The public application

What applicants see

When an applicant visits your program URL, they see a clean, branded landing page with:

• Your logo and brand colors at the top
• The program name, description, and key dates
• A primary call-to-action button (e.g. “Start nomination” or “Apply for scholarship”) — the label is editable per program
• A “Resume application” button alongside it, for applicants returning to finish a draft
• Award categories and rules, if you've added them

Once they click into the application itself, they see the category picker (if relevant), the application form, file upload areas, a progress indicator showing required-fields completion, and a Save and come back later button at the top.

Eligibility check (optional)

If you've added eligibility questions for the program (see Application forms), applicants see them as a short interstitial step before the application form opens.

• Each question is a simple yes/no. The applicant has to answer “yes” to every question that applies to their chosen category to continue.
• If they answer “no” on anything, they're routed to a friendly “this program may not be the right fit” page that surfaces your program's Rules & Eligibility text. They can change their answers and try again from there.
• Answers are saved on the draft, so if they leave and come back the questions are already filled in.
• If you don't add any eligibility questions, the step is skipped entirely.

Save and resume

Applicants do not need to finish in one sitting. Awards Manager protects their progress in three layered ways, so it's very hard to lose work.

• Autosave. Every change is saved silently a fraction of a second after the applicant pauses typing. Starts from the very first interaction with the form.
• Save and come back later button. Clicking it flushes the latest draft, then emails the applicant a private link to pick up where they left off. The link works on any device. This is the primary way applicants come back.
• Self-serve recovery at /resume.If they lose the email, applicants can visit your program's /resumepage, enter the email they used, and we'll re-send the link. Generic confirmation, so they can't enumerate other people's drafts.

File uploads

Applicants can attach photos, PDFs, and documents wherever you added a file field. Files are stored securely and reviewers see them inline when reviewing. Each file has a size limit that you can configure.

Confirmation emails

Once an applicant submits, they automatically get a branded confirmation email with a summary of their entry. The email uses your Chamber's colors and logo, not Awards Manager's.

Applicants can reply to that email to reach you. The address you configure for the program controls who receives those replies.

Privacy

• Applicants never see other applicants' submissions.
• Reviewers only see what you assign to them, and they do not see each other's scores.
• Your team has full visibility to everything in your organization.