Get Started with Challenge and Prize Competitions

Interested in running a challenge and prize competition, but don’t know where to start? Well, here are all the resources GSA’s Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies has to offer:

1. Challenge.gov. Put your agency’s challenges on this government-wide listing and learn about more than 300 public prizes run over the past four years. You can filter by agency and challenge type, such as software, ideas, designs. Built and hosted by GSA, you can also use it to run crowdsourcing competitions end to end. This is available for federal agencies at no cost. On-demand webinar: Crowdsource Ideas with Competition Platform

2. DigitalGov.gov. Step-by-step toolkits on how to run many types of challenges:

   • Software/apps
   • Creative: video/photo/poster
   • Technical demonstration and market stimulation
   • Ideation

This includes details on the policies and legal authorities, like the America COMPETES Act, under which agencies run their competitions.

3. Digital Gov University. A robust resource of archived training and upcoming events. Some of the most popular webinars are:

   • Metrics and measurements
   • What drives competitors
   • Hack-a-thons from start to finish

4. Social Media. Follow @ChallengeGov on Twitter and check out our Facebook page. You can use these to learn about public prizes and we can help promote your agency’s challenges.

5. GSA Schedule 541 4G for Challenge and Competition Services. Sixteen vendors who can help you run public prizes.

6. The Community of Practice email address: challenges@listserv.gsa.gov. This is a government only listserv, if you have questions you want to ask all the other agencies in the group. You’ll also receive email alerts about training, events, networking opportunities, and new reports and resources.

And the last resource is… the Challenge.gov team! Email us at challenge@gsa.gov if you would like to set up a consultation. We help with overall competition strategies, issues and needs, problem definition, metrics and measurements, access to guidance and policies, introductions among peers in the community of practice and more.