Rules

Thank you for your interest in the Powered & Prepared Initiative (the “Initiative”). The Initiative is sponsored by the Henry L. Hillman Foundation (the “Initiative Sponsor”) with program and platform support provided by Carrot. Please know that by participating in this Initiative and in accordance with these Rules you are eligible to receive various forms of recognition and a possible Award from the Initiative Sponsor of up to $300,000 as an Awardee. The Rules governing this Initiative ("RULES") are stated here as an extension of the Terms & Conditions ("TERMS") for use of this website. The full TERMS are available for your review by accessing them on this Website. The RULES constitute "Initiative Terms and Conditions" under Clause 2.3 of the TERMS. Capitalized words used but not defined in the RULES have meanings given to them in the TERMS. Further, any language contained on this website, including but not limited to these RULES, are also an extension of the TERMS, and therefore You are required to read and understand the entirety of the Website content before proceeding.  

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Please read these RULES and the TERMS carefully, as they describe the conditions under which you are allowed to participate. As you participate, you may periodically be asked to recognize your acceptance of these RULES and the TERMS by clicking "accept" at various pages on this website, but by continuing any use of this website you expressly consent to all of these RULES and the TERMS.

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SUBMISSION OF AN ENTRY INTO THIS INITIATIVE CONSTITUTES FULL AND UNCONDITIONAL AGREEMENT TO AND ACCEPTANCE OF THESE RULES AND THE TERMS.

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NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR TO RECEIVE AN AWARD.

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1. Eligibility

The Henry L. Hillman Foundation welcomes applications from nonprofit and local government agencies within the United States or United States territories. Each Participant must identify a Lead Organization as the recognized agency in the execution of any proposed project contained in an Entry. The Lead Organization will assume responsibility for the receipt and management of any Award funds from the Initiative Sponsor and will maintain those fiduciary duties in close coordination with any partner organization(s). The purpose of including a Lead Organization is to ensure that there is sufficient administrative support and management for the use of any Award Funds and not to disintermediate the role of any partner(s) who are essential to the implementation of any proposed project contained in any Entry. 

Eligibility related to any Lead Organization by type are as follows:

• An entity based in and serving communities within the United States and/or US territories under section 501(c)(3) and 509(a)(1) or (2) of the Internal Revenue Code (“IRC”) that has received a tax determination letter from the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”).
• A local government agency, including a tribal government or tribal-owned enterprise based in and serving communities within the United States and/or US territories.

An organization can submit only one application as the Lead Organization. An organization can also serve as a partner on a team for multiple applications provided that each application proposes a separate, distinct solution.

Regional or location-specific branches of larger organizations can each register and submit separately as the Lead Organization on one application as long as the proposed solutions are separate and distinct. There should be no overlap in team members. The intent of the policy is to ensure that any team is concentrating their best effort into a single application. We encourage teams to select a single project that best represents your organization's ability to deliver a solution that meets the scoring criteria.

The Competition Sponsor reserves the right to reject an Entry if, in the Initiative Sponsor's sole discretion, the laws of the governing jurisdiction applicable to the Powered & Prepared Initiative would prohibit or limit the Initiative Sponsor from proceeding with the Initiative as intended or if the Initiative Sponsor determines, in its sole discretion, that the consideration or making of any Award would impose additional administrative, tax, operational, or legal burdens on the Initiative Sponsor.

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2. Ineligible persons or entities

The following are not eligible to apply as a Lead Organization for the Powered & Prepared Initiative:

• Individuals
• Teams of individuals
• Entities based outside of the United States or US territories
• For-profit companies
• Individuals that include employees of Initiative Sponsor, Carrot, and any of their subsidiaries and affiliates, and immediate family members (spouse, parent, child, sibling and their respective spouses, regardless of where they live) or persons living in the same households of such employees, are not eligible to participate.
• State or federal government agencies, including United Nations agencies, inter-governmental bodies, and regional cooperation agencies.
• Education entities such as schools, colleges, junior colleges, or universities.
• A for-profit corporation organized under the laws of a State (or territory) in the United States.
• A benefit corporation, flexible purpose entity, or similar "hybrid" entity organized under the laws of a State (or territory) in the United States.
• A limited liability company or partnership organized under the laws of a State (or territory) in the United States.
• Fiscally-sponsored organizations.

While this list of organization types are not eligible to apply as Lead Organization, they may serve as partners on an application.

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3. Collaborations

Eligible organizations are welcome to collaborate with nonprofit organizations, for-profit companies, foundations, schools, colleges and universities, government agencies, individuals, and other entities (either U.S.-based or non-U.S.-based) to develop the solution.

Organizations proposing to work together must demonstrate through a fully-executed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) or other similar agreement, executed by all parties, that all parties have agreed that a single eligible entity or organization (i.e. the Lead Organization) will serve as the Awardee and will have direction, control, and supervision of the proposed project and management of all grant funds and be responsible for all reporting requirements.

While MOUs will not be collected in the application, MOUs may be collected from teams that are selected to participate in later stages of the Initiative.

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4. Geographic Eligibility

All proposed projects must serve and benefit communities located within at least one of the following ten counties in southwestern Pennsylvania:

• Allegheny
• Armstrong
• Beaver
• Butler
• Fayette
• Greene
• Indiana
• Lawrence
• Washington
• Westmoreland

5. Financial & Organizational Capacity

All Participants must demonstrate the financial capacity of any Lead Organization that may be the recipient of any Award in order to carry out any project and to appropriately manage any Award. Audited financial statements, 990s, and/or certified financials for the past two (2) years may be required from participants that are selected to participate in later stages of the Initiative.

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6. Building Ownership

The Lead Organization must own the building and/or property where the project will be located. Documentation to confirm building and/or property ownership may be collected from Participants that are selected to participate in later stages of the Initiative.

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7. Use of Funds

Awards may be used to pay for equipment and installation costs as well as relevant electrical and enabling renovations. Eligible expenses include, but are not limited to, equipment and supplies, installation costs, enabling renovations and upgrades, salaries for directly relevant personnel, and seeding small maintenance and repair funds.

While general operating support is not allowed, applicants may have overhead costs that are not directly attributable to the proposed project but are necessary for implementation. The Initiative Sponsor reserves the right to review and adjust the amounts allocated for indirect expenses. The Initiative Sponsor will consider paying for these indirect costs up to a maximum of 10% of direct project or activity costs.

Ensure that any indirect costs are accounted for in your budget in the application. Any portion of salaries and other similar costs that will be allocated directly to implementation of the proposed solution are eligible expenses and can be their own line items.

Award funds must be used for the project for which they are intended and may be disbursed to partners for project-related purposes. Award funds may not be used:

• To undertake any activity which does not have a charitable purpose within the meaning of section 501(c)(3) of the Code;
• To influence the outcome of any specific public election or to carry on, directly or indirectly, any voter registration drive (within the meaning of United States Internal Revenue Code (“Code”) section 4945(d)(2));
• To carry on propaganda or otherwise to attempt to influence legislation within the meaning of Code Section 4945(d)(1);
• To distribute funds to any organization not related to the proposal;
• To make a grant to any organization not identified in the proposal, to make a grant to any individual for travel, study, or other similar purposes, or to make a grant to any organization, except in compliance with the provisions of Sections 4945(g) or (h), as the case may be;
• For the creation of any endowment or for the aggregation of philanthropic capital by organizations that regrant to nonprofit organizations;
• For the creation of a venture capital fund, or pooled funds to invest in or distribute to for-profit organizations;
• For loans or microloans to individuals, nonprofit, or for-profit entities;
• To fund general operating support for the Lead Organization and/or any partners;
• To fund political organizations (501(c)(4) organizations and 527s);
• To promote or in any manner support terrorism, terrorist activities, the destruction of any state, or violence against the citizens of any state, nor shall the Awardee knowingly transact business with any entity that promotes or in any manner supports such actions;
• For government services.

Funds may be subgranted from a Lead Organization to other partners to implement the proposed solution, and not for general funds used for broader purposes.

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8. Guidance Related to Non-Charitable Applicants

Grant funds will be used solely for charitable purposes and will not result in private benefit to other people, organizations, or entities other than incidental benefit that is a necessary byproduct of the accomplishment of the charitable purpose.

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9. Treatment & Use of Intellectual Property

Each Application should reflect the anticipated ownership, use, and licensing of any intellectual property; the use and licensing of intellectual property of the winning Entry will be subject to the terms of an agreement with the Initiative Sponsor. You represent and warrant that your Entry is an original work created solely by You, that You own all Intellectual Property in and to the Entry, and that no other party has any right, title, claim or interest in the Entry, except as expressly identified by You to us in writing in Your application. You retain all right, title and interest in any inventions, software or work of authorship You invent or create and the ownership and use of intellectual property arising from this Initiative remains with You, subject as may be set forth in the agreement with the Initiative Sponsor.

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10. Award Agreement

Any Awardee shall enter into a direct and separate award agreement with the Initiative Sponsor, containing key terms and conditions which are separate from these RULES and TERMS posted on this website for this Initiative.

NOTE: The agreement linked above is provided as an example only. Each grant agreement governing the use of Awards may vary, depending on the nature of the project, the organization receiving the Award, and the Initiative Sponsor.

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11. Reporting

Any Awardee who enters into a separate agreement to receive funding will be required to report progress towards milestones and other goals. Those reporting requirements may vary, based on the organization and the project, and will be determined by the Initiative Sponsor. However, it is likely necessary that a minimum of one financial report per year and one narrative report per year may be required.

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12. Other Rules

12.1 Your application must be in English.

12.2 You must complete registration to participate in the Initiative. You cannot reside in nor be governed by countries that are prohibited by law, regulation (including United States or other applicable export laws and regulations), treaty or administrative act from entering into trade relations (including export of technology) with the United States of America or its citizens.

12.3 Your Entry should meet the application requirements stipulated on this website. You are required to register in advance of any deadlines for the submission of an Entry, and You must comply with all other deadlines posted on this website. Your Entry may not, in the sole and unfettered discretion of Initiative Sponsor and/or Carrot, contain obscene, provocative, defamatory, or otherwise objectionable or inappropriate content. Initiative Sponsor reserves the right to cancel, modify or suspend Initiative in whole or in part without liability to You. Initiative Sponsor and/or Carrot also reserves the right to disqualify You from participating.

12.4 By participating in the Powered & Prepared Initiative, You represent, warrant, and agree that:

1. You are the sole author, creator, and owner of the Entry;
2. the Entry is not the subject of any actual or threatened litigation or claim;
3. the Entry does not and will not violate or infringe upon the intellectual property rights, privacy rights, publicity rights, or other legal rights of any third party;
4. the Entry does not and will not contain any harmful computer code (sometimes referred to as "malware," "viruses" or "worms"); and
5. the Entry, and Your use of the Entry, does not and will not violate any applicable laws or regulations, including, without limitation, applicable export control laws and regulations of the United States and other jurisdictions. If the Entry includes any third party works (such as third-party content or open-source code), You must provide the Competition Sponsor with all appropriate licenses and releases for such third party works. In the event You cannot provide all such required licenses and releases, the Initiative Sponsor reserves the right, in the Initiative Sponsor's sole discretion, to disqualify the applicable Entry.

12.5 You may participate by registering, but You may not register more than one true and uniform identity; multiple registrations for a participant using multiple identities are not allowed. Initiative Sponsor and/or Carrot reserve the right to disqualify any Entry made by a participant violating this limitation, regardless of whether all of the respective parties had knowledge of such violation. Each registrant may only submit one Entry.

12.6 The application requirements for your Entry are clearly described on this website. Your Entry will be assessed initially by five Judges, who will be assigned to score your Entry either randomly or after considering any potential conflicts of interest, using the scoring rubric and any other judging criteria that are also described on this website. In cases where a Judge indicates any potential conflict of interest, the Entry will be assigned to another Judge. Judges will be responsible for scoring your Entry.

12.7 Upon submitting Your Entry, the Entry will be subjected to an Administrative Review, to ensure compliance with all of the requirements. The application requirements for your Entry are clearly described on this website. Your Entry will be assessed initially by five Judges, who will be assigned to score your Entry either randomly or after considering any potential conflicts of interest, using the scoring rubric and any other judging criteria that are also described on this website. In cases where a Judge indicates any potential conflict of interest, the Entry will be assigned to another Judge. Judges will be responsible for scoring your Entry. Based on normalized scores from each Evaluation Panel review, a rank order of the Entries will be populated.

12.8 Once a rank order of Entries has been calculated, the top-scoring Entries will be reviewed by the Initiative Sponsor and Selection Committee with consideration given to diversity of solutions, geography, feasibility, and other criteria that may incorporate considerations beyond the Judges’ reviews. The Initiative Sponsor and Selection Committee Judges are permitted to communicate with Participants solely for the purposes of carrying out due diligence for evaluating Your Entry and assigning a score during the review process, but those Judges are not required to contact any individual. By participating in the Powered & Prepared Initiative, You acknowledge and agree to be bound by the final decision of the Initiative Sponsor. 

If a Participant is unable to fully participate in the next phase of the Initiative, then they may forfeit their designation as a finalist, and the next Participant in the rank order of Entries may be named a finalist in their place. Final determination of the Awardees rests with the Initiative Sponsor.

12.9 While Carrot is providing an online platform for your participation, Carrot is not responsible for the payment of any Award(s). Payment of any Award(s) is the sole responsibility of the Henry L. Hillman Foundation and its designees, and under the Terms each participant has agreed to look solely to the Henry L. Hillman Foundation as the Initiative Sponsor, for the payment of any Award.

12.10 By submitting your Entry, you agree to release, discharge and hold harmless the Initiative Sponsor, Affiliated Persons, and Carrot and their partners, affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising agencies, agents and their employees, officers, directors and representatives from any Loss arising out of your participation in Initiative and the acceptance and use, misuse, or possession of any Award(s). Neither the Initiative Sponsor nor Carrot nor Affiliated Persons assume responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, or delay in operation or transmission; communications line failure; theft or destruction of or unauthorized access to Initiative entries or entry forms; or alteration of entries or entry forms. Neither Initiative Sponsor nor Carrot nor Affiliated Persons are responsible for any problems with or technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines, computer online systems, servers or providers, computer equipment, software, failure of any entry to be received on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or any website, human errors of any kind, or any combination thereof, including any injury or damage to competitors’ or any other persons’ computers related to or resulting from participation, uploading or downloading of any materials related to this Initiative. In the event of a dispute about the identity of any Participant, an online registration will be declared as if made by the authorized account holder of the e-mail address submitted at time of entry.

12.11 THIS COMPETITION IS VOID WHERE PROHIBITED. Participants agree that this Initiative shall be subject to and governed by the laws of the United States of America and the forum of any dispute shall be in the courts of the United States of America. Any arbitration between You and Carrot or Initiative Sponsor or an Affiliated Person will be governed by the Commercial Dispute Resolution Procedures and the Supplementary Procedures for Consumer Related Disputes (collectively, "AAA Rules") of the American Arbitration Association ("AAA"), as modified by the TERMS, and will be administered by the AAA. The AAA Rules and filing forms are available online at www.adr.org, by calling the AAA at 1-800-778-7879.

12.12 If for any reason Initiative is not capable of running as planned, due to infection by computer virus, bugs, worms, Trojan horses, denial of service, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures or any other causes beyond the control of Carrot that corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of this Initiative, Carrot reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual(s) who tamper with the process, and/or to cancel, terminate, modify, or suspend the Initiative. If Initiative Sponsor and/or Carrot terminates the Initiative, it will not retain any rights in the submitted Entries.

12.13 The Initiative Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion to disqualify any Participant who is found to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Powered & Prepared Initiative, to be acting in violation of these Rules, or to be acting in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner, or with the intent to disrupt or undermine the legitimate operation of the Powered & Prepared Initiative, or to annoy, abuse, threaten, or harass any other person.

12.14 Entry into the Powered & Prepared Initiative does not constitute entry into any other Henry L. Hillman Foundation competition or program, Carrot competition or program, or promotion that may be offered by the Initiative Sponsor and/or its affiliates.

12.15 The Henry L. Hillman Foundation and/or Carrot reserves the right to disqualify any participant who violates these RULES, the TERMS and any standards of behavior expressed or implied in them.

12.16 The names of the Awardees will be posted on this website for such period of time as the Initiative Sponsor deems reasonable.

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Contact Information

You may contact us with any questions or comments about these RULES. You may reach us by email.