How Many Awards Should I Give Away?
- Training:
100 employees
4 x 1-week Challenges, played across 2 months
- Instant Win Giveaways (daily): $10 Gift Cards x 10% of users in each of four Challenges = $10 x 100(10%) x 4 = $400
- Leaderboard Prizes (per Challenge): $50 prize for 1st place, $35 for 2nd place, $20 for 3rd place (for each Challenge) = ($50+$35+$20) x 4 = $420
- Sweepstakes Giveaway (1 per Challenge): $150 Prize for randomly selected winner (x 4 challenges) = $150 x 4 = $600
PRIZING BUDGET FOR EXAMPLE #1 = $1,420
- Customer Education:
10,000 customers
17 x 1-week Challenges, played across 1 year
- Instant Win Giveaways (daily): $5 Gift Cards x 50 per day (x 3 days per Challenge) in each of 17 challenges = $5 x 50(3) x 17 = $12,750
- Leaderboard Prizes (per Challenge): $50 prize for 1st place, $40 for 2nd place, $30 for 3rd place, $20 for 4th place, $10 for 5th place (for each Challenge) = ($50+$40+$30+$20+$10) x 17 = $2,550
- Sweepstakes Giveaway (1 per Challenge): $250 Prize for randomly selected winner (x 17 Challenges) = $250 x 17 = $4,250
- Grand Prize Giveaway (1 per calendar quarter): $2,000 Prize package for random winner (x 4 quarters) = $2,000 x 4 = $8,000
PRIZING BUDGET FOR EXAMPLE #2 = $27,550
- Event Engagement:
30 attendees
1 challenge at an event, played across 2 days
- Instant Win Giveaways (daily): $20 Gift Cards x 3 per day (x 2 days per Challenge) = $20 x 3 x 2 = $120
- Leaderboard Prizes (per Challenge): $50 prize for 1st place = ($50) x 1 Challenge = $50
- Sweepstakes Giveaway (1 per Challenge): $100 Prize for randomly selected winner = $100 = $100
PRIZING BUDGET FOR EXAMPLE #3 = $270
By adding the above prizing inducements to your program, you provide attractive "extrinsic" rewards that enhance the attractiveness of your Program, particularly in the early phases.
For certain userbases, such as the general public (as opposed to "captive" users such as employees or students), offering a $10 giftcard for the first X number of enrollments is a way to drive more enrollments, before users have yet experienced the value of your Program. Similarly, it is wise to consider providing incentives of between $20 - $50 for participation in pre and post surveys, if your program needs that kind of data. This ensures the participation you need to make your measurable program statistically significant.
The point of incentives and prizing is not to drive people to learn or take actions -- it is to provide them with a token of respect for their time invested in your Program experience.