Nomination Portals 101: The Why and How of Online Nominations

Last Updated on April 27, 2026 by Hannah Seeley

With a tool like the Survey & Ballot Systems nomination platform, setting up online nominations is a breeze. You just need to:

1. Build a pipeline of potential candidates
2. Announce nominations six weeks in advance
3. Set up a digital application platform with SBS
4. Securely gather nominations
5. Review applications
6. Generate reports and certifications

You want a good number of nominations and candidates for your elections. Nominations strengthen representation and ensure your board gets the most dedicated, qualified members.

Still, your staff has limited resources and is working on tight deadlines, and building your leader pipeline isn’t always a top priority. But having too few candidates or frequent uncontested elections is a missed opportunity to bring in fresh ideas and new voices.

Candidate interest starts long before nomination season, and your organization needs to develop leaders long before the ballot is due. The best way to attract more candidates while reducing administrative stress is to take the nomination process online.

A nomination portal automates repetitive tasks and provides the flexibility both admins and candidates deserve. Learn why a secure nomination portal is such a game-changer, plus the six-step process for modernizing the nomination process.

What is a Nomination Portal and Why Do I Need One?

A nomination portal digitizes the traditional, paper-based nomination processes organizations have used for decades. But instead of managing manual paper submissions, spreadsheets, and emails, you manage every part of the process in one secure online system.

A candidate nomination system like Survey & Ballot Systems (SBS) takes the entire nomination process online. As an admin, you can easily set deadlines, upload welcome messages, and monitor submissions in real time. Interested candidates can complete their easy online nominations any time, anywhere, without the hassle of paperwork.

Aside from making the process more convenient, a nomination portal also helps:

• Save time and resources: Your staff is already busy. They just don’t have time to process paper nominations or chase after candidates. Going online reduces the hassle of encouraging and collecting nominations, so your team can focus resources where they matter most.
• Protect auditability: You need to run a secure, compliant election. Paper-based nominations make audits a nightmare, but a candidate nomination platform provides a single source of truth and professional, final results from SBS experts.
• Ensure visibility: How many candidates do you have right now? Where are they in the nomination process? Traditional processes can’t answer these questions right away, but a nomination portal can.
• Speed up communication: Ensure everyone gets the same message at the right time. For example, our platform can send personalized or automated emails to nominees to keep the process moving smoothly.

Whether you’re trying to do more with a modest budget or just need an easier election process, digitizing nominations is a win for candidates, staff, and your board.

The 6-Step Process for Using a Candidate Nomination Platform

Transitioning to an online nomination system is a no-brainer for resource-strapped organizations, but how do you actually manage the system? Follow these steps to maximize both nominations and the value of your online nomination portal.

1. Prepare Potential Candidates Early

Uncontested elections shouldn’t be the norm for your organization. Still, an estimated 10% of government elections have zero certified candidates to choose from, and 40% of local parties can’t identify prospective candidates. These stats are for government elections and not associations, but they show just how tricky it can be to build a pipeline of qualified, trustworthy leaders.

You can’t expect to find good candidates with a few weeks’ notice. Strong elections start long, long before you even open nominations. In fact, successful associations use nomination management software to stay in touch with potential candidates year-round. SBS makes this easy with built-in email tools. You can communicate with all applicants or narrow your outreach to those who have or haven’t submitted yet.

Instead of scrambling at the last minute to find qualified leaders, identify people with potential and engage with them months before an election.

2. Communicate About Nominations At Least 6 Weeks In Advance

Once you have a healthy pipeline of potential candidates, it’s time to announce a call for nominations. You should give candidates six weeks minimum (bylaws permitting) to submit their applications before selecting a ballot.

That may seem like a long time, but this timeframe allows people to weigh the pros and cons of candidacy, collect petition signatures (if they’re required), and write thoughtful submissions for you to review.

It’s also smart to connect with potential candidates through different platforms, especially if you’re trying to gather more diverse submissions. Announce your call for nominations through social media, an email newsletter, your website, or through direct mail.

3. Set Up the Application

You don’t need an IT degree or coding knowledge to use the SBS portal. We created the platform to help you create polished, personalized applications without any technical headaches.

It takes just a few minutes to get up and running. In the SBS platform, you:

1. Create an account: Enter your name and email, then set a password.
2. Create nominations: Under each election, which SBS has already set-up for you, you can create separate offices that candidates can apply for. Customize questions with open-ended responses, multiple choice, checkboxes, or rich-text fields. SBS also enforces word count limits to keep the application manageable.
3. Write welcome messages: Write short welcome messages that appear when candidates log into the dashboard.

Before going live, you can also set up your email workflows. The SBS nomination management software allows you to segment messages, so you can send messages to:

• All users
• Only those who have submitted nominations
• Only those who haven’t submitted yet

It’s as easy as plugging in your election and position data. Everything is intuitive and user-friendly, even if you don’t have any technical skills.

4. Securely Gather Nominations

After the candidate nomination period officially opens, it’s time to start gathering submissions. Fortunately, a nomination portal makes this a breeze.

The SBS portal simplifies data collection by allowing members to self-register, complete easy online nominations, and upload any required documents or petitions. The platform even supports electronic petition signing, which candidates can share via a secure link. You can also verify that these signatures are legitimate during the petitioning process, which means no more scrambling at the last minute to collect valid signatures.

Administrators don’t have to wonder how the submission process is going, either. You can track submissions in real time, view progress bars for each candidate, and send email reminders to those who haven’t finished. Flexible scheduling lets you send emails in real time or queue them for later.

5. Review Applications

The real work begins when nominations close. The SBS online nomination system consolidates all application data, candidate bios, and supporting documents into one secure dashboard. We standardize all data fields, so you can make a true apples-to-apples comparison between nominees.

Having all files in one place eliminates back-and-forth emails and the risk of missing documents. With one click, administrators can export applications or download full candidate profiles for review.

6. Receive Results

After your organization’s nomination period ends, SBS compiles the results and generates a comprehensive nomination report. It includes an overview letter, a submission summary, and separate sections for partial, complete, and all nominations. This documented audit trail is especially valuable for organizations that require clear, defensible records for compliance or internal review purposes.

We Take the Stress Out of Nominations

A modern nomination portal is much more convenient for members, candidates, and admins. It allows candidates to toss their name in the ring any time, from anywhere, without the hassle of paper-based processes.

Digitizing nominations can be a game-changer for your organization, but you need the right platform in your corner. The SBS nomination system streamlines the entire process, saving administrators valuable time from setup through final reporting.

Its simple fields and drag-and-drop functionality make it a breeze to hold your first digital election.

Elevate your next election: See how SBS simplifies nominations in a user-friendly platform designed for transparency.

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