Recognition Library
Everything a company, nonprofit or event organizer needs to choose awards, word them, run the program and present them
Short answer
This library collects every guide we have written for people who buy awards for an organization rather than a race. It is arranged by the job you are doing: choosing an award to order, deciding what it should say and who should get it, or planning the program, the date and the ceremony around it. Every page is written by a company that manufactures awards in acrylic, wood and metal, with no minimum order and a design proof before anything is produced.
Start with the job you are doing
Most recognition questions fall into one of three groups, and the pages below are sorted the same way.
- You know what you need and want to order it. Go to the award pages: by workplace award, by nonprofit and community award, or by company event.
- You are deciding what to give, who gets it and what it says. Go to the ideas, categories and wording guides.
- You are planning a program, a recognition date or a ceremony. Go to the planning guides.
If the awards are for a race, a series or a car show instead, start at industries or event award planning.
Workplace awards
The awards companies order most, each with what to put on it and how it is usually presented. For the overview of how we work with companies, see corporate awards.
- Employee recognition awards: Custom awards for the people a company wants to single out, from one piece to a full program.
- Employee of the month awards: Perpetual wall plaques, keeper awards and how the two work together.
- Employee of the year awards: The one award a company gives once a year, and what makes it look the part.
- Retirement plaques: Plaques and awards that mark a career, built around the wording you choose.
- Leadership awards: Awards for managers, executives, board chairs and community leaders.
- Sales awards: Top performer, President’s Club and region of the year awards.
- Customer service awards: Recognition for support, front-desk and service teams.
- Team awards: Matching awards for a whole team, with each person’s name on their own piece.
Also in this group: years of service awards, safety milestone awards and awards for remote and hybrid teams.
Nonprofit, sponsor and community awards
Recognition for the people an organization depends on but does not employ.
- Donor recognition plaques: Individual donor plaques and giving-level sets for nonprofits and campaigns.
- Sponsor plaques: Thank-you plaques and awards carrying the sponsor’s logo.
- Volunteer awards: Awards, plaques and pins for volunteers of the year and long-serving helpers.
- Military plaques: Farewell, retirement and appreciation plaques for service members and units.
- Police and firefighter plaques: Retirement, service and appreciation plaques for departments.
Company events, leagues and tournaments
Awards for the outing, the league and the cook-off: the events where a trophy is half the fun.
- Golf tournament trophies: Company outings and charity scrambles: winners, contest holes and sponsor awards.
- Fantasy football trophies: League champion perpetuals, keeper awards and the last-place trophy.
- Chili cook-off trophies: Judges’ choice, people’s choice and the categories in between.
- Cornhole trophies: Tournament and league awards for company picnics and fundraisers.
- Bowling trophies: League, tournament and company bowling night awards.
- Pickleball trophies and medals: Bracket awards and medals for tournaments, leagues and club events.
- Spelling bee trophies: Champion, runner-up and participant awards for school and district bees.
- Pinewood derby trophies: Speed and design awards for pack and district races.
- Ugly sweater trophies: The office holiday party trophy, with categories to go with it.
- Costume contest trophies: Halloween and themed-party awards, with a category list.
Also in this group: perpetual trophies, participation awards and funny award ideas.
Team sports trophies and medals
Awards for leagues, tournaments, school teams and races, designed around the team rather than picked from a catalog. Motorsports and action sports have their own pages under industries, and soccer is covered in soccer trophies.
- Basketball trophies: League, tournament and end-of-season awards designed around the team.
- Football trophies: Youth league, flag football and banquet awards.
- Hockey trophies: Tournament champions, league awards and team keepsakes.
- Baseball trophies: League champions, tournament awards and season awards for every player.
- Softball trophies: Tournament, league and company softball awards.
- Volleyball trophies: Club tournament, school and league awards.
- Cheer trophies: Competition placings, squad awards and banquet awards.
- Wrestling trophies and medals: Bracket awards by weight class, plus team and outstanding-wrestler awards.
- Tennis trophies: Club championship, tournament and league awards.
- Custom race medals: Finisher and placing medals for 5Ks, fun runs and charity races.
- Sports award categories and names: Every award a team or league gives, with names and criteria.
- Coach gift ideas: What a team can give a coach, from a signed card to a plaque.
- Senior night gift ideas: Gifts and keepsakes for graduating players, by sport and budget level.
Ideas, categories and wording
Guides for deciding what to recognize, what to call the award and what to write.
- Employee appreciation quotes: Original lines short enough to engrave, sorted by what you are thanking someone for.
- Employee appreciation messages: What to write in a card, an email or on an award, with examples to adapt.
- Employee appreciation gifts vs awards: When a gift is the right call, when an award is, and how to combine them.
- Employee of the month ideas: Ways to run and present the award so it does not go stale by month six.
- Employee of the month nomination examples: Sample nominations by role, plus a form you can copy.
- How to run an employee of the month program: Criteria, voting, eligibility rules and the mistakes that end programs.
- Work superlatives: “Most likely to” awards for the office that stay kind.
- Employee award categories and names: A full list of award categories and what to call each one.
- Employee recognition ideas: Ideas sorted by effort, from a same-day thank-you to an annual awards night.
- Peer-to-peer recognition: How coworker-nominated recognition works, with examples.
Wording by occasion: plaque wording ideas, retirement, appreciation, employee awards and memorial.
Programs, dates and ceremonies
Guides for the planning around the award: the program it belongs to, the date it marks and the event where it is handed over.
- How to build an employee recognition program: The pieces of a program, in the order to decide them.
- Employee Appreciation Day: When it is, where it came from and how companies mark it.
- Employee Appreciation Day ideas: Ideas for offices, shift-based sites and remote teams.
- Boss’s Day ideas: When it is, what is appropriate and what a team can give together.
- Administrative Professionals Day ideas: When it is and how to recognize the people who keep an office running.
- Volunteer appreciation ideas: National Volunteer Week and year-round ways to thank volunteers.
- Workplace recognition calendar: The recognition dates in a year, and when to start planning each.
- Award ceremony script: A full emcee script to adapt, from welcome to closing.
- Award ceremony program: Running order, timings and a printed program template.
- How to present an award: A structure for the presenter’s speech, with sample speeches.
- Award acceptance speech examples: Short speeches to adapt for work, volunteer and sports awards.
- How to write an award nomination: What judges look for, a structure to follow and worked examples.
Also in this group: end-of-season awards.
Materials and how awards are made
If the question is about the object itself, these existing guides cover it.
- Trophy parts and award types: what each kind of award is called.
- Acrylic vs glass vs crystal: how the materials differ, and which we build in.
- Trophy size and layout guide: how much text fits on what size.
- All buying guides: materials, printing, logos, cost factors and bulk orders.
Ordering, online or in person
However the awards are chosen, the order itself works the same way: send the details, approve a proof, and we build and ship.
- Trophies in Carson City, Reno and Lake Tahoe: Our shop in Carson City: address, hours and what local customers order.
- Order trophies online: What to send, how the proof works and shipping anywhere in the country.
Recognition Library FAQs
Is there a minimum order for corporate awards?
No. There is no minimum order, so one retirement plaque is as normal an order as a full annual program.
What do you need from us to start?
The award names, how many pieces, the wording even if it is rough, and any logo. We lay everything out on a design proof and you approve it before anything is produced.
What are the awards made of?
Acrylic, wood and metal, cut, layered and printed in our own shop. We do not sell glass or crystal awards.
Can you repeat the same award next year?
Yes. Reordering a design keeps a recurring award identical from year to year, with only the name and date changing.
Do you ship to more than one office?
Yes. We ship nationwide, and a program can be split across locations. Tell us the addresses when you request a quote.
Send the details and we will design it
Send the award names, quantities, wording and any logo. We lay it out on a design proof, and you can change anything before it is produced.
There is no minimum order, so a single award is as normal an order as a full program.
