Spirit of Dutchess County Awards Official Rules and Legal Disclosures

1. General Rules
The Spirit of Dutchess County Award is conducted by the United Way of Dutchess County (UWDC) which is located at 75 Market Street, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601. Submitting a nominee, or voting, constitutes the participants full and unconditional agreement to and acceptance of these Official Rules.

UWDC employees, board members and the immediate family members and persons living in the same household of such persons, are not eligible to participate.

2. Award Categories
Spirit of Dutchess County Awards will be given in 5 categories:

• 1 Online Voting Award: a nominee chosen by the community through the online process
• 1 Individual Award: an individual over 18 years of age
• 1 Youth Award: an individual under 18 years of age
• 1 Community Group Award: two or more individuals of any age who volunteer as a team
• 1 Corporate Group Award: two or more individuals of any age who volunteer as a team on behalf of a workplace

The Online Voting Award will be given to a nominee chosen by the community through the online process.

The other four awards will be designated to those nominated online, but chosen by a Jury.

3. Eligibility
Nominees must be volunteers for a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization located in Dutchess County and this organization must verify that this is the case. Nominees must live, work and/or volunteer in Dutchess County.


Age is determined as of the date of entry. All nominees under the age of 16 must download the Consent and Release Form and send a copy signed by a parent or legal guardian to guarantee that they have provided unrestricted permission and consent for their participation, and that all parties have read the authorization, release and agreement, prior to its execution.

4. Nominations
Log on to www.spiritofdutchess.org to nominate an Individual, Youth or Group of Volunteers.

Nominations must be submitted between April 26, 2010 and May 21, 2010, and online voting at www.spiritofdutchess.org will be open from May 24, 2010 to June 11, 2010. UWDC will approve all nominations prior to posting the information, and will endeavor to post submitted nominations within 48 hours of receipt.

Nominees and awardees from the 2009 Spirit of Dutchess County Awards are not eligible to participate.

There is no cost or fee to nominate or vote. Participants may nominate more than one individual or group of individuals. Receipt of nominations will be acknowledged. UWDC is not responsible for late, lost, delayed, damaged, misdirected, incomplete, illegible, or unintelligible entries. Nominations (text, pictures, videos, or audio) may not contain crude language or content, including, but not limited to: foul language, immoral, or generally unacceptable behavior. Inappropriate submissions will be discarded without being used or considered. UWDC reserves the right to disqualify and remove, without explanation, any nomination which is deemed, in UWDC's discretion, inappropriate, offensive, or defamatory. All entrants must agree on their nomination form to submit to a background check if they are chosen. Those individuals that do not agree to a background check will not be eligible to win.

5. Determining Winners
After nominees are approved by UWDC and posted on the website, www.spiritofdutchess.org, they will be voted on by the community at large. This round of public voting opens on May 24, 2010 and ends on June 11, 2010. It is not necessary to register on the website or participate in the Contest to vote online. General public votes will determine one awardee. For public votes, there may be only one vote per person, per active email address. Individual online votes that are either fraudulently generated or duplicated, or associated with inactive or "dummy" email addresses, are subject to disqualification. UWDC will tabulate all online votes. Each nominees vote tally will be displayed on the website until June 4, 2010, at which point, this tally will be removed.

Awardees will be announced at the Spirit of Dutchess County Awards Breakfast held at the Poughkeepsie Grand on June 23, 2010 at 8:00 am. Tickets for this event must be purchased in advance.

Winners shall be required to complete an affidavit or declaration of eligibility/liability release and a publicity release and such other documents as may be required by UWDC to protect its right to publicize the event.

Failure to comply or return of any prize notification as undeliverable may result in forfeiture of prize and selection of the next highest scoring nominee as the winner. UWDC is not responsible for and shall not be liable for late, lost, misdirected, or unsuccessful efforts to notify winners.

Accepting the prize constitutes permission (except where prohibited by law) to use Awardee's name, hometown, occupation title, and/or likeness for promotional purposes without compensation.

6. Award Grants
A total of 5 grants of $1,000 each will be allocated to organizations designated by awardees.

Each awardee will receive one grant of $1,000 for the nonprofit of their choice. As defined below:
providing basic needs, preparing young children for success, or promoting financial stability.

The organization receiving the award must be a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization registered in Dutchess County, New York, and provide proof of their legal status. UWDC reserves the right to deny the grant to any organization for any reason, in which case, the Award winner should designate another organization, also subject to UWDC’s approval. Such process shall continue until the grant has been allocated.

7. Originality and Rights
By submitting a nomination, the entrant warrants that he/she is the sole author and copyright owner of entry or has permission (via license or otherwise) to use or incorporate those entry portions authored or owned by third parties. Use of images, music, and other works in the public domain may be incorporated into entries. However, photo or video images and materials that infringe on the rights of any third party may not be used unless consent has been obtained.

8. Release and Consent
By submitting a nomination for this award, each entrant automatically confers on UWDC an irrevocable, nonexclusive and unrestricted license to use all submitted information for purposes consistent with UWDC’s mission and communication goals. This includes the right to copy, reproduce, display, or distribute the nomination and all materials submitted as part of the nomination, and to make derivative works based upon this or a substantial portion of it without attribution or prior permission.

By submitting a nomination, you further agree to give to UWDC, and/or the parties and agencies acting on their behalf, the authority and permission to:

A) Have unrestricted rights and permission to photograph, videograph, record, copyright, use, re-use, publish, and republish the entrant and nominees name, image, voice and actions via any recorded means.

B) Permit the use of any materials photographed, videographed or recorded by UWDC for use on television, radio, print, display, internet communications and/or other mediums.

C) Release, discharge and agree to save harmless United Way of Dutchess County and/or the parties and agencies acting on their behalf from any liability by virtue of any blurring, distortion, alteration, optical illusion, or use in composite form whether intentional or otherwise, that may occur or be produced during the production or broadcast processes, or in any subsequent processing claims for libel or invasion of privacy.

D) All entries may be featured on the Spirit of Dutchess County website and/or UWDC's web site. All nominees may still be contacted by UWDC to participate in other marketing activities (i.e. Web site or media promotion) on an ongoing basis.

9. General Terms and Conditions
By participating, entrants agree that UWDC and its members, directors, officers, and staff are not responsible or liable for, and shall be released and held harmless from: (i) telephone, electronic, hardware or software program, network, Internet, or computer malfunctions, failures, or difficulties of any kind; (ii) any condition caused by events beyond the control of the UWDC that may cause the Contest to be disrupted or corrupted; (iii) any printing or typographical errors in any materials associated with the Contest; (iv) any and all losses, damages, rights, claims and actions of any kind in connection with or resulting from participation in the Contest, including claims based on publicity rights, defamation, or invasion of privacy. UWDC reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel, terminate, modify, extend, or suspend the Contest should (in its sole discretion) computer virus, bugs, non-authorized human intervention, fraud, or other causes beyond its control corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, or proper conduct of the Contest. In such cases, judges will select the Awardee's from all eligible entries received prior to and/or after (if appropriate) the action taken by UWDC. UWDC reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual it finds, in its sole discretion, to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Contest or the Contest website. Any confusion of or disputes over Contest rules will be settled by UWDC staff administering the contest.

10. Awardee List/Official Rules
A copy of these official rules and an awardee list may be obtained by sending an email request to spiritofdutchess@unitedwaydutchess.org or by fax request (845) 471-1933. Requests for Awardee List must be received by July 14, 2010, and will be sent after June 23, 2010.