The Paderewski Prize for American Composers (aka Paderewski Fund for the Encouragement of American Composers) was a prize awarded to American composers every three years from 1901 to 1948. The prizes were sums of money ($1000 for a symphonic work, $500 or chorus and chamber) offered by the Trustees of the Paderewski Fund for American composers of (i) the best symphonic music and (ii) the best chamber music. For reference, $1000 in 1920 would be worth about $12,331 in 2014, assuming an annual inflation rate of 2.71%. The prestige of the prize far outweighed the cash benefit. In most cases, the publicity from the prizes led to assurances of international performances.
Paderewski established a similar fund for Composers in Leipzig in 1898.