FAQs

The USAID Center for International Disaster Information (“USAID CID) seeks Public Service Announcement (“PSA”) entries that illustrate how to donate responsibly when supporting disaster relief overseas. Specifically, we are looking for your print, video and infographic entries to inform and engage the public on effective donations which showcase your bold thinking, originality and creative ideas.

PSAid challenges college students to create advertisements that illustrate how to donate responsibly when supporting disaster relief overseas, and build support for relief work carried out by well-established US-based international disaster relief organizations. Students compete to have their work displayed in national publication and on TV.

• Entries due: April 3, 2018
• Winners in each category announced: On or about April 27, 2018.

All winning PSAs will receive national distribution and will be showcased through USAID CIDI’s websites and online channels, reaching millions of viewers. In addition, PSAid winners will gain valuable career experience in a creative, competitive, public platform and deliver critical messaging nationwide.

The official Contest Rules and Guidelines are available at www.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.

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

• 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 www.PSAid.org and www.cidi.org.

1. PSA
2. Registration and certification information
3. Any applicable personal release forms

All items are completed online at www.PSAid.org. A .pdf copy of these forms is available on the Resources page of website. All items are due no later than 11:59 PDT on April 3, 2018.

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 www.PSAid.org.
2. Create your PSA.
3. Upload the PSA to www.PSAid.org.
   1. If a print/banner ad 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 an infographic/GIF 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 contestants who desire to work in teams, entries may be submitted as a group. There is no limit to the number of group members, but the group leader must register all members at www.PSAid.org. First, teams should designate a group leader who will register on the Web site as a Contestant. At registration, the leader should select “group entry.” A group name will be selected through the submission form.

• Content regarding domestic disasters – the focus is specific to international disaster response
• Any disparaging remarks, questionable content or specific product names
• 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.

• 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.
• 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.

The print/banner submission requirements are:

• For the print ad, the file name should be: Print_LastName_FirstName_2017
• Print/banner PSAs should be formatted as an 8”x10” image in EPS format with a minimum of 300 DPI resolution – you also must include a JPG copy of your PSA to be viewed by judges and the public on the website.
• The JPG should be 72 DPI and with maximum dimensions of 1350px x 900px. We recommend you first design the PSA in EPS format and then convert it to a JPG (following the above guidelines) to ensure minimal loss of quality when resizing. It is important to note that the competition judges and the public will only view the web JPG version of your entry – this is the version the judges will vote on, which will ultimately determine a winner. Therefore, when converting the EPS to a JPG, please be sure that the JPG image is still readable and clear.
• Print ads should be in CMYK color space
• All images and fonts should be embedded
• For a banner ad, the file name should be: Banner_LastName_FirstName_2017
• The website banner ad should be a JPG sized at 300 x 250px

All print submissions must include USAID CIDI and USAID logos. Print advertisement packages should be designed to be placed successfully as a full-page PSA in a national magazine or newspaper.

• The file name should be: Video_LastName_FirstName_2018
• Video entries should be exactly 30-seconds in length
• Video entries should not exceed 1 gigabyte (1,000 MB) in size
• Video entries should be developed for high image and sound quality
• The Video entry that is submitted initially should be a low resolution version of the original video with these specifications:  .MP4, .MPEG or .MPG file format, H.264, 640 x 480px screen resolution, at 15 frames per second, not to exceed 40MB. The file name should be: Video_LastName_FirstName_LowRes_2018. If you are a finalist, you will be contacted to submit your high resolution version at that time.
• Acceptable upload formats are .MP4, .MPEG or .MPG only. Maximum upload size is 40MB per file for low resolution submission.
• All video submissions must include a standard end tag. The end tags are available on the Contest Resources section of the PSAid website, and must be included exactly as provided.
• Please make sure the sound for a video PSA is of a quality suitable for presentation on television and other public media outlets. The need for clear enunciation cannot be overstated. Encourage all speakers to project through the end of sentences as to not diminish volume at the ends of sentences. Increase the volume for quieter speakers, and vice versa in order to insure the consistency of volume throughout the video.

• The file name should be: Infographic_LastName_FirstName_2017
• Infographics dimensions must be 8’’x10”
• The infographic should be submitted as a 72 DPI JPG
• The original design file (EPS, PSD, etc.) should be included
• All images and fonts should be embedded
• The information should be clear and accurate
• You must use the data provided to ensure the message is clear and on track

All infographic submissions must include USAID CIDI and USAID logos. It is important to note that the competition judges will only view the Web JPG/GIF version of both your print and banner formatted entries – this is the version they will vote on, which will ultimately determine a winner. Please upload your Infographic PSA JPG in the dimensions within the range provided that make the most sense for your entry, while also making sure this version is readable and clear when viewing online.