Awards or an event: which to use
How to choose between thank-you awards and a charity event, depending on who you're thanking and how.
Breaktape gives charities two ways to give medals: thank-you awards for individuals, and events for a day when lots of people take part. Picking the right one means the medal, the email and the wording all fit what your supporter actually did.
The short answer
- Use awards when you're thanking people one by one, or in small groups, for something that didn't happen on one day: volunteering, fundraising, a personal challenge.
- Use an event when lots of people take part in the same thing on the same day: a sponsored walk, a fun run, a swim, a challenge day.
Side by side
| Thank-you awards | A charity event | |
|---|---|---|
| Good for | Volunteers, fundraisers, donors, supporters | Walks, fun runs, challenge days |
| How people are added | One at a time, or a list of up to 500 | A file of finishers, imported and checked |
| When medals go | One person: as soon as you press Send medal. A list: after you check and release it | After you check a sample and release |
| The medal says | THANK YOU, their name, the award and their line | Their name, the race and the year, with a time if it's timed |
| Their own line | Anything up to 40 characters, like "5 years volunteering" | The amount they raised, like "£400.00 raised" |
| The email | "A thank-you medal from" your charity | "Your" event name "medal" |
| Medal page wording | "was given a thank-you medal by" your charity | "finished the" event and year |
| Set up from | Events, then Set up awards | Events, then Add an event |
When to choose awards
Choose awards if:
- there's no single day, start line or finish
- you want to write something different on each person's medal
- you want to send a medal the moment someone hits their target
- you'll thank people all year round, a few at a time
Awards run by the calendar year. Each award has its own medal design, so you can have "Thank you", "Volunteer of the year" and "Fundraising hero" side by side. See Setting up awards.
When to choose an event
Choose an event if:
- everyone took part in the same thing on a set date
- you have a list of who finished, from your registration system or on the day
- you'd like each year of the event to be its own edition, with its own races
Events can be untimed, so a walk doesn't need a stopwatch: everyone on your list counts as finished unless you mark them otherwise. See Charity walks and challenge events.
Can I use both?
Yes. Many charities run a sponsored walk as an event, then use awards to thank the volunteers who marshalled it and the top fundraisers. Both sit side by side on your Events page, and both show up in Analytics.
Good to know
- You can't turn an awards event into a race event, or the other way round. If you chose the wrong one, set up the other and carry on there.
- Both kinds of medal are signed, have a verify page and are kept for life in the holder's trophy cabinet.
- Under-13s get a private medal held by a parent or guardian either way.
Related guides
Still stuck?
Email support@breaktape.com and tell us which guide you were reading.