As a company, we are all about building a more creative world together, but with funding cuts and the cost of living crisis, we know that this has become more difficult. We understand that not all organisations get the funding they need to use platforms like Zealous to easily streamline their submissions process. Because of this, we want to offer five x year long Pro Plans to creative organisations, collectives, and individual creatives, as well as discount codes to some of the other applicants, through our initiative Zealous Elevate.
If you are a creative organisation looking to host an opportunity, Zealous is here to help streamline your process with our Pro Plan. As well as all of the standard features our plans have, you will also get:
- Up to 1000 submissions
- Unlimited scoring rounds
- Multiple criteria scoring
- Public voting
- 1 hour onboarding
- Technical support to candidates and judges via Live Chat and email
We will also share your opportunity across our social media and in our newsletter, and feature your organisation on our blog.
We also have lots of examples of organisations who have used Zealous and have benefited from it. You can find our case studies here.
Our focus is on creative organisations who are looking for a submissions platform to host their opportunity. We will be focussing on those who have not used Zealous before to host an opportunity and those who currently do not have the funds to do so. We are also open to accepting applications from collectives and individual creatives. Entries will open on 22nd July at 12:00pm BST and closes 23rd September 12:00pm BST.
To celebrate the launch of Zealous Elevate, I spoke to Zealous Director Yukie Yokoyama about why you should apply and the benefits of using Zealous.
Hi Yukie! You are such an integral part of the Zealous team – could you give us a brief explanation of what you role is?
Hello Bethan! I am a Director at Zealous and my role involves anything to do with helping people get to know more about our awards management platform better and supporting them once they start using Zealous for their projects.
You have seen lots of organisations use Zealous for their opportunities. What is one opportunity you have really liked? Why did it work so well?
There are so many fantastic opportunities on Zealous, I hesitate to pick just one. I love the initiatives you managed ,Bethan (Zealous Amplify and Elevate) as the application process is simple and accessible but that may be perceived as biased! I think branding wise, the Royal Meteorological Society’s Weather Photographer of the Year had some great visuals and I liked the video to inform candidates what they’re looking for. Cass Art Prize’s Guidelines was structured well and the Digital Cultural Networks Guidelines were great to as theyreally thought about accessibility and had videos and downloads that made the opportunity more inclusive.
What key characteristics do you think make a successful opportunity?
I think there are a few key things that make a successful opportunity and the first step towards that is knowing your audience. Who are you targeting and what are they looking for? Be really specific. By establishing this, you can figure out a few things like how they are likely to submit (the type of media you’re asking for, what you ask in your application form etc), what rewards or judges they might like to see that could encourage them to submit and how you can reach out to them (are there any sites or a particular social media channel they use) etc.
Making it accessible is important too. For applicants, making the guidelines clear (how it looks visually is just as important) and structuring it clearly (asking questions in a logical structured way; avoiding duplicate questions) is important. You don’t want applicants to quit applying half way through just because of the complicated application process. By having clear structure, applicants will feel like they are being assessed fairly on their actual application rather than how it was submitted. If its structured well, the judges will also have an enjoyable experience, as a consistent format is easier to assess.
Marketing your opportunity is also really important and this should be researched well in advance. It would be a shame to get everything prepared but not being able to get the word out in time and for potential applicants to miss out on your opportunity.
Do you have any top tips on how to share your opportunity?
This goes back to the previous question but if you know exactly who your audience is, you should know what websites they subscribe to, who they follow on social (individuals and organisations) and where they hang out (both physically e.g, which museum/gallery and digitally e.g. what is their preferred social media channel). I find that actually drawing and mapping this out really helps (and fun!).
Consistent branding always helps throughout the campaign and should be used for all channels.
Repetition. We are bombarded with information every day and we don’t remember everything; so its important to share your opportunity consistently. Every time you share, perhaps add something beneficial to each of those ‘reminders’ so your reader stops and actually reads your message. E.g. If you’ve ran an award before, share what your previous awards winner are now which may inspire the potential new entrant thinking of applying. Always ask ‘why should they apply?’ and explain what the benefits for applying might be, as it may not always be obvious and make it easy for them. Applicants are busy and probably have 100s of things on their to do list so they need to have a reason on why they should prioritise submitting to your opportunity.
Why should people apply for Zealous Elevate?
There are so many amazing organisations running fantastic programmes; we wanted to offer our services so that they can continue engaging with their community and work towards their mission. If you were thinking or running an award, competition, open call, exhibition or anything that requires you to take applications and judging them, Zealous Elevate is a great opportunity if you’re restricted on resources. We’d love to hear what you’re up to.
If you’re selected, you can run a project on Zealous where you can use the platform for free between end of October 2024 until end of October 2025 and take up to 1000 submissions. We’re offering 5 of these plans completely free and for a few others, we’re giving discounts codes. Depending on demand, we might continue this initiative but for now, this is a one-off.
We’d love to hear from individual artists, collectives and organisations so please help us spread the word if you know anyone might be interested. Closes 23rd September 2024. Any questions, please reach out to us at [email protected] – we look forward to supporting your initiatives!
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