Chapter of the Year Toolkit

Congratulations on your Chapter of the Year (COTY) Award!

SCORE’s Chapter of the Year (COTY) Award is our highest annual recognition, celebrating chapters that excel in client service, volunteer engagement, community impact, and sustainability.

This toolkit will help you share your achievement and leverage the benefits of this recognition, including increased publicity at the local, regional, and national levels, as well as stronger community engagement with local organizations and stakeholders.

Let’s work together to celebrate your chapter’s outstanding contributions and the meaningful impact you’re making in your community!

COTY Winners and Resources

• List of Winners: View this year’s national, regional, and district winners here.
• Program History: Learn about the selection criteria and program details on the Chapter of the Year Program page. 
• COTY Badges: Download National, Regional, and District COTY badges here. 

Promoting Your Achievement

To maximize the impact of promoting their Chapter of the Year (COTY) achievement, follow the below marketing timeline to build momentum and ensure consistent messaging across platforms:

1. Website: Update immediately after the announcement of your award.
2. Email: Send within 1–2 days of the website update to drive traffic.
3. Press Release: Distribute within 1 week to leverage the momentum from email promotions.
4. Social Media: Begin posting 1–2 days after the press release and continue promoting over several weeks to sustain visibility.

Local Website Feature

Your chapter’s website is a central hub for clients, volunteers and community partners. Updating it first ensures that visitors see the news as soon as other promotions (like emails or press releases) drive traffic to the site.

If your chapter is in the Website Centralization Program or has a local budget, you can request the COTY badge to be added to your chapter’s about us or our impact page via Ecropolis’s ticketing system. It will look something like the below example with SCORE SE Wisconsin:

If interested in highlighting this award further on your local site, consider adding it to a local impact page like SCORE Greater Seattle has done: https://www.score.org/seattle/about/our-impact.  

Email Draft

Email is a direct and personal way to inform clients, volunteers, and local partners about this achievement. It sets the stage for broader promotions and strengthens connections with your existing audience.

A Constant Contact template titled “Chapter of the Year Awards Announcement” will be added to all COTY winner accounts. Before sending this email, please make sure to fill in the required information about your local chapter. 

Local impact stats or a success story would be a great addition to this email as well. (Please note, the new 2024 state-based impact stats will be available mid-March if you would like to wait until then to distribute this email to your client base). 

Press Release Template 

A press release helps you reach a broader audience, including local media, business leaders, and stakeholders. It can attract attention from those who might not be in your immediate network.

The following press release template was created for your chapter to distribute to local news stations to further promote this local chapter's achievement: COTY Award Press Release Template. Customize this template with your chapter’s specific achievements.

Once complete, send this press release to local newspapers, online publications, and relevant community outlets. Consider highlighting the press release on your website and sharing it on social media.

Check out some examples of national and regional press releases below. 

• SCORE SE Wisconsin Receives National Chapter of the Year (COTY) Award for Outstanding Service to Small Businesses 
• SCORE Central Maine 2023 Regional COTY Press Release
• SCORE Cleveland 2022 COTY Press Release 

If you have any questions about how to create or distribute a press release, please email media@score.org.

Social Media 

Social media amplifies your message to a larger, more diverse audience and keeps the excitement alive through consistent engagement. It also allows for creative storytelling and interaction with followers.

An updated library of content within SOCi has been made available for your use as organic social media posts to help celebrate this amazing achievement! We are providing assets, templates and social media posts through SOCi for Social Media Chairs to schedule at their convenience. 

Organic Posts on Social Media

Instructions on accessing the library are below, but feel free to customize the copy and add a local touch. 

View the SOCi Knowledge Base guide here OR follow these instructions:

1. Login to SOCi at https://app.meetsoci.com/ 
2. Navigate to Social > Libraries > "Chapter of the Year Toolkit”
3. Choose a message you want to schedule.
4. Click the calendar icon next to the message. The message selected will then open as a pop-up for you to make any final edits.
5. Scroll down and click the check box next to “Schedule” in order to add this message for a future date on your Scheduler.
6. Then, choose the date and timing that you want your message to be published and click “Schedule Post” to add this message to your calendar.