Honoring Outstanding CSR, ESG & DEI Initiatives

Entry Deadline: October 13, 2023 | Final Entry Deadline: October 27, 2023

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The PRNEWS Impact Communications Awards honor communicators who use their platforms to better their community and the global community at large. Winners are the campaigns, initiatives, and communicators—whether internal or external—that are advancing the fight for global change.

If your team executed a purpose-driven campaign that had a positive impact on the community you serve, we want to hear about it!

CATEGORIES

Impact Leaders

    • Ally Award

      Honors communicators who have used their platform to aid in improving the lives of marginalized persons and shown consistent commitment to diversity and inclusion causes.

      Corporate Citizen of the Year

      Honors the professional that has spearheaded corporate social responsibility efforts and has been a consistent advocate for social good within their organization.

      Corporate Citizenship Team of the Year

      Honors an in-house team that has built out impactful social good efforts and consistently worked to better the communities in which they work. 

      CSR Agency of the Year

      Honors agencies that have been leaders in CSR efforts and consistently worked to better their communities.

      Diverse-Owned Agency of the Year (NEW!)

      An innovative, minority-owned Agency that consistently champions social good initiatives and works to better their communities. 

      Diversity Team of the Year

      Honors diverse teams of professionals that have tackled some of the biggest challenges using innovative and effective PR strategies.

    • Employee Resource Group (NEW!)

      Celebrates an employee-led affinity group whose mission includes fostering community and advancing a culture of belonging.

      ESG Agency of the Year (NEW!)

      Honors agencies that have been leaders in ESG efforts and consistently worked to promote sustainability among their clients. 

      ESG Team of the Year (NEW!)

      Honors an in-house team that has driven impactful ESG efforts and enacted positive change. 

      Women's Empowerment Champion

      Honors the professional that empowers women both in professional settings and society through the promotion of gender equality and equality of access to opportunities, education, etc.

      Mentor of the Year

      Honors communicators and communications educators who have shown long standing commitment to the development and career trajectory of their mentees.

      Pioneer Award

      Honors communicators who have used their platforms to shed light on issues affecting their communities, made contributions to fostering diversity within their fields, shown commitment to the value of diversity, and worked toward promoting inclusive initiatives.

  • Communications & Campaigns

    • Activism Campaign

      This category honors the campaign that best showcases efforts to promote, impede, or direct social, political, economic, and/or environmental reform/societal change.

      Campaign by a Diverse-Owned Business

      Honors successful communications and PR campaigns executed by a diverse-owned business.

      Cause Branding Campaign

      Honors the best efforts to raise awareness, money, or consumer engagement in a social or environmental issue and campaigns in which the corporation’s brand is aligned with a cause, resulting in a nonprofit-corporate partnership that benefits the cause.

      CSR Event

      This category honors the best event centered around CSR practices and includes both the planning and promotion of the event.

      CSR on a Shoestring Budget

      The winner of this category will have conducted an impressive campaign all while working with a shoestring budget.

      DEIB+ Campaign

      Honors the best diversity and inclusion campaigns executed by PR agencies.

      DEIB+ Event

      This category honors an event centered around DEIB+ practices.

      DEIB Series

      Honors the efforts, initiatives or programs that promote diversity and inclusion within an organization.

      Disability Awareness Campaign (NEW!)

      Honors the campaign that best tackles issues surrounding disability awareness, including but not limited to: inclusive mobility, accessibility, and safety. 

      Education Campaign

      This category recognizes outstanding campaigns that promote education or literacy.

      ESG/Sustainability Campaign (NEW!)

      This category recognizes outstanding campaigns that discuss the environmental impact, the ability of future generations to meet their needs, energy, climate and/or preservation.

      Foreign Language Campaign

      This category honors the best campaign using a language other than English or that targets a none English speaking demographic.

      Fundraising Campaign

      Honors a campaign that used innovative methods to raise money for a cause. 

      Gender Equality Campaign (NEW!)

      Recognizing outstanding campaigns focused on creating equal access to resources and opportunities, regardless of gender. 

      Global Campaign (NEW!)

      Honored an outstanding campaign supporting a social-good objective on a global scale.

    • Human Rights Campaign

      This category recognizes outstanding campaigns centered on economic, social, cultural, civil and/or political human rights.

      Humanitarian Aid Campaign (NEW!)

      Awarded to an outstanding campaign focused on bringing aid and assistance to those affected by homelessness, natural or human-made disasters, war, famine, etc. 

      LGBTQIA2+ Campaign

      Honors successful communications and PR campaigns centered around the LGBTQIA2+ community.

      Mental Health Campaign (NEW!)

      Honors creative and impactful PR and communications campaigns focused on mental wellbeing. 

      Multi-Platform Campaign (NEW!)

      Awarded to an outstanding social good campaign that spanned multiple platforms. Entry should explain how content was uniquely applied for each platform and how it all worked in unison to achieve the campaign’s goals. 

      Philanthropy Communications

      Recognizing an organization with a successful charitable giving program(s) in which the communications of these efforts has improved the image and standing of the organization in the markets it serves.

      Pro-Bono Campaign

      Honors the best PR project done completely pro-bono.

      PSA

      This category spotlights the most impactful and creative Public Service Announcement. 

      Public Health/Safety Campaign (NEW!)

      This category recognizes outstanding campaigns that deal with health, health equity, safety and/or the general welfare of the public. 

      Racial Equality Campaign (NEW!)

      Awarded to an impactful campaign that sought to fight discrimination, prejudice and bias based on race in order to promote racial equality. 

      Social Good/Responsibility Campaign

      Social Good/Responsibility Campaign: The winner in this category will have effectively communicated to its various stakeholders worldwide the social actions it has taken— whether proactively or reactively—to improve society.

      Social Justice Campaign (NEW!)

      Awarded to a successful campaign that sought to fight social injustice based on race, class, gender, sexual orientation, age, or ability status. 

      Transparency or Trust Campaign/Initiative

      Honors the best campaign or initiative to increase trust among stakeholders and increase organizational transparency.

      Video Storytelling

      This category recognizes the best use of video to encourage social good and communicate with stakeholders.

  • Organizational Mission

    • Community Affairs

      This category encompasses a wide variety of corporate citizenship efforts, from prominent support for local causes to outstanding partnerships with national and international cause-related organizations. Include a synopsis of the initiative with the entry form along with information on any pertinent partnerships.

      Corporate-Community Partnership

      This category comprises corporations whose primary focus is forming/promoting/leveraging a partnership with a nonprofit, but which may also include promotion of your product and/or services and/or company and the advancement of your reputation as a corporate citizen.

      Corporate CSR Program

      The winner of this category will have demonstrated community impact through the implementation of a CSR program.

      Employee Development Initiative

      Honors the initiative that contributes to the long-term success of its employees. The winner of this award will have demonstrated success providing employee skill-building or training opportunities as well as success in helping employees perform better.

      Employee Volunteer Program

      This category recognizes outstanding communications and volunteer efforts of a company to support a social or community cause.

      DEIB+ Program

      Honors the efforts, initiatives or programs that promote diversity and inclusion within an organization.

    • Employee Volunteer Program

      This category recognizes outstanding communications and volunteer efforts of a company to support a social or community cause.

      Mentoring Program

      Honors programs that have helped future communicators advance in their careers. This award recognizes a successful diversity promotion program that has been in place for at least 2 years and has made a sustained and measurable impact on a company’s ratio of diverse employees.

      Recruiting Program

      Honors the efforts, initiatives or programs that recruit, develop and retain diverse talent.

      Scholarship Program

      The winner of this category will have demonstrated community impact through the implementation of a scholarship program.

      Sustainability/CSR Report

      This category recognizes outstanding CSR-and-sustainability reports for shareholders and other key constituents.

  • Deadlines & Entry Fees

    EARLY DEADLINE
    October 13, 2023

    FINAL DEADLINE
    October 27, 2023

    All entries must be submitted by October 27, 2023. Finalists will be notified in Spring 2024.

    Who's Eligible?

    The Impact Communications Awards are open to all agencies, corporations, nonprofits/associations, and government organizations. National and international entries are accepted. To be eligible, the campaigns or initiatives you are highlighting must have taken place (either in part or in full) one year from the entry deadline date.

    Entry Fees

    The price of each primary entry is $450. Any additional entries are $349. A late fee of $199 will be applied to entries submitted after October 13, 2023. Payment in full must accompany the entry. Entry fees are not refundable.

    Submission Requirements

    Campaigns

    All campaigns entered will be required to submit a synopsis describing campaign content including all of the following areas:*

    • What was the goal of the campaign?

    • What metrics set the stage for the work your campaign sought out to do?

    • What was the thinking and the strategic approach behind your work?

    • What actions did your campaign take or how was your campaign implemented?

    • How was success measured for this campaign? What metrics show that this campaign performed well and met its goals?

    • Supporting Materials can include anything that best represents the success of your work. Examples include:

      • Websites
      • ROI Stats
      • Media Coverage
      • Press Materials
      • Testimonials
      • Research Documents
      • Videos
      • Photos

    *NOTE: Each section of the application has a 300 word limit

    Individuals / Teams

    Nominees for individual and team/agency awards will be required to submit the following:*

    • Outline the reason why the nominee or team should be named a finalist.

    • Please provide some details of the nominee's role in the organization. Please include who the nominee reports to. How do they implement CSR or DEI in their work?

    • How has this person or team impacted their community? What metrics show their impact? How has this person shown dedication toward CSR or DEI?

    • Supporting Materials can include anything that best represents the success of your work. Examples include:

      • Websites
      • ROI Stats
      • Media Coverage
      • Press Materials
      • Testimonials
      • Research
      • Documents
      • Videos
      • Photos

    *NOTE: Each section of the application has a 300 word limit

    FAQs

    • The Impact Communications Awards are open to all individuals and teams worldwide at for-profit and non-profit organizations including corporations, PR agencies, public affairs and IR agencies, publicity firms, associations, government, and NGO teams, and sole practitioners.

    • We evaluate your entry based on creativity, innovation, sound planning implementation, results as well as proven impact on the communities targeted. Judges will be looking for strategic initiatives that further social good and will evaluate campaigns on the innovativeness of execution and idea as well as the impressiveness of the results.

    • How has this person or team impacted their community? What metrics show their impact? How has this person shown dedication toward CSR or DEI?

    • Emphasize the goals of your campaign, as well as your campaign’s achievements in your synopsis. Provide as many concrete and specific examples of success as possible, and explain clearly and succinctly your research, planning, implementation and measurement of the campaign. For people and team categories use metrics to specifically outline achievements and explain the impact of the person or team's overall work. Highlight the individual or teams unique qualities and how they use those to create landmark campaigns.