The Entry and Assessment Process
Annual Report Award
Entries are submitted through the Good Governance Awards website. Every entry then moves through the same three stage assessment before a winner is chosen in each category.
Who Can Enter
To enter, your organisation must be Irish, with its registered head office in the Republic of Ireland, and a not for profit with a social purpose objective. It must also be one of the following organisation types.
What to Submit
Two things make a complete entry:
- Entry form — Complete the entry form on the Good Governance Awards website.
- Annual report — Include a signed copy of your organisation's most recent Annual or Directors' Report and Financial Statements. No other supporting documentation is assessed at the screening and shortlisting stage; shortlisted organisations may be asked for more later.
NB: Nonprofits that produce separate annual reports and financial statements should submit both, otherwise they risk losing marks for areas not addressed in the single document. For Categories 3 to 7, these must be combined into a single document.
How Entries Are Assessed
Judging follows the criteria set out on the Judging Criteria page, applied consistently across three stages.
Annual reports that apply FRS 102 Section 1A and/or include abridged accounts will not progress beyond Stage 1 and are not eligible for the shortlist. Only full, unabridged financial statements can be considered.
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A panel of assessors scores every entry received before the closing date, using a customised score sheet and only the documents submitted with the entry.
What happens at this stage:
- Every entry received before the cut-off is scored against the published criteria
- Only the submitted documents are assessed, so organisations that keep their annual report and financial statements apart should send both
- The scores produce a long list in each category
- Organisations that are not long listed are told that their entry has not advanced
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A panel of accounting firms reviews the financial statements for compliance with the relevant accounting standards and with company law, where applicable.
What happens at this stage:
- The financial statements are checked against the relevant accounting standards
- Compliance with company law is reviewed where applicable
- The technical result is combined with the Stage 1 score to set the shortlist
- Long listed entries that do not make the shortlist are informed
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Three judges are assigned to each category and review the shortlisted entries against the same six areas used in Stage 1.
What happens at this stage:
- Judges weigh the quality, clarity and consistency of the story the annual report tells
- Scores and commentary from Stages 1 and 2 inform the final decision
- Judging is a desk based evaluation of what is published in the annual report and financial statements
- For Categories 6 and 7, judges look specifically at how the organisation communicates its impact on beneficiaries and how it has addressed the risks it faces
Your category is set by your organisation’s annual turnover. The same three stage assessment applies in every one of them.
The Award Categories
Ready to Enter the Award?
Entries are made online, through the Good Governance Awards website.