The issue is people want something for nothing. Contests are riddles with this problem. I get it, it is good to attract people to share their views, but giving away 1 steem to someone for writing a comment that stinks, is not a good use of your budget.

I think giving prizes for the top 10 or 20 responses is a good way to go. Perhaps have 10 steem allocated for 'honourable mentions' that is not included in the budget so the people that didn't make the cut, but put in good effort, don't feel slighted and will try again next time.

Free loaders are all over the place and if they know that you give away a token just for showing up... they will show up and won't bring any value to your forum.

Reward those that deserve it. Set the bar and honour the bar that you set. If you are giving 310 steem away in the 60, 25, 10 fashion to the top 10, stick with it. If 4 other entrants really gave a good response, let them know with a comment, upvote or throw them a token that was not budgeted to let them know that their contribution was appreciated.

My 2 cents.