You can apply for the 2025 U.S. ProAdvisor Awards HERE or nominate a U.S. ProAdvisor HERE.
This past week, while attending Scaling New Heights, some ProAdvisors told me that they felt odd about nominating themselves for the ProAdvisor Awards, and so they didn't participate because nobody nominated them.
For them, and you, if you feel that way, you really shouldn't... self-nomination is 'the norm' not the exception. In fact, more than 70% of those earning recognition in our 2024 process were self-nominees.
Each year, I hear from ProAdvisors who were counting on a fellow ProAdvisor to nominate them; in fact, they had agreed to nominate each other. But many times, one of the two doesn't get the job done, leaving the other left out of the process when the nominations close without them having been nominated.
That is one big reason why in 2024 we closed 3rd-party nominations at least 30 days prior to the close of self-nominations. For 2025, there will be an even longer period during which self-nomination/applications can be finalized after 3rd-party nominations close.
Being nominated by a 3rd-party also requires the 'nominating individual' to have your details exactly correct. If they happen to transpose two characters in your email, our Bot will send an email to the address that has been posted in the nomination form... it won't review messages relative to 'invalid email' or a DNS server's rejection of the email. Thus, you risk the possibility of being left out of the process even when a well intentioned 3rd-party tries to nominate you but uses wrong contact information.
While it does happy, it's very rare, about 1 in every 3000 or fewer, where an individual mistakenly enters their own email. On the other hand, 3rd-party nominators mistakenly enter nominee emails "all the time."
So, nominating yourself is perfectly fine, it is the normal for our process and you are far more likely to ensure that you are in the running.
But self-nomination is also different than nomination by a 3rd-party. It eliminates a step... when you nominate yourself you don't have to wait for an email, or to receive a notification, you are immediately redirected from the nomination gateway into the formal application that will follow you all the way through the 2025 ProAdvisor Awards process.
This year's process has numerous changes*:
1) We will begin much earlier, almost 4-1/2 months earlier. That's why you will see us announce the opening of the 2025 Awards process before the middle of July, 2024.
2) The process will run much longer... longer for 3rd-parties to nominate ProAdvisors, and even longer for ProAdvisors to nominate themselves. Longer for you to fill our your application, and longer for votes to be cast.
3) Applicants will be able to start their information with the basics like contact information and minimum qualification information.
- Then save and close your application without submitting it...
- Re-open your application from your unique URL...
- Add information on training, credentials, certifications, app utilization and more on a come-n-go basis throughout the entire application period.
- You can easily report new information as you earn it rather than having to keep track and fill in all the details at year's end.
4) We also think you will like several new formatting changes made to our application.
- U.S. and International Applicants will no longer share the same application form. International applicants will be directed to a form specifically for them, and U.S. applicants (for Top 100 ProAdvisor and Top 25 Up-n-comer) will be directed to a form specifically for them.
- Another change precludes applicants from needing to go find each activity they participated in, or remember if a training session was one taken during a conference. Simply enter your training by type: Conferences, Workshops, Boot-camps/Symposiums, Webinars, and Classes (like Podcasts or virtual courses). You just need to know the 'what,' 'when' and 'how many (credits or hours) earned" for each activity you record; and in a few cases we will also ask you 'where'.
So, go ahead, just nominate yourself, save that 3rd-party from the task of doing so, and save yourself a step by beginning the application form as part of your self-nomination process.
Be on the lookout... Insightful Accountant will announce the opening of the 2025 ProAdvisor Awards process very soon.
* - more information regarding these, and other changes will be presented in the official Awards launch announcement later this year.