Thank you for your interest in the Connectivity Challenge (“Competition”). The Competition is sponsored by Colorado State University with platform support provided by RAMPIT. Please know that by participating in this Competition and in accordance with these Rules you are eligible to receive various forms of recognition and a possible Award from the Competition Sponsor in the form of a $100,000 (USD) grant. The Rules governing this Competition ("RULES") are stated here as an extension of the Terms & Conditions ("TERMS") for use of this website. “You" means the person, team, or representative organization(s) using the Website, including a User, or an Entity duly organized and validly existing under law of the host country of origin that is represented on the Website by a User that is a person at least 18 years of age who is the duly authorized representative of such Entity. The full TERMS are available for your review by accessing them on this website. The RULES constitute "Competition Terms & 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.

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.

SUBMISSION OF AN ENTRY IN THE CONNECTIVITY CHALLENGE CONSTITUTES FULL AND UNCONDITIONAL AGREEMENT TO AND ACCEPTANCE OF THESE RULES.

NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR TO WIN.

1. Eligibility

The Connectivity Challenge is a team-based competition. A team may consist of one or more organizations. Each team must identify a Principal Organization during registration to this Competition. The Principal Organization must be in good standing in the legal jurisdiction(s) that control status. The Principal Organization would assume responsibility for receiving and taking accountability for any grant funds, as well as providing the direction, control, and supervision for the proposed project, on behalf of the team members. The Competition Sponsor welcomes applications from Principal Organizations that meet the following definitions (subject to limitations described in 2. Ineligible persons or entities below):

• An entity under section 501(c)(3) and 509(a)(1) or (2) of the US Internal Revenue Code (“IRC”) that has received a tax determination letter from the US Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”).
• A private foundation under section 501(c)(3) of the IRC that has received a tax determination letter from the IRS.
• An entity that is recognized under the law of the applicable jurisdiction as a non-governmental organization, an educational organization, a charitable organization, a social welfare organization, a not-for-profit organization, or similar-type entity that is not a for-profit organization or government agency.

Principal Organizations are welcome to partner with for-profit companies, foundations, schools, colleges, and universities, government agencies, individuals, and other entities in order to implement the team’s proposal.  The Competition Sponsor reserves the right to reject an application of any Principal Organization if, in the Competition Sponsor’s discretion, the laws of the governing jurisdiction applicable to the Principal Organization would prohibit or limit the Competition Sponsor from proceeding with the grant as intended or the consideration or making of any grant would impose additional administrative, tax, operational, or legal burdens on the Competition Sponsor.

Further, the Competition Sponsor strongly encourages teams that consist of members who represent cross-disciplinary and diverse experience, who effectively understand the complexities of the many policy, research, and practice issues that currently inhibit effective solutions in target communities.

2. Ineligible persons or entities

The following are not eligible to apply for the Connectivity Challenge: individual persons who are not representing an eligible organization; any for-profit entity that is attempting to register and submit an application independent of an eligible Principal Organization; or, any government agency that is attempting to register and submit an application independent of an eligible Principal Organization.

Employees of the Competition Sponsor and/or RAMPIT 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.             

3. Location of a proposed project

The location of any proposed project may include any of the following:

• A project based in the United States
• A project based in Canada
• A project based in Mexico
• A project which may include multiple or combined locations in Canada, the United States, and/or Mexico.

Where a project is proposed across (or between) jurisdictional boundaries, including but not limited to national boundaries in and/or between the US, Canada, and/or Mexico, the Competition Sponsor may require the appropriate authorities to show evidence of permission and/or support for such a proposal. Teams may be required to show evidence (or a clear pathway) towards securing the necessary permission(s) either during the application process and/or during any final consideration before a grant may be made. It is the sole discretion of the Competition Sponsor to determine when or if such evidence is required, and it is the responsibility of any relevant team to provide evidence of such authorization(s) upon request. 

4. Financial and Organizational Capacity

All applicants must demonstrate their financial and organizational capacity to carry out the proposed project and to appropriately manage any Award.

5. Treatment and Use of Intellectual Property

Each application should reflect the anticipated ownership, use, and licensing of any intellectual property. 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. The ownership and use of intellectual property arising from this Competition remains with You.

6. Prohibited Use of Award Funds

Award funds must be used for the project for which they are awarded, and may not be used: 

• For non-charitable purposes;
• To carry on propaganda or otherwise to attempt to influence legislation within the meaning of Code Section 4945(d)(1);
• To influence the outcome of any specific public election, or to carry on, directly or indirectly, any voter registration drive within the meaning of Code Section 4945(d)(2); or
• 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.

Advocacy cannot be the primary purpose of the project, but a modest percentage of the project budget - up to 20% - may be allocated to advocacy work.

7. Grant Agreement

The successful Winner will be expected to enter into a grant agreement with the Competition Sponsor, containing key terms and conditions which are separate from these RULES and TERMS posted on this Website for this Competition.

Before any offer of a grant agreement is made, organizations proposing to work together must demonstrate through a fully-executed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) or other similar agreement, executed by all parties, that a single eligible entity or organization will serve as the grantee and will have direction, control, and supervision of the proposed project and management of all grant funds and reporting requirements. NOTE: Each grant agreement governing the use of Awards may vary, depending on the nature of the project and the organization receiving the Award.

8. Reporting

Any Grantee who enters into a separate grant 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. However, it is likely necessary that a minimum of one financial report per year and one narrative report per year may be required.

9. Other Rules

9.1 Your application must be in English.

9.2 You must complete registration to participate in the Competition. Individuals representing an applicable organization must be 18 years of age or older at the time of entry to participate.

9.3 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 Competition Sponsor and/or RAMPIT, contain obscene, provocative, defamatory, or otherwise objectionable or inappropriate content. Competition Sponsor reserves the right to cancel, modify or suspend Competition in whole or in part without liability to You. Competition Sponsor and/or RAMPIT also reserve the right to disqualify You from participating. 

9.4 By participating in the Connectivity Challenge, 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 Competition Sponsor reserves the right, in the Competition Sponsor’s sole discretion, to disqualify the applicable Entry.

9.5 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. Competition Sponsor and/or RAMPIT 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 submit at most one Entry.

9.6 The application requirements for your Entry are clearly described on this website. Your Entry will be assessed initially by five reviewers, 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. Those Judges, each of whom is named on this website, will be responsible for scoring your Entry. The judging criteria are to be applied in the sole discretion of the Judges. By participating in the Connectivity Challenge, You acknowledge and agree to be bound by the final decision of the Judges.

9.7 The Competition Sponsor will review and discuss the top Entries and will determine any Finalists and/or Winners, using criteria that may incorporate considerations beyond the judges’ reviews.

If a Finalist is unable to fully participate in the next phase of the Competition, then they may forfeit their designation as a Finalist, and the next Competitor in the rank order of Entries may be named a Finalist in their place. Final determination of Finalists and Winner rests with the Competition Sponsor.

9.8 The Selection Committee will determine the Winner using judging criteria that may incorporate considerations beyond the judges’ reviews. 

9.9 While RAMPIT, LLC (“RAMPIT”) is providing an online platform for your participation, RAMPIT is not responsible for the payment of any Award(s). Payment of any Award(s) is the sole responsibility of the Competition Sponsor and its designees, and under the TERMS each participant has agreed to look solely to the Competition Sponsor, for the payment of any Award. 

9.10 By submitting your Entry, you agree to release, discharge and hold harmless the Competition Sponsor and RAMPIT and their partners, affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising agencies, agents and their employees, officers, directors and representatives from any Loss arising out of your participation in Competition and the acceptance and use, misuse, or possession of any Award(s). Neither the Competition Sponsor nor RAMPIT 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 Competition entries or entry forms; or alteration of entries or entry forms. Neither the Competition Sponsor nor RAMPIT 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 Competition. In the event of a dispute about the identity of any Competitor, an online registration will be declared as if made by the authorized account holder of the e-mail address submitted at time of entry.

9.11 THIS COMPETITION IS VOID WHERE PROHIBITED. Competitors agree that this Competition 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. 

9.12 If for any reason the Competition 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 RAMPIT that corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of this Competition, RAMPIT 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 Competition. If Competition Sponsor and/or RAMPIT terminates the Competition, it will not retain any rights in the submitted Entries.

9.13 The Competition Sponsor reserves the right in their sole discretion to disqualify any Competitor who is found to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Connectivity Challenge, to be acting in violation of these RULES or the TERMS, or to be acting in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner, or with the intent to disrupt or undermine the legitimate operation of the Connectivity Challenge, or to annoy, abuse, threaten, or harass any other person.

9.14 Entry into the Connectivity Challenge does not constitute entry into any other competition, or promotion, that may be offered by the Competition Sponsor and/or its affiliates or RAMPIT.

9.15 Competition Sponsor and/or RAMPIT reserve the right to disqualify any participant who violates these RULES, the TERMS and any standards of behavior expressed or implied in them.

9.16 The names of the Finalists and Winner may be posted on this website for such period of time as the Competition Sponsor and/or RAMPIT deems reasonable.

Contact Information
You may contact us with any questions or comments about these RULES. Please enter Connectivity Challenge in the subject line of your email. You may reach us at: [email protected].