Challenge Rules

How many more lives can you save between August 1 and October 31 this year than you did during these three months last year?

Save at least 300 more lives and you’ll be eligible to win big. The shelter contestant that saves the most additional lives in the country wins $100,000; the shelters that save the most additional lives in each of the five designated Divisions of the U.S. win $20,000; and the shelter that does the most to engage community support wins $25,000! Plus, the shelters that achieve the biggest percent increase in lives saved in each Division win $10,000.

Challenge Timeline

When the Challenge Happens: March 13, 2012 – November 30, 2012.

When Applications Are Due: Apply to compete in the Qualifying Heat from noon ET on Tuesday, March 13 through midnight ET on Thursday, March 15, or until we have received 150 completed applications – whichever comes first.  NOTE: Due to technical difficulties with the online application, the application period is extended through midnight ET on Friday, March 16.  

When the Qualifying Heat Happens: From noon ET Thursday, April 5 through midnight ET on Monday, April 16, your community can vote to send you to the Challenge.

When Contestants Are Announced: On Tuesday, April 17, the 50 official contestants in the 2012 Challenge will be announced as follows: the 5 shelters with the most Qualifying Heat votes in each Division plus the 25 “best of the rest,”—that is the next 25 shelters with the most votes nationally, regardless of their Division.

When the Competition Happens: August 1 through October 31, 2012, contestants compete to increase lives saved.

When Winners Are Announced: Winning shelters will be announced on or around Friday, November 30th, 2012.

Who can compete?

1. Legal grant recipients. You must be a 501(c)(3) organization or a government agency capable of receiving grant funds and fulfilling an animal welfare or protection mission in the United States, including Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and you must have that status from the time that you apply to compete in the Qualifying Heat through the awarding of the grants at the end of the Challenge.

2. Family and friends not eligible. Current ASPCA Partnership™ partner agencies and members of the Mayor's Alliance for New York City's Animals may not compete in the Challenge. Members of the family/household of ASPCA staff or anyone else who has an actual or potential conflict of interest must disclose the conflict of interest before March 30, 2012 by contacting the ASPCA, which will make a determination regarding participation. Winners of the 2011 Challenge $100,000 Grand Prize, $25,000 Second Place and $25,000 Community Engagement Award may not compete in the 2012 Challenge. Organizations that received more than $150,000 in ASPCA grant funds between March 30, 2011 and March 12, 2012 will not be eligible to compete.

3. Minimum intake of 1,000. In order to compete in the Challenge, an organization must have a calendar year 2011 minimum intake of 1,000 dogs and/or cats. Multiple location shelters that are a single legal entity are welcome to apply as a single agency as long as the total intake at all locations combined was at least 1,000 for the 2011 calendar year.

4. Positive attitudes. In the spirit of lifting up the cause to attract positive participation from the public, competing agencies commit to ensuring that its employees, board members and/or volunteers, while speaking on behalf of the organization, refrain from badmouthing, sabotaging, profanity, verbal abuse, ad hominem attacks and other forms of incivility towards or about any other animal welfare agencies or professionals between March 13, 2012 and December 1, 2012. This, of course, does not preclude an agency’s leadership from conducting respectful dialogue directly with other agencies when/if concerns arise.

5. Limit of 50 contestants. In order to ensure that the ASPCA can provide the necessary support for a successful Challenge experience for all contestants, we have set the contest limit at 50 shelters that earned the most votes in the Qualifying Heat as follows: the top five from each Division (described below) plus the 25 “best of the rest.”

The ASPCA has identified five Divisions for this Challenge

West Division: Alaska, California, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Nevada, Washington and Wyoming;

South Central Division: Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah;

North Central Division*: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin;

Southeast Division: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Virginia;

Northeast Division*: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington DC, and West Virginia.

*This rule was modified to alter these divisions on April 18, 2012.

How do shelters enter?

6. Apply for the Qualifying Heat. To get into the Qualifying Heat, you must apply online between Noon ET Tuesday, March 13 and before whichever comes first: either midnight ET Thursday, March 15 or the ASPCA has received 150 completed applications. In order to complete your application, you will be required to submit a Challenge Agreement signed by two persons with legal signing authority for your agency—for example, your Executive Director and your Board President or your Agency Director and the Government Official to whom you report. Although you will submit your signed Agreement electronically, the Agreement must bear a live signature and then be scanned or faxed. Electronic signatures or stamp pad signatures will not be accepted. Once we have verified your complete application information and that your agency meets the Challenge 2012 eligibility requirements, we will notify your primary contact by email that you are entered into the Qualifying Heat.

7. Get your community to send you to the Challenge. You will need the help of your community to win the Challenge, so get them behind you right from the start by getting them to vote you into the contest during the Qualifying Heat from noon ET Thursday, April 5 through midnight ET on Monday, April 16. The five shelters with the most votes in each Division (described above) and the 25 “best of the rest” with the next most votes nationally will be the official 50 contestants in the 2012 Challenge.

8. Waiting list. The shelters that place 26 through 30 in the Qualifying Heat “best of the rest” will have the option of being on a waiting list for the Challenge. To hold a place on the waiting list, these shelters must submit baseline data along with the actual contestants. In the event that a shelter leaves the Challenge before July 16, 2012, the shelter at the top of the waiting list will have the option of competing in the Challenge.

What counts as a life saved?

9. Live exits via adoption, alternative placements and return-to-owner (RTO). You'll be counting total feline and canine live exits from August 1 through October 31, 2012, and comparing them to total live exits from August 1 through October 31, 2011. Live exits are defined as animals who leave your shelter through adoption (including on-site, mobile, satellite and event adoptions), alternative placements (such as barn cat programs and placements with law enforcement) and return-to-owner (RTO) from your shelter. RTO in the field counts if, in calendar year 2011, you counted those animals in your software system as shelter intake before sending them back home.

10. Multi-agency adoption events. You can count an adoption from a multi-agency adoption event as a live exit as long as:

  1. your agency had possession and legal ownership of the dog or cat (and proof of same) at least 24 hours prior to the adoption event,
  2. your agency serves as the main contact for adopters post-adoption, including accepting the animal if returned and providing post-adoption follow-up and support, and
  3. your agency retains possession and ownership of any animals remaining un-adopted at the end of the event.

11. Transfers to rescues and adoption agencies. Animals may be transferred to rescues and other adoption agencies, but will ONLY be counted as lives saved when you have confirmed legal adoption of that animal from the receiving agency and recorded the information on a Transfer-Outcomes Report. This Transfer-Outcomes Report must be accompanied by an email affirming that the information in the spreadsheet is true and accurate. This spreadsheet is intended to help you track the status of animals transferred while helping us ensure fairness for all contestants by verifying that transfers have resulted in adoptions. You may customize the Transfer-Outcomes Report to allow you to more easily copy/paste data from your existing software or reports, however customized forms must be submitted for approval to the ASPCA by June 28, 2012.

12. Transferring in. Transferring animals in can be a great strategy to increase potential adopter interest and foot traffic. However, you must communicate with your other local shelters to ensure that you are not decreasing the chances for community animals to be saved by bringing animals in from outside the community. Just to clarify, transferring animals into your shelter does not count as lives saved until those animals are adopted.

Animals transferred to or from another contestant will count as lives saved for BOTH contestants upon adoption confirmation.

13. Foster isn't adoption. Animals transferred to foster care will be counted ONLY once they have been legally adopted.

14. Sanctuary doesn't qualify. Moving animals to sanctuary care will not qualify for this Challenge. Why? Because one of our big objectives is to build the field's capacity to engage the public in saving more lives.

15. Spay/neuter required. Since our intention is to save more lives, we don't want to increase live exits without ensuring that those animals will not reproduce. All animals, including puppies and kittens, must be altered before transferring ownership of them to their adopters. Spay/neuter vouchers do not qualify.

16. Proof of adoption or reclaim. Contestants may be asked to supply copies of signed adoption contracts or signed reclaim documents for adoptions and reclaims reported during the Challenge. The ASPCA reserves the right to request names and contact information of any adopter and/or reclaiming family (as well as their consent to be contacted by us for this purpose) to be used for the sole purpose of confirming that the transactions took place. Adoptions performed by an agency or group receiving your transfers will need to be confirmed through the use of a Transfer-Outcomes Report or pre-approved customized report, accompanied by an email affirming that the information in the spreadsheet is true and accurate. (See # 11 above.)

What data do we report?

17. Animal stats. Baseline data (August, September and October 2011, along with July 2012 transfers out and end-count data only) and Challenge data (August, September and October 2012) will be entered into the Animal Stats Database. You will need to collect and report four things:

  1. all intake by species (broken out by source: stray, owner surrender, transfer in, returned within 30 days, other);
  2. all outcomes by species (adopted, transferred out, alternatively placed, RTO, euthanized - including by owner request, died or lost in care);
  3. number of canines and felines in your care at the end of each reporting month; and
  4. number of adoptions completed by transfer receiving agencies that are confirmed during the reporting month.

18. Daily totals. In order to keep staff, volunteers and the public tuned in to your progress, you will enter a daily total for adoptions in an electronic counter provided by the ASPCA that you can post on your website and/or Facebook page. All daily totals will be aggregated on an electronic counter on the ASPCA’s website to show the daily progress of all 50 contestants. You will be required to upload your totals daily, whether or not you choose to post your electronic counter on your website. Note that these numbers represent your unofficial daily totals. Leaderboard numbers and prizes will be determined by the data you submit to the Animal Stats Database (see #17) once it is verified by our data team.

19. Supporter stats. In order to assess how the Challenge helps you increase support for your agency, you will submit supporter stats at the beginning and end of the contest as follows:

  • # of active volunteers on 5/1/12 and 10/31/12
  • # of active foster families on 5/1/12 and 10/31/12
  • # of newsletter (including e-newsletter) subscribers on 5/1/12 and 10/31/12
  • # of facebook fans on 5/1/12 and 10/31/12

Note: Whether or not your Supporter Stats improve during the Challenge will have no bearing on your ability or eligibility to win any of the grants with the exception of the Community Engagement Award.

20. System reports and physical counts. In order to ensure accuracy in animal data, agencies will be required to provide the shelter software system reports used to generate the data for the baseline and Challenge months. These reports should clearly reconcile your animal data. Agencies will also be required to conduct and document a physical animal count on the last day of July, August, September and October 2012.

Community Engagement

21. Community engagement. In order to demonstrate your work to engage your community in saving lives, you will have a profile on the Challenge website that links to your own website and hosts a feed from your Facebook page. By using a designated hashtag on any of your Facebook posts that are relevant to the Challenge, your Facebook stream on the Challenge website will tell the story of your ongoing work with staff, volunteers and community members to save more lives throughout the Challenge. If you do not yet have a Facebook page, we can provide instruction on setting one up as well as instruction on using hashtags.

22. Transparency. If your agency is shy, this is probably not the Challenge for you. Participation means you agree in advance to allow the ASPCA to use and publish your shelter's annual intake as well as live exit data for the baseline period and the Challenge period. No other individual agency data will be shared without the express permission of the agency; however, the ASPCA may publish aggregate data for a state or region. Likewise, at the conclusion of the Challenge, the ASPCA may publish details of any programs or practices used by any individual shelters during the Challenge. The ASPCA will make our best efforts to acknowledge the work of the competing organizations whenever we report data, programs or practices. Our intention is to provide a fully transparent and informative "apples to apples" approach for understanding and advancing successful live release programs. We also want to draw more positive attention to all of our work together to save lives, so we may share details of your events, pictures and stories of your work. In the Challenge Agreement, you will find terms for using each others' names and logos in promotional materials and press releases.

Who wins?

Everybody! Most of all, the animals! The whole point of the $100K Challenge is to save more cats and dogs, now and in the future!

We know you want and need the money to save even more lives. We know you want and need recognition for having increased your live exits more than anyone else so that you can get all kinds of additional good PR in your community, raise more funds and expand your life-saving work.

Can we all agree, though, that no matter who ultimately gets the grant money, everybody wins by saving more lives?! And the winnings yield "interest" because all of the amazing things you figure out in the process of increasing your lives saved will become invaluable tools and knowledge for everybody else in the field.

In other words, don’t do this for the money. Do it to build your team, try new programs, get your community behind you and most of all – to save more lives!

$100K Challenge Prize Grants

23. We Did It! $1,000 Professional Development grants. Contestants that finish the Challenge and submit final data reports on time will be eligible to win a $1,000 We Did It! scholarship to send a leadership level staff person to a Challenge Debrief at the Society for Animal Welfare Administrators (SAWA) 2012 Annual Conference in St. Petersburg, FL, in November. This grant is not transferable to other professional development opportunities.

24. Month one Division leaders $5,000 Fast Start grants. At the end of the first month of the Challenge (August 31, 2012), the agency in each Division that has increased lives saved the most over their August 2011 baseline will be eligible to win a $5,000 grant. In the event of a tie, the prize grant will be split evenly between any contestants tied for that grant. Winning a Fast Start grant does not affect the ability of an agency to win any other prize described herein.

25. Save 300 more lives and win $5,000. Every contestant that saves at least 300 more cats, kittens, dogs and puppies from August 1, through October 31, 2012 compared to the same three months in 2011 will be eligible to win $5,000 and will be qualified as potential winners of the following large prizes.

26. $10,000 Most Improved Player grants. The contestant that saves at least 300 more cats, kittens, dogs and puppies and achieves the largest percent increase in lives saved in each Division will be eligible for a $10,000 grant.

27. $20,000 Best in Division grants. The contestant that achieves the largest increase in lives saved – beyond the qualifying 300 – in each Division will be eligible for a $20,000 Best in Division grant. The winner of the $100,000 grand prize grant will be considered the best in their Division, making for a total of four Best in Division prizes. However, the Grand Prize winner will NOT be awarded the $20,000 Best in Division prize in addition to their $100,000.

28. $25,000 Second Place grant. The contestant that saves the second largest number of additional cats, kittens, dogs and puppies beyond the qualifying 300 lives saved will be eligible to win the $25,000 Second Place grant!

29. $100,000 Grand Prize grant. The contestant that achieves the largest increase in lives saved – beyond the qualifying 300 – will be eligible to win the $100,000 Grand Prize grant!

30. $25,000 Community Engagement Award. The contestant that saves at least 300 more cats, kittens, dogs and puppies, and demonstrates the best job of getting its community involved in its life-saving efforts during the Challenge will be eligible to win the $25,000 Community Engagement Award.

Three Community Engagement Award finalists will be confirmed on or about November 15, 2012, based on the contestants having saved the qualifying 300 more lives and earned the most points in the Community Engagement online voting from October 17 to October 31, 2012. The Community Engagement winner will be chosen by the ASPCA Grants Committee. The choice will be based on voting results and review of the finalists’ Facebook feed on the Challenge site for evidence of:

  • numbers and diversity of people the Contestant engaged during the Challenge;
  • breadth of ways the community participated to help save lives;
  • level of community enthusiasm for saving homeless animals as evidenced by photos, stories, and videos;
  • event promotion and event results; and
  • media coverage.

31. The same agency can win multiple prizes. One agency can win the $100,000 Grand Prize grant and the $25,000 Community Engagement Award, but the Grand Prize winner will not be awarded the Best in Division or Most Improved Player grants. One agency can win the $25,000 Second Place grant and/or the $25,000 Community Engagement Award, and/or the Best in Division $20,000 grant, and/or the $10,000 Most Improved Player grant.

32. In the event of a tie for any of the prizes described above, the prize grant will be split evenly between any contestants tied for that grant.

33. In the event that no contestant increases lives saved by at least 300 animals during the Challenge, no one will win or receive the $100,000 grand prize grant, the $25,000 second place grant or the $25,000 Community Engagement Award. In the event that no contestant within a Division increases lives saved by at least 300 animals during the Challenge, there will be no $20,000 winner in that Division.

Please note that all winners of the above prizes will be required to submit an application through the ASPCA’s online grants system, which is subject to formal grant approval, per the ASPCA’s internal audit regulations. The online application is a short form comprised mostly of fill-in fields.

Are there restrictions on how we use the prize money?

34. Save more lives. It is our intention that these grants be used to save more lives. Therefore prize grant awards may be used only to support adoption, RTO, targeted spay/neuter, foster care or safety net outreach programs for animals at risk of becoming homeless. Grant recipients may be asked to report on the use of the grant funds.

35. Disbursing funds to other agencies. Winners may not disburse prize grant money to other agencies without prior written consent of the ASPCA. Such consent will be considered only if all of the following are true:

  • the receiving agency(ies)is a 501(c)(3) organization in good standing with the Internal Revenue Service or a government agency that is capable of accepting grant funds;
  • the receiving agency(ies) fulfills an animal welfare mission;
  • the receiving agency(ies) participated directly in saving lives during the Challenge;
  • the receiving agency(ies) agrees in writing that grant funds will only be used for the purpose of saving lives, as described above; and
  • re-granting these grant funds to another agency(ies) does not in any way violate these Challenge rules or any laws governing charitable organizations in the location.

A winner wishing to re-grant some of its grant money must submit proof of all of the above in writing, along with the names, identifying information and amount and reason for grant disbursement to the ASPCA as soon as possible but absolutely no later than November 1, 2012. The ASPCA will, in its sole discretion, determine if such grant disbursement will be acceptable and provide a written approval or declination within 15 business days. The subgrantee may be asked to sign a grant agreement letter to ensure their compliance with the normal terms and conditions of the grant.

What else?

36. Help from the ASPCA. You are encouraged to use any and all resources and support you can from the www.aspcapro.org and the ASPCA Rachael Ray $100K Challenge websites, and to take any ASPCA training that is offered. In addition, opportunities may arise with respect to streaming videos of your efforts or other content online. We will make every effort to provide the same level of support and resources for all Challenge contestants; however, it's up to you to make the most of what we provide. You are welcome to contact ASPCA staff for their knowledge and expertise in animal sheltering practices and for help networking with other colleagues. The ASPCA is not responsible for differences in how contestants use ASPCA resources.

37. Promoting your efforts: It goes without saying that you will benefit tremendously by letting your community/media outlets know about your participation in this Challenge. We will promote the Challenge and your participation to the media and other outlets available to us, however we cannot be held responsible for uneven coverage by the media or other channels. You will need to follow-up with your local media contacts in order to ensure the best possible coverage of your efforts.

38. Help from outside the ASPCA. You are strongly encouraged to use any and all additional support you can gain from your boards, volunteers, members, friends, local businesses and associations, local media, foundations, etc. The more people you engage in your efforts, the greater the ultimate gains for your agency and for the animals it serves! For great resources, visit www.ASPCApro.org and make sure to check out our webinars.

39. Finish your paperwork—and be quick about it. All contestants must comply with all ASPCA data submission requirements and grant application and reporting requirements, and must meet all deadlines. Failure to do so will automatically disqualify the contestant.

40. Call us back promptly! During the vetting of both baseline and Challenge monthly data, we may note potential data entry issues or have other questions that require a quick response. By entering the contest, you are agreeing to make available a team member with decision-making authority and knowledge of the contest, operations and data. This team member must be available to respond to questions within 24 hours.

41. Do the right thing! Contestants must at all times act in the best interests of the welfare of the animals in their care and in their communities. Any agency deemed by the ASPCA to be jeopardizing the welfare of animals will be immediately disqualified from competing. This will be determined at the sole discretion of the ASPCA. Jeopardizing the welfare of animals includes, but is not limited to: failure to act in good faith to make adoptions and transfers only to families and other agencies who are reasonably equipped to provide humane care for the animals; accepting animals for adoption from outside of one's service area to the clear detriment of animals in other shelter facilities within the same service area; breeding animals in order to provide kittens or puppies for adoption; failure to spay or neuter an animal prior to turning the animal over to an adopter; and/or failing to provide humane care to all of the animals within one's custody. Likewise, contestants must operate within all applicable federal, state and local laws throughout the duration of the Challenge.

42. Play well. While good-natured competition that leads to an increase in the numbers of lives we all save together is strongly encouraged, badmouthing, sabotaging, profanity and other forms of poor sportspersonship between contestants or Divisions will not be tolerated. Likewise, disrespectful or destructive public communications about other animal welfare agencies or animal welfare professionals will be grounds for disqualification.

43. Don't cheat. Falsifying animal data, using a third-party broker to increase your votes, or taking any other steps to boost your vote total OTHER than engaging your community is prohibited. If we suspect fraud, we reserve the right to investigate and disqualify anyone from the Challenge on that basis.

44. No double dipping. Contestants will be ineligible to receive non-Challenge grants from the ASPCA between April 16 and December 1, 2012, if those funds could, in the opinion of the ASPCA, be used to unfair advantage during the competition. Examples of allowable grants during the Challenge period include anti-cruelty response, disaster/emergency response, and spay/neuter provided that the funds are NOT used to spay/neuter shelter animals available for adoption.

45. We're the deciders. Determination of violation of any of these rules is solely the purview of the ASPCA. The ASPCA will actively engage the expertise of our staff, including our Shelter Operations, Shelter Medicine and Animal Cruelty Investigations teams in making such determinations. If the ASPCA makes a determination of rule violation, the contestant will be notified immediately in writing of their violation and they will automatically be disqualified from participation in the Challenge. In the interest of full transparency, if the ASPCA disqualifies a participant, our reasons for doing so will be published. Likewise, if a contestant withdraws from the Challenge, reason for the withdrawal will be published.

A few words from our lawyers

The ASPCA Rachael Ray $100K Challenge (the "Challenge") is subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations.

Your participation in the Challenge constitutes your full and unconditional agreement to abide by the letter and spirit of these Rules and ASPCA's decisions regarding their interpretation. The ASPCA's decisions are final and binding in all matters related to this Challenge.

Challenge contestants ("Contestants") shall have no right of approval, no claim of compensation and no claim (including, without limitation, claims based on invasion of privacy, defamation or right of publicity) arising out of any use of their name, picture, likeness, or materials. Each Contestant releases and holds ASPCA and its directors, officers, employees, representatives, and/or agents harmless from and against any claims, costs, injuries, losses or damages of any kind arising out of or in connection with the Challenge.

ASPCA is not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by technical or human error, which may occur in the processing of data in this Challenge or in the running of this Challenge. ASPCA is not responsible for, and expressly disclaims any liability arising from: (i) the use of information by third parties, or from any error, defect, omission, theft, destruction or alteration of, or unauthorized access to, Challenge entries; (ii) any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft, destruction, or unauthorized access to the site; (iii) technical, network, electronic, computer, hardware or software failures of any kind, and/or (iv) injury or damage to any Challenge contestant or to any other person, or to the Challenge contestant's (or other person's) computer, other equipment, relating to or resulting from participation in the Challenge, or from downloading materials or accessing the Challenge.

If, for any reason, the ASPCA determines that the Challenge is not capable of running as planned, ASPCA reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Challenge. In the interest of full transparency, if the ASPCA cancels, terminates, modifies or suspends the Challenge, our reasons for doing so will be published.

Each Contestant agrees that to the fullest extent permitted by law (i) any claims, judgments and awards shall be limited to actual out-of-pocket costs incurred by such Contestant, but in no event attorney's fees; and (ii) under no circumstances will any contestant be permitted to obtain any award for, and contestant hereby waives all rights to claim, incidental, punitive or consequential damages.

CONSTRUCTION AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION: The construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Rules, and all issues and questions relating thereto, along with the rights and obligations of all Contestants and of the ASPCA, shall be construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York, without giving effect to its conflict of law rules. In the event that any provision of these Rules is determined to be invalid or otherwise unenforceable, such determination shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision, and these Rules shall be construed in accordance with their terms as if the invalid or unenforceable provision was not contained therein.

Any specific waiver of any obligation hereunder by ASPCA does not constitute a general waiver of that obligation nor of any other obligation of Contestants.

Any dispute concerning this Challenge shall be submitted to binding arbitration in New York within one (1) year from the date that the cause of action arose (or, if multiple cause of actions are involved, from the date that the first cause of action arose), with such arbitration conducted pursuant to the then prevailing rules of the American Arbitration Association. To the fullest extent permitted by law, no arbitration brought pursuant to these Rules shall be joined to any other arbitration initiated pursuant to these Rules.

COPYRIGHT: By participating in this Challenge, each Contestant grants to ASPCA a nonexclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual and irrevocable license to use materials the Contestant submits in connection with the Challenge, in whole or in part, for any ASPCA purpose and in any manner or media (including, without limitation, the Internet). Each Contestant agrees that it will use its best efforts to have its employees, consultants, volunteers, officers and directors sign any additional licenses or releases that ASPCA may require. Each Contestant agrees that if the Contestant wins Challenge funds, Contestant will sign any additional license or release that ASPCA may require.

CONTESTANT ACKNOWLEDGES THAT MATERIALS SUBMITTED IN CONNECTION WITH THIS CHALLENGE MAY BE POSTED ON THE ASPCA's WEBSITE(S), IN ASPCA'S SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE DISCRETION. Notwithstanding the foregoing, ASPCA and Contestant agree that ASPCA shall not publish any individual agency's data, except total annual canine and feline intake as well as live release data for August, September and October 2011 and 2012, without the express written consent of the agency, as described above. Aggregate data, individual live release data and individual agencies' narratives, photos, stories and details of programs and practices, however, may be published by the ASPCA without such consent.

GENERAL RELEASE: By competing in this Challenge, each Contestant releases ASPCA and each of its respective directors, officers, employees, representatives and agents from any liability whatsoever for any claims, costs, injuries, losses or damages of any kind arising out of or in connection with the Challenge and/or the acceptance, possession or use of any award (including, without limitation, claims, costs, injuries, losses or damages related to personal injuries, death, damage to, loss or destruction of property, rights of publicity or privacy, defamation or portrayal in a false light). ASPCA will not be responsible for typographical, printing or other errors in these Rules or in other materials relating to the Challenge.

In conclusion, we know all these rules are starting to feel a little onerous, but you know how some people might get a little crazy at the prospect of over $500,000 in grant money. The bottom line is: we all want to do our very best to protect the welfare of all the animals within our collective care and to save as many lives as possible. So let's everybody keep our eye on that prize and the majority of these rules will never be an issue!

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