How it works
How nominations are considered
Every nomination is read by people, in context. There is no score to chase, and no single kind of giving that wins. Here is what reviewers look for, and what they set aside.
Three lenses
Reviewers consider each nomination through three lenses. A nominee does not need to be strong in all three; strength in one can be enough.
Time
How substantial and sustained the commitment was, weighed against the person’s age and what was needed of them. A teenager’s two years can carry real weight.
Talent
How a person used or shared what they have: skills, knowledge, lived experience, creativity, or plain practical ability.
Treasure
What the generosity made possible. A financial gift is not required, and money is not the measure.
What counts, and what doesn’t
- Reach can be broad or deep. Helping many people counts. So does making a profound difference for one person, or a small group.
- Contributions are considered in context, not by their size or how visible they were.
- Having more money, a public profile, or a professionally written nomination does not make someone more deserving.
What generosity can look like
A few illustrations. They are not a checklist, and a strong nomination does not need to resemble any of them.
- The crossing guard who knows every child on the corner by name, and notices the morning one of them stops coming.
- The retirees who spend Saturday mornings fixing donated bikes in a borrowed shed, so that getting to work never depends on the bus.
- The volunteers who run a weekly language circle at the library, where newcomers practise over tea and leave knowing a few more people.
- The neighbour who, after the water went down, organised the meals, the clean-up crews and the paperwork help that a flooded street could not manage alone.
- The donor who gave only after listening, who asked the people doing the work what they needed, and funded that.