FAQs

The USAID Center for International Disaster Information (“USAID CIDI”) seeks Public Service Announcement (“PSA”) entries that educate the public on the best ways to donate and help support international disaster relief efforts. Specifically, we are looking for static image, video and GIF (digital image) entries to inform and engage the public on effective donations while showcasing your bold thinking, originality and creative ideas. Students compete to have their work displayed in national publications, websites and on TV.

All entries must be received no later than 11:59PM PDT on March 13, 2023. The key contest dates are:

• Entries due: Monday, March 13, 2023
• Winners in each category announced: The week of April 17, 2023

The competition is open to all U.S. citizens and legal residents, over 18 years of age as of entry date. Participants must be living in the United States (defined as the 50 states and Washington, DC) to enter.

The official Contest Rules and Guidelines are available at psaid.org. All entrants must read and understand these guidelines for their entry to be valid. Entrants must submit original work; entries that have previously won awards are not eligible.

There are three categories: Static Image, Video, and GIF (digital image). These categories allow contestants to submit entries that could be used in online and print publications across a wide variety of industries.

Winning PSAs will receive national distribution and will be showcased through USAID CIDI’s websites and online channels, reaching millions of viewers. Previous winning PSAs have reached well over one billion people and have been in more than 150 media markets, including top markets such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, Atlanta, Washington and Boston. The 2021 winners aired during NCIS, The Goldbergs, America’s Got Talent, Young Sheldon, Dateline NBC, Access Hollywood and Chicago Fire. Winning static image PSAs have been featured in the Washington Times, Washingtonian Magazine, Forbes, Rolling Stone, The Boston Herald, St. Louis Dispatch, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Philadelphia Life and the Arizona Republic, to name a few. Starting in 2022, some winning PSAs were featured on popular streaming services, such as: Roku, Apple, Amazon Prime and others.

No. Although we have found that students are more engaged and inclined to participate in this opportunity when it is presented in a course syllabus, students may feel free to submit contest entries independently and outside of a formal course.

No, no prior approval is necessary to add PSAID to your syllabus.

Yes. All students, regardless of education level, are encouraged to participate and submit contest entries.

The steps for entering are:

1. Register as an Individual Contestant or for Groups, designate a group leader and the group leader will register the group at psaid.org.
2. Create your PSA.
3. Upload the PSA to psaid.org.
   1. If a static image submission, follow the formatting guidelines for your PSA specified here.
   2. If a video submission, it must be in one of the specified formats listed here.
   3. If a GIF (digital image) submission, be certain to upload both required formats and to follow the formatting guidelines for your PSA specified here.
4. Submit the required registration information online. This includes basic information and the release authorizations from actors or/and owners of proprietary material within the PSA.
5. Contest administrators review and approve the registration information and PSA for completeness. If there are problems or issues with any part of the submission, the contestant(s) will be notified in order for necessary adjustments. The PSA entry will not be displayed on the website until all materials are in order.
6. When the submission period ends, the judges review all the PSAs and select three winners in each category.

For an entry to be complete, we must receive your:

1. PSA
2. Registration and release forms

All items are completed online at psaid.org. A .pdf copy of these forms is available on the Resources page of the website. All items are due no later than 11:59 PDT on March 13, 2023.

All submissions must be original works. Entries may not have been entered into any other contest or won any other award.

There is no limit to the number of group members, but the group leader must register all members at psaid.org. First, teams should designate a group leader who will register on the website as a group leader. At registration, the leader should select “group entry.” A group name will be selected through the submission form.

Do NOT include:

• Content regarding domestic disasters – the focus is specific to international disaster response.
• Any disparaging remarks, questionable content or specific trademarked product names. This means showing specific brands or logos is not allowed.
• Any request for viewers to send donations to the USAID CIDI. USAID CIDI does not accept donations
• A word of caution about too much focus on material donations – keep your message clear and don’t rely on past entries to guide your submission.
• Entrants should not have any trademark products displayed in their PSAs.

All entries will be viewed by a panel of disaster relief and marketing professionals who will select three winners in each category. The USAID Center for International Disaster Information (CIDI) will vote in a preliminary round for the finalists in each of three categories: Best Static Image PSA, Best Video PSA and Best GIF (digital image) PSA. After CIDI staff selects finalists in each category, a panel of external judges will vote in a final round for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners. The judges will review all entries for overall impact, originality, memorable content, delivery/artistic skill, and clear and concise messages. The judges are looking for the entries that best convey both the importance and the impact of appropriate international disaster relief. The judges’ decisions are final.

Following the judges’ decisions, CIDI will announce the winners in each category the week of April 17, 2023. Winners will be notified by email or phone.

Students can submit their own static image, video or GIF (digital image) PSA that demonstrates why monetary donations are the most effective way to support international disaster relief.

• PSAs should inform the public of how to best help international disaster survivors.
• Ideally, PSAs should build on the interest of people ready to donate to an international disaster relief effort and demonstrate how they can channel their interest into optimal (monetary) donations.
• Monetary donations are the fastest and best way to provide effective relief to international disaster survivors.
• Material donations like canned food, bottled water and used clothing, take time and money to transport, rarely meet survivors’ urgent needs, and often interfere with onsite professional relief efforts.
• One of the biggest misconceptions about international disaster relief is that goods and products are urgently needed after a disaster. Supplies, particularly food and clothing, can almost always be purchased locally. Local procurement provides the triple advantage of stimulating local economies, ensuring that supplies arrive quickly and reducing transportation and storage costs. Also remember that certain foods, particularly in famine situations, can make survivors ill.
• The public’s help is crucial, and appropriate forms of giving (monetary) can make a lasting and positive impact in an international disaster situation.
• When choosing a charity to give to, always select well-established, recognized international disaster relief agencies with a track record of providing relief, with program professionals on-site and the capacity to provide assistance to those who need it most.
• And remember, it isn’t about telling people what NOT to do – but rather to take their good intentions and interest and inform them of the best ways to help when disaster strikes.

If you are not the original author of the imagery or artwork you are including in your entry, you should obtain permission from the source you are securing any copyrighted imagery from or purchase the materials from a royalty-free website.

Only use images from google that are listed as “Labeled for reuse with modification.” You do this by entering your search term and clicking “Search tools” in the Google menu. Then click “Usage rights.” Finally, click “Labeled for reuse with modification.”

You must obtain consent from any actors who appear in your PSA. Entrants will be required to declare that they have consent from any people appearing in their PSA. Note that consent requirements may vary from state to state. A section on the PSAid website, titled “Personal Release Form”, is available at psaid.org.

GIFs are short – 10 seconds or less – animated images with no sound. Please note that in previous years this was referred to as a “digital image.”

Monetary donations are less expensive for donors and more beneficial to recipients than material donations because:

• Financial contributions are easily convertible to meet the international disaster survivors’ specific and immediate needs.
• Cash is more efficient, allowing purchases to be made quickly and locally at a bulk discount, and at lower transportation and distribution costs.
• Monetary donations allow for purchases that are fresh and familiar to survivors, and that are nutritionally, culturally and environmentally appropriate. Monetary donations also support fragile local economies and enable local markets to recover more rapidly.

Cash donations save money by helping aid groups avoid delays and steep transportation and administrative costs associated with material donations. CIDI offers helpful information for contestants on their website. Contestants should review information both at psaid.org and www.cidi.org.

Yes, entries become the property of USAID CIDI and USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance.