Frequently Asked Questions
Q. What is the Small Town Civic Volunteer Award?
A. STACVA is a nationwide recognition and award program designed for two purposes. The first is to shine a spotlight on the increasing challenge faced by many smaller localities in finding volunteers for critical public service roles. The second is to recognize individual civic volunteers and volunteer organizations for outstanding service. The program is available to small communities and counties with populations of 25,000 or less.
Q. What are examples of public service volunteers?
A. Civic volunteers are unpaid* residents who fill critical roles in municipalities and counties. They include local government board and council members, volunteer firefighters, emergency medical technicians, and advisory committee members supporting libraries, parks and recreation services planning and zoning, among others.
Q. When will the STACVA program take place?
A. STACVA will officially launch on July 15. Nominations must be submitted by October 15. The announcement of winners and the presentation of awards will be made on or about November 15.
Q. Who is sponsoring STACVA?
A. The Small Town America Civic Volunteer Award program is being underwritten by CivicPlus. CivicPlus is the nation’s leading technology platform for local government, working with over 4,000 local governments, including municipalities, counties and municipal departments. For more information on the company visit www.CivicPlus.com.
Q. What inspired the creation of this program?
A. CivicPlus CEO Brian Rempe described his company’s inspiration this way: “Over the past 20 years working with local governments, we have seen first-hand that the most successful cities, towns and counties are powered by passionate people who want to make a difference in the place they call home. We are hoping to accomplish two critical goals with this initiative: bring attention to the need for more civic volunteerism, and recognize those who have found solutions to declining participation and are building powerful community networks focused on civic engagement”.
Q. Are other organizations supporting this program?
A. Yes, there are several major co-sponsors of the STACVA program. They include:
- National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC)
- National Association of Counties (NACo)
- National Association of Towns and Townships (NATaT)
- Points of Light (the world’s largest nonprofit dedicated to volunteerism and community service).
- Main Street America
Q. What will STACVA winners receive?
A. CivicPlus will provide cash awards of $20,000, $10,000 and $5,000 respectively to the local governments represented by the top three national honorees. Localities represented by the top 100 nominees may qualify to receive free volunteer management modules and 12 months of free ongoing support services from CivicPlus.
Q. Must our local government agree to accepting a volunteer management module in order to participate in the STACVA program?
A. No.
Q. How many STACVA nominations may my local government make?
A. Local governments may submit up to two STACVA entries each.
Q. Who is administering the STACVA program?
A. The Barton Russell Group - the Nation’s leading small town and rural America consultancy – will manage the program. BRG has built, managed and/or consulted on major community engagement projects, programs and services for Fortune 500 companies and others seeking to do good, while doing well. BRG was founded by Bart Russell, a nationally recognized expert on “everything small town” (its 32,000 communities and 120 million people). One former U.S. President called him "the voice of small town America”.
Q. Who can nominate a volunteer(s) and how must nominations be submitted?
A. All local government officials and/or employees are eligible to submit STACVA nominations. Nominators must certify that they have informed their locality's chief elected or administrative offical of their submission(s). STACVA applications require an essay describing the outstsnding volunteer service or retention/recruitment initiatives developed and/or carried out by nominees.
Q. What constitutes a “citizen (public service) organization” for purposes of this award?
A. Any board, committee, council, commission, trust, or related entity that is officially sanctioned by a general purpose local government to do work on behalf of that authority. It could be, for example, a town committee/advisory committee, a library board, or an entire fire department that accomplished something powerful as a team.
Q. What criteria will be used to judge nominations?
A. Judging metrics for evaluating nominations include: the degree to which a nominee’s service has made a significant, lasting impact on their locality; and, whether their service contributions would be considered above and beyond the “call to duty." The quality of the essay and the details of the nominee's service are important elements in the judging.
Q. Who will serve as judges for the contest?
A. STACVA nominations will be judged by senior professionals from the Barton Russell Group, each of whom have high-level, related experiences in their capacities as: the president of a major, national foundation; a senior performance consultant for Fortune 100 companies, state agencies and nonprofit organizations; an examiner for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and a fellow of the Juran Institute; and, the CEO/Presidents of national organizations representing local government leaders from small towns.
Q. Who do I contact if I have a question, and how?
A. Please use this link to email us questions: Contact Us.
Q. Will I receive an acknowledgement when my nomination has been received?
A. Yes, every STACVA application will be acknowledged so nominators know their nominations have been received and are being considered.
Q. How will winners of the contest be notified?
A. The top 100 STACVA honorees will be notified via email prior to the public announcement on or about November 15.
Q. What are the contest rules?
Here is a link to the Legal Notices.
Q. Does the STACVA program have a policy on diversity and inclusion?
A. Yes. Diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging are core tenets of the Small Town America Civic Volunteer Awards. We believe that citizens of every race, ethnicity, gender identity and background are vital members of our communities, with something unique and meaningful to contribute. Further, STACVA's organizers are committed to ensuring the equitable consideration of all nominess, regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender identity and background, so that our winners respresent the diverse makeup of our communities.
* Some local governments provide public service volunteers with small stipends, money to reimburse them for travel and other modest forms of financial support. These are not considered “pay” for the purpose of the STACVA contest.