A Certificate of Achievement is presented to an individual to recognize her for an accomplishment. A Certificate of Achievement can be presented to reward an individual who has successfully completed something, like a project or a grade in school or to an individual who has met a specific goal, like attaining competency in an area of study. Organizations often present a Certificate of Achievement to honor an individual who has made a significant contribution to the organization, which has helped further its mission.

Things You Will Need

  • Computer

  • Microsoft Word

  • Printer

  • Resume quality paper or blank certificates

Know who needs to be recognized and what he needs to be recognized for. When you know this, you can formulate the wording you wish to use. Many websites like laseraccents.com provide sample wording for various types of achievement awards.

You can buy blank certificate paper from stationary or office supply stores. Or, free templates for award certificates are available in the template section of Microsoft Office. You can access them by opening a new document and choosing the award certificate header in the section of template categories that are available free through Microsoft Office Online.

Download your template. Once you've selected your template from Microsoft Office Online, download the template. The template will automatically open in Microsoft Word. You may wish to save the original template to your desktop for future use. Saving it before you edit it can also be helpful should you make an error when customizing your template.

Customize your template. Once the template you've downloaded is open, you can edit the wording to reflect what you wish to say. Most templates have generic text in brackets to indicate where you'll need to type in information specific to your award, such as the recipient's name, the name of the individual presenting the award and the award date.

Print your Certificate of Achievement. Use high quality paper to print your award. Resume paper is the perfect weight and texture for a formal award. Glossy paper or colored paper may be appropriate for a Certificate of Achievement that will be presented to a child.

Tip

Certificates that are designed using landscape layout tend to look more professional than those that are designed using a portrait layout.

Warning

If your certificate looks faded when it prints, do not present it. It will look unprofessional. Instead, purchase new ink cartridges and reprint your certificate.