It’s not a beauty contest. Beauty, after all, is in the eye of the beholder. And truly, every company vying for a spot among the PPAI 100 has much to be proud of.
Instead, PPAI 100 is an objective measurement of the progress we’re all driving. Its goal is to identify the promotional products industry’s leading companies – organizations that demonstrate strong performance, responsible leadership, trusted reputations and a commitment to sustained excellence.
It would be much easier to create if it were more subjective. In a given year, PPAI’s research team compiles tens of thousands of individual data points to ensure every company’s leadership is measured accurately and fairly, and to provide clear insight into the criteria that define industry excellence. It is an index that evaluates dozens of measurable indicators, from financial performance and growth to workforce stability, marketplace credibility, responsibility disclosures and innovation practices.
What PPAI wants most is to get it all right, and to justly recognize the companies who are creating the proverbial rising tide that lifts all boats.
Companies don’t need to reinvent themselves to score well. They need to understand how the model works, provide the most complete information possible and ensure their leadership is visible in the categories where it already exists.
If your goal in 2026 and beyond is to earn the highest score possible – or simply to avoid missing out on credit you’ve rightly earned – this playbook outlines 26 practical ways to help us maximize accuracy and account for your performance.
1. Submit your actual previous-year revenue (and back it up).
Revenue is the single most heavily weighted factor in the PPAI 100 measurement. Providing documentation unlocks a scoring bonus rooted in accuracy and validation.
2. Respond if PPAI uses an estimated revenue figure.
If you choose not to provide revenue, silence results in a penalty. Offering a directional adjustment or confirmation of PPAI’s estimate protects your score.
3. Confirm your membership tier’s revenue range.
Companies cannot be scored above their tier’s recommended revenue range, and only Professional tier members are eligible. Speak with your account manager now to avoid being capped. For 2026, tier changes must be approved by 11:59:59 p.m. Central on March 8. Companies with an International PPAI membership will be eligible for PPAI 100 but must provide revenue validation documents.
WANT MORE? Listen to Season 1 of Voice & Force at PPAI.org/podcast for deeper perspectives on making the most of PPAI 100.
4. Understand how growth is measured.
Both absolute growth in dollars and percentage growth over the previous three years are included. Consistency and improvement translate directly into stronger scoring but can create variability from year to year.
5. Make sure to properly account for M&A activity.
PPAI will ask for both last year’s revenue and revenue three years prior. If your company has added business through acquisition during those three years, make sure that:
The more recent figure includes all entities.
The older figure only includes the parent company as it existed at the time.
6. Take every survey.
This is the No. 1 reason companies lose points: They simply don’t participate in the program’s three surveys: Business Fundamentals, Innovation and Responsibility. Complete surveys ensure the model can evaluate your leadership fully. In 2026, all three surveys open on Feb. 23.
7. Review the surveys before they open.
Questionnaires will be shared via PPAI Newslink before the survey window so your team can prepare data instead of scrambling.
8. Make sure you’re receiving PPAI emails.
If you’re not currently receiving Newslink. To make sure you don’t miss any vital communication from the association, such as survey reminders, clarification or the assets package for PPAI 100 winners, be sure that all our emails are whitelisted.
OPEN TO ALL: Although members on PPAI’s Standard tiers aren’t eligible for PPAI 100, your survey participation is vital for industry benchmarking and can help you compare your company’s practices to similar-sized businesses.
9. Assign sections to subject matter experts.
Rather than a principal taking responsibility for all surveys, consider designating operations, sustainability and technology leaders to each answer their own areas. This improves accuracy and prevents overlooked responses.
10. Track key metrics year-round.
Companies that maintain internal dashboards find survey season far easier – and avoid incomplete data that limits scoring. The surveys do change from year to year based on new feedback from members and volunteers, but tracking what has been asked previously is the best way to be prepared.
11. Know that no single question can dramatically affect your score.
PPAI 100 weighs many inputs. No company’s performance hinges drastically on a single response.
12. Answer as best you can.
Some questions provide partial credit if you supply certain information, but blank responses suppress your score even when the underlying leadership exists.
13. Suppliers: Maintain a current SAGE Rating.
Without a SAGE Rating, suppliers receive no points in the Industry Faith category. This is one of the most straightforward ways to preserve scoring. SAGE Ratings amount to the trust that distributor partners have placed in your company.
14. Distributors: Keep your PPAI Credit Profile active.
The PPAI Credit Profile – powered by Forius – directly demonstrates your financial reliability to supplier partners.
15. Prepare for industry elevation scoring in 2026 and beyond.
For 2026, efforts to elevate the branded merch marketplace by your company personnel will count as a partial factor for the Industry Faith category. Volunteer roles, committee participation and service within regionals and PPAI will create a small but measurable contribution to your company’s score, as will nominations for Pyramid Awards.
16. Anticipate the 2027 category shift.
In conjunction with PPAI’s updated Strategic Plan, beginning in 2027, industry elevation efforts (measured by volunteerism and Pyramid Awards participation and success) will fully replace the Online Presence category, which is scored based on pageviews of each member’s homepage.
17. Understand how industry elevation will be evaluated.
Industry elevation will be scored by submissions made for Pyramid Awards the previous fall, with additional credit given for Silver and Gold pyramid wins. Volunteerism efforts for the current year will contribute points as well.
18. Recognize that scoring for the Employee Happiness category is driven in part by turnover rate.
PPAI 100 uses measurable retention data to ensure fairness for companies of all sizes.
19. Report honestly even if your turnover isn’t ideal.
Failing to report turnover data results in a missing data point, which doesn’t allow us to score your company for this portion. Reporting a disappointing figure is preferable to not reporting anything at all, and PPAI keeps this information strictly confidential.
20. Earning spots on workplace culture lists provides bonus points.
Industry-specific honors, like PPAI’s Greatest Companies to Work For list, count just as much as local recognition. Keep track of these and share them.
21. Professional development is measured, not assumed.
CAS, MAS and MAS+ credentials are recognized as quantifiable indicators of workforce investment, which are part of the scoring. Your PPAI memberships offers credits to help workers obtain these certifications.
22. Know that third-party certifications provide automatic credit.
Accreditations such as B Corp and EcoVadis trigger standardized partial credit within the Responsibility category. These programs remove subjectivity from the scoring.
23. Understand that disclosure – not perfection – is what’s measured.
The scoring model can only award points based on the information you provide. Document your initiatives clearly to ensure the system recognizes them. In places, you may be offered the opportunity to provide contextual answers for full or partial credit.
24. Innovation scoring is centered on customer experience.
The model rewards improvements that make doing business easier and more efficient, be it ordering, billing or security standards.
25. Expect shorter surveys.
We’ve heard the feedback clearly, and we are working to abbreviate the survey experience in 2026 while still collecting key data for benchmarking industry progress. Not all questions are related to scoring, which is clearly labeled, for an even quicker process.
26. Treat PPAI 100 as a measurement framework, not a contest or moral judgment.
It’s natural that PPAI 100 creates grounds for bragging rights, but its higher purpose is to create a scorecard for each company to measure its progress and identify opportunities to level up. The goal is accurate representation from a holistic standpoint. Some of the greatest success stories come from businesses that don’t have industry-leading revenue but are comparable to promo’s largest firms in other ways.
