To get more award entries, work out how many you need first: entries = past entrants × re-entry rate + new invites × response rate. Aim for at least five entries in every category (Xero’s 2026 Asia awards may remove any category with fewer than four), win back last year’s entrants before the early-bird deadline, then fill the gap with targeted invites.
The short answer from LeadsNow AI: Award entries come from two lists, last year’s entrants and new invitees, so LeadsNow recommends running the Entry Funnel Math per category before the call for entries opens and merging any category that cannot reach five entries. Past entrants are the cheapest entries you will ever get, so they get a personal call before the early-bird deadline, not just an email.
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- The formula: entries = (past entries × re-entry rate) + (new invites × response rate), run per category.
- The credibility floor: five entries per category; Xero’s 2026 Asia awards terms let it remove any category with fewer than four.
- Worked example: a 12-category program targeting 96 entries needs about 1,300 new invites on mid-band assumptions, or 3,200 on the low band.
- The deadline ladder: one 2026 program ran early bird (US$249), regular (US$349) and late (US$449) fees, with eight weeks between the early-bird and final deadlines.
Rules of thumb for getting more award entries
Getting more award entries follows five rules of thumb, each one either sourced below or arithmetic from the worked example on this page.
- Count last year’s entries by category before you change anything: at a 55% re-entry rate (assumption), 80 past entries return only 44, so the other 52 must come from new invites.
- Merge or cut any category forecast below five entries: with a shortlist of three, five entries already makes 60% of entrants finalists, and OpenWater warns that when too many applicants receive a prize, the award’s value is diluted.
- Decide the early-bird to final run deliberately: the 2026 Content Marketing Awards (27 March to 22 May) and the TTG Travel Industry Awards (10 April to 5 June) both left eight weeks; the countdown below uses a tighter four.
- Price second and third entries lower: APPA charges A$115 ex GST for a first entry, A$55 for each subsequent one, and makes the fourth entry onwards free.
- Send judges’ feedback to non-winners: Skift Meetings lists it as a way to keep entrants engaged and encourage future participation.
How it works
How to fill every award category with entries
Count last year’s entries
Export last year’s entries by category from your entry platform. This is the base for the forecast.
Run the Entry Funnel Math
Multiply past entries by a re-entry rate and new invites by a response rate. The gap tells you how many invites you need.
Call past entrants early
Contact every past entrant before the early-bird deadline. Re-entries are the cheapest entries you can get.
Merge thin categories
Before the final deadline, merge or cut any category forecast under five entries. Announce it to entrants.
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Frequently asked questions about getting more award entries
How do I get more entries for my industry awards?
Forecast entries per category with the Entry Funnel Math (past entries × re-entry rate + new invites × response rate), call last year’s entrants before the early-bird deadline, make second entries cheaper, publish the judging criteria and send feedback to non-winners. Merge any category that cannot reach five entries.
What is the minimum number of entries for an award category?
There is no industry standard. The Xero Asia Awards 2026 terms let Xero remove any category with fewer than four entries. LeadsNow recommends five as the floor, because with a shortlist of three, fewer entries makes most entrants finalists.
Does an online entry platform increase award entries?
One published case says it did: an Award Force case study reports the RCSA Industry Awards grew entries by 35% in 2019 and a further 23% in 2020 after replacing survey tools and spreadsheets with its platform. That is a vendor case study, not a controlled test.
Should award entries be free?
Not necessarily. Skift Meetings reports that awards platform Evessio found charging for entries positively affects the number of entries. Tiered fees are common: the 2026 Content Marketing Awards ran US$249, US$349 and US$449 tiers by deadline.
How long should a call for entries stay open?
Published 2026 windows range from 26 days (APPA Industry Awards) to about eight weeks between an early-bird and a final deadline (Content Marketing Awards, 27 March to 22 May). OpenWater advises making sure the submission period is not too short, and warns that a lengthy one risks losing interest as the launch buzz fades.
The Entry Funnel Math: how many entries will my awards get?
The Entry Funnel Math forecasts award entries as past entries times the re-entry rate plus new invites times the response rate, and it tells you how many invites close the gap.
The worked example below is a 12-category industry awards program that received 80 entries last year and wants eight per category this year, 96 in total. We found no public benchmark for award re-entry or invite response rates, so every rate is a labelled assumption in three bands. Replace them with your own numbers from last year’s entry platform export.
| Step | Low band (assumption) | Mid band (assumption) | High band (assumption) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Last year’s entries | 80 | 80 | 80 |
| Re-entry rate | 40% = 32 entries | 55% = 44 entries | 70% = 56 entries |
| New invites sent | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 |
| Invite response rate (invite to submitted entry) | 2% = 20 entries | 4% = 40 entries | 6% = 60 entries |
| Total entries | 52 | 84 | 116 |
| Average per category (12 categories) | 4.3: below the floor | 7.0 | 9.7 |
| Gap to 96 entries | 44 | 12 | none |
| New invites needed for 96 entries | 64 ÷ 2% = 3,200 | 52 ÷ 4% = 1,300 | 40 ÷ 6% = 667 |
The low band is the one to plan for if last year’s entrants were never contacted after the ceremony. At 4.3 entries per category, the honest move is fewer categories, not more invites: 52 entries across seven categories is 7.4 each. Run the same maths for each category, because an average of seven can hide two categories with two entries each.
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How many entries does an award category need?
An award category needs at least five entries to be judged credibly, and published terms show organisers already remove thin categories, for example below four entries at Xero’s 2026 Asia awards.
The Xero Asia Awards 2026 terms say that if any award category receives fewer than four entries, Xero may remove it at its sole discretion and will notify entrants. The Channel Company’s 2026 Sales & Marketing Awards terms reserve the right to remove categories that are “not well enough entered”, without a number. LeadsNow’s threshold table below sets the line at five because of the shortlist arithmetic.
| Entries in the category | Share of entrants shortlisted (shortlist of 3) | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 4 | 75% to 100% | Merge with a neighbouring category or cut it before judging |
| 5 to 7 | 43% to 60% | Keep, but call past entrants in that category before the final deadline |
| 8 to 14 | 21% to 38% | Healthy: keep the category as published |
| 15 or more | 20% or less | Consider splitting it by company size or region next year |
Announce merges before the final deadline, not after judging. An entrant who learns after the ceremony that their category had three entries has little reason to trust next year’s results.
When should early-bird, final and extension deadlines fall?
LeadsNow’s call-for-entries countdown puts the early bird around week five and the final deadline around week nine, a tighter four-week run than the eight weeks two published 2026 programs left.
Three real 2026 calls show the range. The 2026 Content Marketing Awards charged US$249 until 27 March, US$349 until 1 May and US$449 until the final deadline of 22 May. The TTG Travel Industry Awards 2026 charged £299 + VAT until 10 April and £349 + VAT after, with entries closing on 5 June. APPA’s 2026 Industry Awards ran a single 26-day window, 1 June to 26 June, with no early-bird tier.
| Stage | When (weeks after opening) | Who you work | What must be true by the end |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open | Week 0 | Past entrants and last year’s finalists | Every past entrant emailed the new categories and criteria |
| Early bird | Week 4 to 6 | Past entrants who have not started | Every past entrant called once; re-entry rate measured against your band |
| Final | Week 8 to 10 | New invitees, and any category forecast under five | Thin categories merged and announced |
| Extension (optional) | One week only | Entrants with drafts started but not submitted | Platform closed; no second extension |
Use the extension for drafts already started, and say on the entry site whether one is possible. If entrants learn that every year has an extension, the final deadline stops working. OpenWater also advises keeping deadlines away from your industry’s major events and busy periods.
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What makes past entrants enter again?
Past entrants re-enter when entering is quick, the judging feels fair and non-winners get something back, according to awards-software vendor OpenWater and the events publication Skift Meetings.
- Cut the entry effort. OpenWater calls a laborious entry process a barrier to participation and says entrants who receive no feedback are not likely to try again next year.
- Publish the judging criteria. Skift Meetings says entrants who understand the judging process are more likely to see the value in participating.
- Reward multiple entries. TTG ran a 3-for-2 offer on paid categories after its early bird ended; APPA made the fourth entry onwards free.
- Reconsider free entry. Skift Meetings reports Evessio’s research as showing that charging for entries positively affects the number of entries. That is a vendor’s finding; test it on one category before changing them all.
The single biggest lever in the Entry Funnel Math is the re-entry rate, because 15 points on 80 past entries is 12 entries, the same as 300 new invites at the mid-band 4% response rate. Treat past entrants as a list to reactivate, the same way a sales team works a dormant CRM; the database reactivation guide covers the method.
How do I find new entrants for an awards program?
New award entrants come from the organisations missing from last year’s entry list, so the invite list starts with a gap analysis of who was eligible but did not enter.
OpenWater recommends identifying which member segments are missing from submissions and inviting entries from them, and warns that when the same companies win every year, others assume they will not get a fair shot. Practical sources for the invite list:
- Member or subscriber records cross-checked against last year’s entrants.
- Sponsors and their clients: a sponsor-backed category gives the sponsor a reason to promote it. The guide to getting sponsors for a charity gala covers that sale.
- Partner associations: Skift Meetings notes that industry partnerships can add credibility and reach.
Follow your country’s commercial email consent rules for every invite list, and suppress anyone who unsubscribed last year.
What does chasing award entries in-house cost?
Chasing award entries in-house costs about 12 staff hours of phone time per 60 past-entrant organisations, on assumptions you should replace with your own.
The arithmetic: 60 organisations × 3 call attempts × 2 minutes = 360 minutes (6 hours), plus 36 conversations (60% reached, an assumption) × 10 minutes = 360 minutes (6 hours). Those hours fall before the early-bird deadline. The ticket side of the same night is covered in how to sell corporate tables at an awards night, and attendance for the wider event in how to increase conference attendance.
Where LeadsNow fits: organisers who would rather not make those calls can have LeadsNow book conversations with past entrants, sponsors and table buyers using AI calling, SMS and DM follow-up, paid on results (a revenue share, a fee per appointment, or a mix of both). The lead generation hub for event organisers covers the model. Small programs with under 40 past entrants are often better served by one afternoon of personal calls from the awards manager.
Sources
- Xero Asia Awards 2026 terms and conditions (read 5 November 2026)
- The Channel Company, Sales & Marketing Awards 2026 terms
- OpenWater, Increase Award Program Submissions & Avoid Common Mistakes (2024)
- Skift Meetings, 14 Ways to Upgrade Your Awards Program (2024, citing Evessio)
- Award Force case study: RCSA Industry Awards
- 2026 Content Marketing Awards entry fees and deadlines
- TTG Travel Industry Awards 2026 FAQs
- APPA Industry Awards 2026 entry guide
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