The Charles Bronfman Prize - Nominations App

The Charles Bronfman Prize is awarded yearly to a humanitarian who has significantly improved the world. Prior to my involvement with the project, the application was paper-based and required extraordinary time and resources by the prize directors to manage each application cycle. The Charles Bronfman Prize reached out to me to see if the a comprehensive, digital solution could be developed.

Requirements

The nomination application requires three types of parties: the nominator, the nominee and the references. A nominator sponsors a nominee and the nominee requires two references to vouch for them. Each of these parties requires their own unique form experience and only after all the information has been completed can the nominator officially submit the nomination. Automated emails are sent to the respective parties when their involvement is required. After the application cycle is closed, judges are able to view the applications as a PDF.

Approach

Due to the requirements, a custom solution needed to be developed that codified the application logic (an off-the-shelf form builder wouldn't cut it). ProcessWire is excellent at handling users, permissions, custom fields and form logic, therefore it was used as the platform. Unlike a regular website, the system was developed so that the involved parties could manage their data directly in the backend / admin portion of ProcessWire. A custom theme was developed for the backend to match The Charles Bronfman Prize branding and the appropriate permissions were set so that users can only focus on their own data.

Users do not need to log in and never need to make an account. Instead, a special link is provided that takes them directly to their application which they can access at any time. Form data is automatically and continuously saved to prevent potential data loss. Mailgun was used as the email engine.

Prize administrators have a custom dashboard that allows them to see the progress of all applications in real time. Administrators can generate transactional emails to nominators, nominees and references reminding them to complete their application. After the application is complete, the system also sends out rejection emails and allows nominees to preserve their data for the following year should they decide to apply again.