The HaikuNow! International Haiku Contest, administered in three categories: Traditional, Contemporary, and Innovative, ran for five years, from 2010 through 2014. Any poet could enter one poem in any or all of the categories each year, and there was no entry fee. Results were traditionally announced on April 17 as part of the celebration of first National, and later, International Haiku Poetry Day.

International Haiku Poetry Day (IHPD) is an annual observance, on April 17, hosted and promoted by The Haiku Foundation since 2012. IHPD has incorporated several components, including the HaikuNow! International Haiku Contest, the annual THF Touchstone Awards for books and individual haiku, the Earthrise Rolling Haiku Collaboration, the HaikuLife Film Festival, and reports on local haiku gatherings around the world.