Prize competitions

A prize competition, also called a challenge, prize challenge, competition, and incentive prize, is a way for federal agencies to ask the public for help solving a problem. People or teams submit their ideas or solutions, and the agency gives prizes to the best ones. 

Are you a member of the public looking for active challenges? Visit USA.gov/challenges to find open challenges and submit your ideas for a chance to win.

 

Running a prize competition usually involves three simple steps:

  1. The agency announces a problem and invites the public to participate.
  2. Participants develop and submit their solutions.
  3. The agency reviews the submissions and awards prizes to the best solutions.

Prize competitions are different from grants and contracts. With grants or contracts, an agency chooses one organization to do specific work or research and pays them over time as the work is completed. In a prize competition, the agency rewards work that has already been done. Only the winner or winners receive a prize. In some larger competitions, winners may be chosen at the end of each phase.

Prize competitions also differ in how they define the work. Contracts usually include detailed instructions about what must be done. Prize competitions set fewer rules, giving participants more freedom to be creative. This approach works well when there are many possible solutions, including ideas the agency may not have thought of. It can also attract people who do not work directly in the subject area but bring useful skills or fresh perspectives.

Benefits of prize competitions

Prize competitions help agencies find new and creative solutions to their challenges. Compared to grants or contracts, they can:

  • Make it easier for more people to participate
  • Ensure agencies only pay for the best results
  • Attract new talent
  • Increase public awareness and private-sector involvement
  • Encourage innovation and entrepreneurship

Who can run a prize competition?

Federal agencies are allowed to run prize competitions under the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010. This authority was updated in 2017 through the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act.

In March 2020, the Office of Management and Budget issued M-10-11, Guidance on the Use of Challenges and Prizes to Promote Open Government (PDF, 93 KB, 12 pages). In part, this memo highlights policy and legal issues to increase the use of prizes and challenges as tools for promoting open government, innovation, and other national priorities. It also explains that agencies can use different types of legal authority to run prize competitions. These may include specific laws that allow prizes, as well as authorities related to grants, contracts, partnerships, or other agreements.

The laws and policy guidance collectively establish a framework and the requirements for running prize competitions.

For more details about legal authority and how to run a challenge, see the Prize and Challenge Toolkit [PDF - 1 MB].

Challenge and prize community

Are you interested in using challenges or prize competitions to solve problems at your agency? Would you like to talk with someone who has done this before? Even better, would you like to connect with someone from your own agency or someone who has run a similar competition?

If so, the Challenge and Prize Community of Practice is for you.

Join the community

Employees and contractors of federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial governments are eligible to join our community. You must use your official .gov or .mil email address.

To sign up, send an email to challenges-subscribe-request@listserv.gsa.gov and leave the subject line blank. Then, follow the emailed instructions to complete your subscription.

Who we are

Our community focuses on using innovative approaches to help the federal government solve complex problems by tapping into the ideas and skills of the public.

We are a growing, cross-agency community of hundreds of engaged civil servants who are passionate about innovation in government. 

What we do

Our members share ideas, discuss best practices, and help each other navigate the legal authority and how to run a prize competition. We support government innovation managers in finding new ways to access ideas faster and at lower cost.

The community promotes the use of prize competitions and other incentives to attract and engage the public in solving important government challenges.

Members regularly exchange knowledge and learn from one another through the mailing list —  where members can ask questions, share announcements, and post new challenges and prize opportunities.

Your communications are not private

As a federal agency, GSA is subject to records access requests such as the Freedom of Information Act or FOIA. We must comply with requests for records made under FOIA. All communications made on the mailing lists are subject to release under FOIA.

You can use a contractor or a facilitator to help design and implement a challenge.

Multiple Award Schedule

GSA maintains a list of marketing consulting services vendors in the GSA eLibrary for Special Item Number, or SIN 541613. This list includes several competition and challenge services providers who can assist you with challenges and competitions prize competitions, including support for:

  • Marketing and advertising
  • Conducting the challenge or prize competition
  • Facilitating events
  • Judging events

SIN 541810ODC must be used in conjunction with the payment for prizes or other incentives.

How to run a prize competition

Policies and guidance

Implementation of federal prize authority

The America COMPETES Reauthorization Act and American Innovation and Competitiveness Act require the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to produce a biennial report to Congress on the activities carried out under these authorities. This report highlights how government agencies use prize competitions and citizen science activities to engage with members of the public to innovate, drive scientific discovery, and solve important problems. Reporting on related activities conducted under other authorities is voluntary and also included.

Selected case studies of challenges and competitions

Print Page
Last updated: Feb 17, 2026
Top