Welcome to 100&Change, a competition for a $100 million grant.

Thank you for your interest in 100&Change. By participating in this Competition and in accordance with these Rules, you may be eligible for a possible grant award from the MacArthur Foundation of $100,000,000 or such other amount determined by the Foundation in its sole discretion. The Rules governing this competition ("RULES") stated here are a part of the Terms & Conditions ("Terms") for use of this website and you are bound thereby to the same extent and by the same steps as described in the Terms. The full Terms are available for your review by accessing them at the foot of various pages on this website. 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 in the Competition. 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 are deemed to consent to all these RULES and the Terms.

Eligibility

The Competition Sponsor welcomes Applications from eligible organizations or entities that have a recognized legal existence and structure under applicable law (State, Federal, or Country) and that are in good standing in the jurisdiction under which they are organized. The following types of organizations are eligible to submit Applications:

• An organization 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 private foundation under section 501(c)(3) of the IRC that has received a tax determination letter from the IRS.
• A for-profit corporation organized under the laws of a State in the United States.
• A for-profit entity organized and in good standing under the laws of the local jurisdiction in which it operates.
• A benefit corporation, flexible purpose organization, or similar “hybrid” organization organized under the laws of a State in the United States.
• A limited liability company or partnership organized under the laws of a State in the United States.
• An organization organized under the laws of a foreign jurisdiction which has received a tax determination letter from the IRS or has been previously determined to be the equivalent of a section 501(c)(3) and 509(a)(1) or (2) organization by NGO Source or the MacArthur Foundation for which an equivalency determination has not expired and would be in effect or could extended through the date of the project to be supported.
• 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.

An Application from any eligible Entity must identify the Project that is the subject of the Application. Organizations may be required to certify that the laws of their governing jurisdiction do not prohibit or restrict the receipt of the Award under this Competition. The Competition Sponsor reserves the right to reject the Application of an organization if, in the Competition Sponsor’s sole discretion, the laws of the governing jurisdiction applicable to the organization would prohibit or limit the Competition Sponsor from proceeding with the Competition as intended or the consideration or making of any Award would impose additional administrative, tax, operational, or legal burdens on the Competition Sponsor.

Ineligible Persons or Entities

Individuals and units of government that are not junior colleges, colleges or universities are not eligible to submit Applications.

No employee or Board member of the MacArthur Foundation (or a member of their immediate family) is permitted to participate either directly or indirectly with any organization submitting an Application; any such participation will disqualify the related Application.

Applications by Collaborations or Groups of Organizations

An organization may collaborate with another organization on a single Application subject to these RULES. However, a single legal entity must have the legal responsibility, authority for and control of the use of any grants funds and be responsible for the reporting on any grant funds and must be able to exercise in fact and law direction, control and supervision of the proposed project and the grant funds.

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 will serve as the Grantee and will have direction, control, and supervision of the proposed project and management of all grant funds and be responsible for all reporting requirements. The fully-executed MOU or similar agreement will be required as part of the application. See Requirements Regarding Any Proposed Collaboration.

Guidance Related to Non-Charitable Applicants

Organization’s applying to the 100&Change Competition that are not recognized as charitable organizations or their equivalent under United States law must ensure that the Competition Sponsor’s funds will be used solely for charitable purposes and will not result in more than incidental private benefit to shareholders or other people, organizations, or entities  and that the incidental benefit is a necessary byproduct of the accomplishment of the charitable purpose. The Competition Sponsor will evaluate this on a case-by-case basis. The Competition Sponsor has prepared a guidance document that addresses many of the general questions that applicants may have regarding these issues. Applicants should consult their own legal counsel for more information and analysis regarding these issues. See Private Benefit Rules.

Expenditure responsibility: The Competition Sponsor is required to exercise expenditure responsibility (as defined in section 4945 of the Internal Revenue Code) and comply with related regulations with respect to grants made to organizations other than those organizations described in section 501(c)(3) and 509(a)(1)(2) or (3) (other than certain supporting organizations described in section 4942(g)(4)(A)(i) or (ii) or an exempt operating foundation described in section 4940 (d)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code). This requires, among other things, that the Competition Sponsor undertake appropriate pre-grant due diligence with respect to the proposed grant and exert all reasonable efforts and establish adequate procedures to (i) see that the grant is spent solely for the purpose for which it is/was made; (ii) obtain full and complete reports from the grantee on how the funds are spend; and (iii) make full and detailed reports with respect to such expenditures to the Internal Revenue Service. The Grantee will be obligated to execute a written Grant Agreement and ensure grant funds be deposited into a separate account maintained for charitable purposes until all funds are spent. The Competition Sponsor is also required to take action to recover any funds that are diverted or not spent for charitable purposes.

Treatment and Use of Intellectual Property

The ownership and use of intellectual property arising from the Award made by the Competition Sponsor is required to be consistent with the Competition Sponsor’s policy on intellectual property. Each Application should reflect the anticipated ownership, use, and licensing of any intellectual property to be generated as a result of the proposed project described in the Application consistent with the policy. For purposes of this Competition, any Award hereunder will be a project award and not a general operating support grant. See Intellectual Property Policy.

Human Subjects Research

Any proposed project involving research on human subjects must comply with the Competition Sponsor’s Policy on Human Subjects Research. (See Human Subjects Research Policy.)

Lobbying/Political Activity

Grant funds may not be used for lobbying purposes as defined in section 4945 and related regulations unless the Grantee is a 501 (c) (3) and 509 (a) (1) or (2) organization and complies with the applicable regulations (See Lobbying Policy.) or used directly or indirectly to participate in, or intervene in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office.

Indirect Costs

The Award made by the Competition Sponsor is expected to be used for the purposes of the project. We realize, however, that in some circumstances an applicant may have necessary overhead that can be fairly allocable to the project. The Competition Sponsor will examine carefully overhead costs that the applicant asserts are attributable to or can be allocable to the project to ensure that the bulk of the award is to be spent on project expenses. In any event, the Competition Sponsor will not allow more than 29% for overhead consistent with the attached policy that describes in more detail the Competition Sponsor’s ordinary approach to (See Indirect Cost Policy.)

Evaluation

• The requirements for your Application are clearly described on this website. Applications that pass the Administrative Review process will be scored by five assigned Participatory Reviewers in order to determine the initial rank order. Next, the top-scoring Applicants (up to 500 or the top 25% if less than 2,000 Applications pass Administrative Review) will be assessed by five Wise Heads each. Applicants are distributed randomly and then assigned to each Wise Head after considering any potential conflicts of interest that a Wise Head may have with respect to an Application.  Assigned Wise Heads will score and comment upon the top-ranking Applications. Both Participatory Reviewers and Wise Heads will use the same Trait Scoring Rubric to score and comment upon their assigned Applicants. Those Wise Heads, each of whom is named on this website, will be responsible for determining the top 50 Applicants. Wise Heads are not permitted to communicate with Applicants regarding a specific application or applicant or with respect to the scoring of any application. the Board of Directors of the Competition Sponsor may select up to 5 Finalists in its sole discretion regardless of the scoring by the Wise Heads. From those Finalists, a single Grantee may be chosen.  The Competition Sponsor reserves the right not to select any Grantee or to select more than one.
• The criteria used by the Board of the Competition Sponsor in evaluating Applicants may not incorporate the same trait scoring rubric employed by previous Participatory Reviewers or Wise Heads. During each round of assessment, Applicants may be required to submit additional information, if necessary – this is particularly relevant for those Applicants who are selected as Finalists. Please familiarize yourself with the Timeline to understand when each of these phases is scheduled.

Other Rules

1. You must complete registration to participate. Individuals representing organizations must be 18 years of age or older at the time of registration. Each person submitting an Application must be authorized to submit the Application and to bind the Entity on whose behalf the Application is being submitted to the Terms and these Rules. Upon request, the individual who submitted an Application must show written authorization to do so on behalf of the Entity entering the Competition. No Entity or individual acting on behalf of any Entity may reside in or be governed by the laws of a country which is prohibited by law, regulation, Executive Order  (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 or its citizens is eligible to make an Application.
2. Your Application should meet the application requirements specified on this website. You are required to register in advance of any deadlines for the submission of an Application, and You must comply with all other deadlines posted on this website. Your Application may not, in the sole discretion of the Competition Sponsor, Lever for Change, and/or CARROT, contain obscene, provocative, hateful, defamatory, or otherwise objectionable or inappropriate content.
3. 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 except as otherwise provided in these Rules. We reserve the right to disqualify any Application made by a participant violating this limitation, regardless of whether all the respective parties had knowledge of such violation.
4. While CARROT, LLC (“CARROT”) is providing an online platform for your participation, CARROT is not responsible for the payment of any Award. Payment of any amounts that may be awarded is the sole responsibility of the Competition Sponsor.
5. By submitting your Application, you agree to release, discharge and hold harmless CARROT, the Competition Sponsor and their partners, affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising agencies, agents, employees, officers, directors and representatives from any claims, damages, expenses, or losses of any kind or nature arising out of your participation in 100&Change and the acceptance and use, misuse, or possession of any Award. CARROT, the Competition Sponsor and their affiliates do not 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 applications or application forms; or alteration of applications or application forms. CARROT, the Competition Sponsor and their affiliates are not 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 application 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 Applicants’ or any other persons’ computers related to or resulting from participation, uploading or downloading of any materials related to this Competition.
6. THIS COMPETITION IS VOID WHERE PROHIBITED. Applicants agree that this Competition shall be subject to and governed by the laws of Illinois and the United States of America and the forum of any dispute shall be in the courts of Cook County, Illinois, United States of America. To the extent permitted by law, the right to litigate, to seek injunctive relief or to make any other recourse to judicial or any other procedure in case of disputes or claims resulting from or in connection with this Competition are hereby excluded and any entrant expressly waives any and all such rights. Certain restrictions may apply.
7. CARROT and the Competition Sponsor reserve the right to disqualify any participant who violates these RULES, the Terms and any standards of behavior expressed or implied in them.
8. Nothing herein represents a commitment by the Competition Sponsor to award any grant to any entity making an Application, participating in, responding to, or submitting subsequent information in response to this competition. Any grant commitment or Award will be evidenced by a Grant Agreement signed by authorized representatives of the Competition Sponsor and the winning Applicant(s).
9. The Competition Sponsor reserves the right to terminate, alter, or suspend this process and Competition at any time. By submitting an Application or information pursuant to this Competition, each Applicant shall be deemed to have acknowledged that the Competition Sponsor shall have no obligation to make any grant and shall have no liability to any applicant or other person or entity should they determine not to proceed with this process or not to make any grants. It is further understood that any grant that may be considered pursuant to this process must satisfy certain legal criteria in the sole discretion of the Competition Sponsor.
10. Each Application should reflect the anticipated ownership, use, and licensing of any intellectual property. You represent and warrant that the Application is an original work created solely by the Applicant, that the Applicant owns all intellectual property in and to the Application, and that no other party has any right, title, claim or interest in the Application, except as expressly identified by You to us in writing in Your Application. Intellectual property rights mean copyrights, topography rights, software rights, database rights, design rights, patents, utility models, trademarks, service marks, domain names and trade secrets.  The Applicant retains all right, title and interest in any inventions, software or work of authorship it invents or creates.  The ownership and use of intellectual property in the Application remains with the Applicant.  All applications and the contents thereof shall remain with the Applicant subject to a perpetual, transferrable, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to the Competition Sponsor and Lever for Change to use the information, content and data (including without limitation  in furtherance of the Competition, to upload to the Lever for Change Bold Solutions Network, and by collecting the information in the Lever for Change database for future challenges or projects).
11. Application content may be shared with third parties engaged to assist the Competition Sponsor with the selection process for the Award, including with fellow Applicants, other Judges, experts retained by the Competition Sponsor to assist selected Applicants, affiliates of the Competition Sponsor, technical assistance providers and other employees, directors and agents of the Competition Sponsor necessary for the administration of the Competition. The Competition Sponsor and Lever for Change may also use such information in connection with outside studies or research, or with respect to other charitable purposes. You also acknowledge and agree that the Application and its contents (including the project abstract, the description of the project design and methodology) may be posted for viewing by the general public, including in a database maintained by Lever for Change known as the Bold Solutions Network, or other databases that will be available to other potential donors and third parties. As a condition of entry, You hereby grant the Competition Sponsor and Lever for Change a transferable, perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to use, reproduce, adapt, modify, publish, distribute, publicly perform, create a derivative work from, and publicly display contents of the Application and the Application content, including, without limitation, entrant’s names, biographical information, demos, screenshots, portraits, pictures, videos, voices, likenesses, images, statements and other information for the purposes described herein.  Should an Applicant’s project be funded, the Competition Sponsor and or Lever for Change reserve the right to post for viewing by the general public the information about the grant, including the size of the grant award. Applications will not be returned to Applicants. Each Applicant should retain a copy of its Application.
12. Where a license in perpetuity is not permitted by law or is unenforceable in Your jurisdiction, You grant the license(s) described above for the maximum duration permitted by law. In jurisdictions where a royalty (payment) must be agreed in respect of the license(s) described above, You agree that the royalty shall be zero (or the minimum amount permitted by applicable law). You agree and acknowledge that the opportunity to participate in the Competition and the payment of any sum(s) payable to You under these Rules fully satisfies any obligation on Lever for Change and/or the Competition Sponsor to provide equitable and adequate remuneration for the rights granted hereunder.
13. To the extent permitted by law, You irrevocably agree that if Your Application is funded, Lever for Change, the Competition Sponsor and their respective licensees shall be entitled to use Your name, likeness and biographical information for all advertising, marketing, publicity and public relations purposes without additional remuneration. The Applicant hereby waives any right to any form of compensation and all legal claims, including for libel, slander, invasion of privacy, and copyright infringement, related to the Application’s content and its use.
14. Additional Privacy Information: The following personal information will be collected by Competition Sponsor and  Lever for Change in this Competition for the purposes of administering the Competition and seeking to attract funding for top ranked Applicants   by allowing other donors to review and fund projects that may not have been funded by the Competition Sponsor: a contact name, phone number, and email address for the Application, as well as pertinent educational, employment, and biographical information of relevant members of the Applicant. Should an Applicant be a Finalist in the Competition, more personal information may be collected in the future. Applicant contact information will be kept by Competition Sponsor and Lever for Change for no longer than necessary to fulfill the above stated purpose. Applicants agree that their personal information will be stored and processed by Competition Sponsor in the United States. Applicant personal information may also be transferred to countries outside of their jurisdiction of residence, including the United States. Such other countries may not have privacy laws and regulations that provide the same level of protection to those that exist in Your jurisdiction of residence. By providing personal information in connection with the Competition, Applicants hereby expressly consent to such transfers of their personal information to the United States or other countries. Applicants have the right to review, rectify or delete any personal data held by Lever for Change or Competition Sponsor by contacting Lever for Change by email. Applicants also have the right to lodge questions or complaints with a supervisory authority at any time. Lever for Change's Privacy Policy can be reviewed here. Competition Sponsor’s Privacy Notice can be reviewed here. Lever for Change agrees to ensure that its collection of all personal information complies with all applicable laws. Where required by applicable laws, Lever for Change will deploy appropriate notices and functionality to obtain authorizations and consents as required.
15. The Competition Sponsor may determine in its sole discretion to close this Competition without making any Award(s) or other grants at any time. The Competition Sponsor reserves the right to stop all activity for the Competition and/or to make substantive changes to the Competition, which might preclude certain Users from participating further.

Other Grants and Separate Agreement(s)

The Competition Sponsor reserves the right but is under no obligation to make grants to finalists to defray costs incurred by such organizations in responding to requests of the Competition Sponsor or in participating in the Competition. Any Applicant designated by the Competition Sponsor to receive any grants, including the Award, will be required to enter into an additional separate agreement with and acceptable to the Competition Sponsor pursuant to which, among other things, it reaffirms in writing its agreement to specific key terms and conditions and Rules.

In addition, if your organization or collaboration is selected by the Competition Sponsor you will be required to provide additional information during the specific stages of the Competition (refer to the Timeline), including but not limited to:

• A more detailed budget for the use of funds over the time period necessary to complete the proposed project.
• An income statement for the project showing the expected and necessary revenues to sustain the Project over the time span necessary to achieve the solution proposed in the Application. You may assume that grant funds, if awarded, would be made in quarterly installments.
• Tax Determination Letter, if applicable.
• Articles of Incorporation, Charter, or similar documentation reflecting the organization is duly organized and qualified to do business.
• An organizational chart showing the roles and responsibilities of the key persons associated with the project.
• Biographies of project’s key staff, detailing their experience relevant to the proposed project.
• Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Plan for the proposed solution. Refer to the Guidance for Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning.
• Existing policies, if any, addressing conflicts of interest, whistleblower, internal controls, anti-money laundering, intellectual property, equal employment, human subjects research, code of conduct, sexual harassment and other workplace misconduct, ethics, gifts, and any similar policies governing the organization.

The Competition Sponsor reserves the right to perform background checks prior to the determination of any grantees on key individuals associated with the proposed solution that will require authorization from the individuals and the disclosure of certain personal information. The refusal by the key individuals to provide necessary authorizations or information may disqualify the Application.

Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning

Selected Applicants will be required to submit a Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Plan. (Refer to the Guidance for Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning.) The Competition Sponsor values monitoring, evaluation, and learning activities that are capable of flexing as the context may change and as the work evolves, yet sufficiently rigorous to document and measure results, learn from them, course correct, and adapt, as necessary.

• Monitoring is a process for systematically collecting data and information (e.g., ongoing documentation, landscape tracking, organization performance/capacity assessment). Monitoring includes collecting information to assess your project’s performance and the progress toward intended changes (outcomes) of your Foundation-supported work.
• Evaluation is a systematic and objective assessment of the work and is used to measure the expected changes or contributions (impact) of the project over time. Evaluation is critical to determining if the project is on track to meet its targets, to understanding “what works,” and to determine if the project is meeting its expected changes and impacts.
• Learning is an ongoing activity that uses data generated from the evaluation and occurs incrementally and iteratively over time. Learning is used to reflect on how a project is meeting its intended and unintended changes, what is and is not working, and ensure a solution is effective and remains relevant.

The Competition Sponsor believes that combined, monitoring, evaluation, and learning leads to better informed decision-making, improvements, and more effective stewardship of resources, which in turn provide selected Applicants the information needed to maximize the results of their solutions.

Expectations of Finalists

Finalists may be asked to attend an event to present their proposed project to the Board of the Competition Sponsor and other attendees invited by the Competition Sponsor that may include other funding organizations. Finalists are required to attend the event if it is scheduled, and You may be asked to prepare additional materials in advance or upon the date of the event. You will be required to respond to any invitations to attend any events as promptly and as clearly as possible. Reasonable travel expenses and other costs and requirements related to the event will be negotiated and may be reflected in an additional agreement.

Grant Agreement

The successful Applicant will be expected to enter into a Grant Agreement with the Competition Sponsor containing key terms and conditions, which are separate from the Rules and Terms and Conditions posted on this website for this Competition. To ensure that you are prepared to enter into such an agreement, guidance is provided. (See Sample Provisions for Grant Agreement with Grantee.) The sample provisions do not constitute all of the provisions that might be in the final grant agreement. Failure to agree to the final terms may disqualify the Applicant and the Competition Sponsor reserves the right to select another recipient.

Reporting

An Applicant awarded a grant under 100&Change will be required to report to the Competition Sponsor progress towards milestone and other goals. Those reporting requirements will vary, based on the proposed project. However, it is likely that at least in the first year a minimum of four financial reports per year with an additional two narrative reports per year may be required.

Contact Information

You may contact us with any questions or comments about these RULES. Please enter “100&Change” in the subject line of your email. You may reach us by email.