Each year, the Secular Student Alliance presents five awards to those affiliates that have excelled in a particular area.  These awards include an attractive plaque, a cash prize for the group to put toward future endeavors, and an invitation to present at our annual conference.

The Best Awards mirror the Secular Student Alliance's four core focus areas: Education, Service, Activism, and Community.  Each of these awards comes with a $300 prize.  In addition, we grant an "Affiliate of the Year" award to the group that has truly excelled in all of these areas.  This award carries a $500.00 prize.

The Best Awards are given once per year and will be presented at our Annual Conference in July. Winning groups are invited to present at our conference, and will be featured in the eMpirical, our electronic newsletter.

Applications for awards are due by May 31st, 2010.  Groups may apply for as many awards as they feel they qualify for.  All SSA affiliate groups are encouraged to apply, regardless of age or size.

The categories you can apply for this year are:

• Affiliate of the Year - $500 
  
• Best Educator - $300 
  
• Best Service - $300  
• Best Activism - $300 
  
• Best Community - $300 
  

Here are some examples of projects that won in the past:

2010 Best Award Winners (All Categories, 2010)
2009 Best Award Winners (All Categories, 2009)
2008 Best Award Winners (All Categories, 2008)
University of Kentucky SHIFT Wins Best Service Project Award (2007)
Kansas University's SOMA wins SSA Best Affiliate (2007)
SSA Best New Affiliate: Bruin Alliance of Skeptics & Secularists (2007)
Freethought Books for Prisoners (Service, 2006) 
Toronto Secular Alliance wins SSA Best Website Award (2006)
Drive Time Evolution Education (Media, 2006)
2005 Best Award Winners (All Categories, 2005)

In 2004 James Madison University Freethinkers received an the Best website Award. The University of Kansas Society of Open-Minded Atheists and Agnostics was given the Best Media award for the newspaper article in the Lawrence Journal-World featuring their efforts and publicizing campus Freethought. Students for Freethought at the Ohio State University received an award for the best service project for raising over $1,000 at the Central Ohio AIDS-Walk. The Michigan State University Freethinker Alliance was honored as the best SSA affiliate for 2003-2004 for their work persuading their city council in East Lansing, Michigan to honor "Church-State Separation Week."