee's detail and click Select winner. You'll need to write an announcement message that will be shown when the program completes. Points are credited to the winner's balance immediately, and the winner receives a notification.
Winner selections cannot be undone. Points are credited as soon as you confirm, so verify you've selected the right person and have sufficient budget remaining.
7. Complete the program
After the committee has finished selecting winners, click Complete on the program header. You'll be prompted for an optional showcase link — a URL (for example, an internal blog post) that appears on the completion feed card.
Once completed, all settings and selections are permanently locked.
What to expect after
Active — Eligible users submit nominations; the close date counts down. The program auto-closes when the deadline passes.
Closed — No new nominations can be submitted. The committee reviews nominees and selects winners. From here you can either Reopen the program (which requires setting a new close date) or move to Complete.
Completed — Everything is permanently locked. If visibility is on, a feed card announces the winners to the workspace.
Pro tips
Committee members are notified when nominations close. They'll receive an email and Slack DM, so you don't need to manually remind them to start reviewing.
The close date is flexible after publishing. If participation is strong and you want to extend the window, update the close date from the Settings tab while the program is still active.
Use "Show nominees" strategically. Turning it on creates friendly visibility and can encourage more nominations, but turning it off keeps things private until winners are announced — better for sensitive awards.
You can reopen a closed program. If the committee needs more nominations to make a decision, reopen the program with a new close date. Existing nominations are preserved.
Common mistakes
The Publish button is disabled
Six things must be in place: points per winner greater than zero, a non-empty description, a future nominations close date, at least one eligible nominator, at least one eligible nominee, and at least one committee member. Check each of these. Also verify you've saved any in-progress edits on the Settings tab — the button is disabled while editing.
I can't select a winner
Winner selection is only available when the program is closed — not while it's still active. If the program is still accepting nominations, close it first (or wait for the close date to pass). Also check that you haven't reached the max winners cap, and that the budget has enough points remaining.
Committee members don't appear in the nominee list
This is by design. Committee members are automatically excluded from both the nominator and nominee audiences to prevent conflicts of interest. If someone needs to be both a nominee and a reviewer, you'll need to choose one role for them.
A nominator says they can't submit
Check three things: the program must be active (not closed or completed), the nominations close date must still be in the future, and the nominator must not have already reached their max nominations per user limit. Also verify they're in the configured nominator audience.
I can't change the audiences or points per winner after publishing
These fields are locked after publish to keep the program fair for all participants. If you need different audiences or a different point value, complete the current program and create a new one.