Awards Nominations

Thank you for your interest in the SAVMA Awards nominations and submission process. Nominations are open annually during July.

Step 1. Review the SAVMA Volunteer Awards Nomination Guidelines before you submit your nomination>>>>>
Step 2. Verify your nominee is qualified for the Award you are submitting. If you are not a Volunteer Engagement Professional, it is ok to email savmatucson@gmail.com with your questions. We can make recommendations.
Step 3. Write your nomination in a Word Document so you can copy and paste it into the online form. Remember to write in the third person.
Step 4. Submit your nomination.

SAVMA Awards 2027 Event Details

Friday, January 22, 2027 | 8-10 AM at the Tucson Convention Center
Expected attendance of 500
6 – major awards presented
Dozens of Community Service Recognitions
One amazing nationally recognized keynote on a topic relating to volunteerism!

Award Categories

Volunteer of the Year Award: Recognizes an individual whose direct line of service volunteerism to one or more charitable causes improved the quality of life in Southern Arizona, demonstrated leadership in service, and whose exceptional volunteerism encouraged others to take volunteer leadership roles in the community.
Exceptional Governance Volunteerism Award: Recognizes an individual whose service as a governance or advisory council volunteer to one or various charitable causes improved the quality of life in Southern Arizona, demonstrated leadership in service, and whose exceptional volunteerism encouraged others to take volunteer leadership roles in the community.
Corporate or Group Volunteerism Award: The award recognizes a corporation or group with a demonstrated record of outstanding commitment through volunteerism. It creates a corporate volunteerism culture that encourages and motivates employees/participants to take leadership roles, make an impact through service, and be involved in the community.
Exceptional Volunteer Program Award: This award recognizes an exceptional volunteer program that strategically engages and recognizes volunteers, prioritizes time and talent investments, and advances the organization’s mission, programs, and operations in measurable ways.
Youth Volunteer Award (Individual or Group): Recognizes service by an individual or group under 18 years old (at the time of service) who demonstrated outstanding commitment to the community through volunteerism, development of charitable programs, and leadership in the advancement of the nonprofit sector.
Exceptional Volunteer Engagement Professional Award: Recognizes a Volunteer Engagement Professional (VEP)* whose work exemplifies leadership, competence, achievement, ethical standards, and commitment to the volunteer engagement profession. SAVMA membership is required and must be active at the time of nomination. *Titles may vary, but SAVMA defines a VEP as an individual who spends at least 50% of their time and/or resources on volunteer engagement duties.

Awards Nominations Selection Process

Event Committee Members nominate an Independent Panel of Judges to comprise the Selection Committee. The Selection Committee Members are Community Leaders with personal and professional experience and commitment to volunteerism. They represent a diverse cross-section of the community. Judges use a rubric to evaluate and score nominations independently over two weeks. Final selection is made at a meeting where judges provide feedback, vote, and officially select the awardee using their independent scores as a guide. Selection Chair(s) coordinate and oversee the process but do not vote for awardees. Nominators and their awardees are notified before awardees are announced publicly on September 10th.

Selected awardees must submit a short biography and high-resolution photos, including one headshot and images depicting the nominee in service. Information from nominations may be released to the media and elected officials.

SAVMA Volunteer Awards 2027

SAVMA Volunteer Awards Event Details
Date: January 22, 2027 | 8:00 AM | Tucson Convention Center

Nomination Details

Nominations are open from Now–July 31 at 5:00 PM. The deadline is absolute.
Nominations are only accepted online.
Responses are limited to 1,600 characters, approximately 250 words per section, and should be written in third-person narrative.
Direct questions to the Nomination Chair at SAVMATucson@gmail.com.

Submission Information

Have you verified eligibility by reviewing previous winners and awards guidelines?(Required)

Be mindful that board members are not eligible for the Volunteer of the Year Award.

Yes

Nominator Name(Required)

First Last

Nominator Phone(Required)

Nominator Email Address(Required)

Relation to Nominee(Required)

Nominee Information

Nominee Name(Required)

Put the name of the group or organization in the first name field and N/A for last name.

First Last

Nominee Volunteer Title(Required)

Volunteer is not a title, unless employee is also a title in the organization. Describe the role of the position. Group volunteers is also not acceptable.

Nominee Phone(Required)

Nominee Email Address(Required)

This is needed for event coordination details and not for notification of the award selection.

For Group or Corporate Submissions Point of Contact Name

Length of Service (with nominating charity/service org):(Required)

High-Definition Photo (PNG or JPG)

This field is not mandatory at the time of submission, but will be so if selected. Not having a photo will prevent press and promotion activities, which are critical to the success of the Awards Event.

Accepted file types: png, jpg, Max. file size: 512 MB.

Nominee Service Organization’s Mission(Required)

Award Category(Required)

Volunteer of the Year Award

Recognizes an individual whose direct line of service volunteerism to one or more charitable causes improved the quality of life in Southern Arizona, demonstrated leadership in service, and whose exceptional volunteerism encouraged others to take volunteer leadership roles in the community.

Additional eligibility: Selected individual awardees must pass or have passed a background check through their volunteer organization. Nominations are accepted from Medicaid-mandated volunteer service organizations, for-profit hospices, and hospitals.

Describe how the nominee’s volunteerism positively impacted the community through the organization or cause they served.(Required)