2013 SOCIAL VENTURE NETWORK
INNOVATION AWARDS
Application Form
Application Deadline:
11:59pm PST, May 8, 2013
Date:
Your Name:
Title (Your role** with organization, e.g., CEO, founder, executive director, president,
etc.):
Name of your organization:
Date (day, month, year) your organization was founded:
Date you commenced operations** (i.e. the day, month and year your organization
started offering its products, services, programs, etc. to its intended audience, i.e.
customers, recipients):
Please note: If your organization has been operating for more than 7 years or for less
than 6 months, you are NOT eligible for the 2013 SVN Innovation Awards. If you have a
question about whether you meet these requirements, please contact SVN by emailing
awards@svn.org before you submit an application.
Address:
City:
Phone:
E-mail:
State:
Fax:
Web site:
Zip:
Country:
Number of employees:
** It may be helpful for applicants to become familiar with the SVN Innovation Award winners from the past
six years to get guidance as to what SVN seeks when it asks how an organization is “working to build a more
just and sustainable world.” Summaries of honorees from the last six years can be found on SVN’s website
at http://www.svn.org/awards
Social Venture Network
Phone: (415) 561-6501 | Fax: (415) 561-6435 | P.O. Box 29221 San Francisco, CA 94129 | www.svn.org
Page 1 of 8
If your organization is For-Profit, please provide this information:
Your percentage of ownership:
Annual revenues, 2010:
Annual revenues, 2011:
Annual revenues, 2012:
Projected revenues, 2013:
If your organization is Nonprofit, please provide this information:
Budget for 2010:
Budget for 2011:
Budget for 2012:
Projected Budget for 2013:
1. What is your organization’s mission statement?
Limit: 1,500 characters, including spaces (approx. 250 words)
2. How is your organization working to build a more just and sustainable world? In
asking this question, SVN is looking for a business/nonprofit practice, initiative,
service, program, product, or model with a mission/purpose that is relevant to at least
one of the following categories:

Economic Justice/Community Impact (e.g., providing economic opportunities in
underserved communities; empowering people in disadvantaged communities, etc.)

Environmentally Sustainable Business Practices (how your enterprise utilizes
environmentally sustainable practices and takes steps to reduce its environmental
impact)

Employee Impact (the use of innovative employment practices to create a uniquely
healthy workplace, including addressing issues such as (1) diversity; (2) living wages; (3)
sharing the wealth with employees; (4) employee ownership plans and programs; and
(5) transparency and democracy at the workplace)
Limit: 3,000 characters, including spaces (approx. 500 words)
3. Explain the inspiration behind your organization — i.e. what caused you to focus your
energy on this enterprise/idea, and what positive social outcomes were you hoping to
achieve when you launched your enterprise?
Limit: 3,000 characters, including spaces (approx. 500 words)
Social Venture Network
Phone: (415) 561-6501 | Fax: (415) 561-6435 | P.O. Box 29221 San Francisco, CA 94129 | www.svn.org
Page 2 of 8
4. If you take your organization to scale, what will that mean? Describe your plans for
scaling/expanding your enterprise (include the estimated time it will take, any
assumptions upon which you are relying, market analysis and capital requirements).
Limit: 6,000 characters, including spaces (approx. 1000 words)
5. How is your approach different from the practices of your competitors (or others in
the field) who are trying to address similar social and/or environmental issues? In
other words, what makes your model innovative?
Limit: 3,000 characters, including spaces (approx. 500 words)
6. Describe the impact your organization has made to date in building a more just and
sustainable world, and how this impact will increase in years to come. With respect to
projected impact, please explain any assumptions or data upon which your
projections are based (e.g., studies, market research, etc.).
Impact, of course, will differ from one organization to the next, but examples of measurable
impact might include:

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Number of people accessing a service or product
Environmental impacts, such as reductions in carbon emissions, mitigation of
deforestation, reduction of waste streams, etc.
Number of people educated, benefited or supported by your enterprise
Number of jobs created in underserved communities
Limit: 6,000 characters, including spaces (approx. 1000 words)
7. Provide a brief biography of yourself, including educational background and
professional experience.
Limit: 1,500 characters, including spaces (approx. 250 words)
8. Tell us about some of the key highlights and/or milestones in your organization’s
history (e.g. patents, awards, goals reached, etc.).
Limit: 1,500 characters, including spaces (approx. 250 words)
9. What are the primary challenges your organization faces in the next 1-2 years, and
how could being honored as an SVN Innovation Award winner and becoming part of
the SVN community help you to overcome those challenges?
Limit: 3,000 characters, including spaces (approx. 500 words)
Social Venture Network
Phone: (415) 561-6501 | Fax: (415) 561-6435 | P.O. Box 29221 San Francisco, CA 94129 | www.svn.org
Page 3 of 8
10. How did you learn about the SVN Innovation Awards?
Limit: 1,500 characters, including spaces (approx. 250 words)
11.
Building a more diverse and inclusive community is of great importance to SVN. In
what ways is your organization addressing diversity and inclusion and/or how
could your membership in SVN enhance the diversity of our community?
Limit: 1,500 characters, including spaces (approx. 250 words)
Additional Comments
If there is other information you think our judges should consider with regard to your Awards
application, please include it here. In particular, please consider describing any challenges you
have overcome to implement your idea.
Limit: 1,500 characters, including spaces (approx. 250 words)
Please read the Awards rules on the following pages and indicate your
acceptance of these rules as directed. Submissions will not be considered unless
you indicate your acceptance of the Awards rules.
Please email your completed submission to awards@svn.org no later than
11:59pm PST on May 8, 2013.
Social Venture Network
Phone: (415) 561-6501 | Fax: (415) 561-6435 | P.O. Box 29221 San Francisco, CA 94129 | www.svn.org
Page 4 of 8
Awards Rules
1)
SPONSOR. The Social Venture Network Innovation Awards (“Awards”) are sponsored by Social Venture
Network (“Sponsor”), P.O. Box 29221, San Francisco, CA 94129.
2)
ELIGIBILITY. The Awards are open only to entrants (each, an “Applicant”) which fulfill each of the following criteria:




Applicant is a legal entity (for-profit or nonprofit corporation, LLC, or similar) that operates and has a
principal place of business in the continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii, or Canada (not including Quebec), at the
time of entry.
Applicant has been fully operational for more than six (6) months but less than seven (7) years as of May 8,
2013. “Fully operational” within the Awards context means that the Applicant has already started offering its
services, products or programs to its intended “customers.” Any application submitted on behalf of an
Applicant that is still in the business plan phase, or that is still in the process of launching but has not
actually launched, will not be considered.
One entry is allowed per Applicant.
No Awards judge, volunteer, advisor, or individual who is otherwise involved with the organization or
operation of the Awards, may be an officer, director, employee, independent contractor or other affiliate of
any Applicant, or an immediate family member of or person living in the same household of any of the
aforementioned persons.
The Awards are subject to these official rules (the “Official Rules”), which can be found on Sponsor’s website at
www.svn.org/awards.
3)
HOW TO ENTER. Applicants may enter the Awards only via entries emailed to awards@svn.org (each, a
“Submission”). The Awards application process begins on 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time (“PT”) on February 14, 2013 and
ends at 11:59 p.m. PT on May 8, 2013 (the “Awards Application Period”), all according to Sponsor’s internal time
clock. All Submissions must be submitted during the Awards Application Period. Sponsor is not responsible for
attempted Submissions, including entries where attachments are missing, and will not give credit to any attempted
Submission received that is incomplete in any way. Sponsor is not required to acknowledge receipt of Submissions.
All Submissions received by the end of the Awards Application Period that are complete and otherwise qualified may
be eligible to win (“Qualified Submissions”).
During the Awards Application Period, Applicants may access the entry form at www.svn.org/awards, and must
answer ALL of the questions listed in the entry form within the character limitations specified for each question. All
answers must be truthful and must pertain to the Applicant, but can be as creative as desired within the Submission
Guidelines set forth below. Please do not attach other materials to Submissions, as they cannot be considered.
4)
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES. Each Submission must be an original work of authorship created on behalf of, and
owned by, the Applicant. The response to each question must be no longer than the character limits specified for each
question. Entries that are incomplete or corrupted are void and will not be accepted. Submissions may not contain any
illegal, offensive or obscene subject matter, as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion. Applicants may not copy
or otherwise plagiarize all or any part of any Submission from any source, nor may any Submission include third party
material. Applicants must hold all rights to the entire Submission. Sponsor is not responsible for legal protection or
clearance of Submissions in any form. Applicant agrees to indemnify Sponsor against any and all claims from any third
party for any use of Applicant’s Submission. If, in the sole discretion of Sponsor, a Submission constitutes infringement
or otherwise violates the rights of any third party, such Submission will be disqualified.
5)
JUDGING. The judging of the Submissions will take place in two rounds, although not all Submissions will be judged
in the second round. All entries will be prescreened to ensure the entries have correctly met the Submission
Guidelines prior to any judging. Sponsor and the judging panel reserve the right to contact any Applicant for additional
information or clarification regarding such Applicant’s Submission. It will be such Applicant’s responsibility to respond
to these requests in a timely manner. The judging panel reserves the right to disqualify any entry that in its judgment
violates the letter or the spirit of the Awards guidelines, processes and rules, and its decisions are final and binding.
ROUND ONE: Judging of Qualified Entries will begin on or about May 8, 2013. A panel of judges selected by Sponsor
will select a small group of Finalists according to the judging criteria below.
Each Submission will be judged according to the following criteria:

25 percent: Degree of innovation

25 percent: Impact

25 percent: Potential for the enterprise to scale/expand
Social Venture Network
Phone: (415) 561-6501 | Fax: (415) 561-6435 | P.O. Box 29221 San Francisco, CA 94129 | www.svn.org
Page 5 of 8

25 percent: Extent to which the Applicant is working to build a more just and sustainable world by addressing
one or more of the following categories:
o Economic Justice/Community Impact
o Environmentally Sustainable Practices
o Employee Impact
Finalists will be notified by email in mid to late June 2013, using the information provided in their Submissions. In the
event that a finalist does not respond, no alternate finalist need be selected.
ROUND TWO: Finalists may be asked for additional documentation, which may include, but is not limited to,
business plans, financial statements, letters of reference, and other information. Finalists will also be asked to
participate in a phone interview with one or more of the judges and/or Sponsor representatives. Finalists who do not
submit the requested additional documentation in a timely manner or do not make themselves available for a phone
interview will be disqualified from further consideration in the judging panel’s sole discretion. Sponsor reserves the
right to conduct criminal background checks on the named individual listed for Finalist Submissions.
In mid to late July 2013, the judging panel will select at least one (1) and up to ten (10) from the group of Finalists
who will be deemed the winners of the Awards (“Selected Applicants.”). Selected Applicants will be notified by phone
or email using the information provided in the Submissions and will be required to respond (as directed) to the phone
and/or e-mail notification within seventy-two (72) hours of attempted notification.
The failure to respond timely to the notification may result in forfeiture of the Award; and, in such case, Sponsor may
choose the next highest scoring entry from among the remaining eligible entries. The Selected Applicants will also be
sent an affidavit of eligibility and compliance and liability/publicity release (collectively, the “Release”). Unless
restricted by law, each Selected Applicant will be required to complete and return the Release and any other
requested documents within the time period specified therein pursuant to these Official Rules in order to be eligible to
receive the prize. In some cases, Selected Applicants may be asked to provide proof of business ownership. Should
a Selected Applicant be unwilling or otherwise unable to return a completed Release or otherwise cannot accept or
receive the prize for any reason, the Applicant with the next highest score will be chosen from the remaining entries
until one who is able to meet all requirements can be selected. Each Selected Applicant’s full name and city may be
announced and posted on www.svn.org and affiliate web sites before July 31, 2013 and all or part of such Selected
Applicant’s Submission may potentially be posted online or published for use, viewing and/or implementation by third
parties throughout the world.
6)
PRIZE. Each Selected Applicant will be awarded: (i) Two years of Social Venture Network Individual Level
membership (value = $2400); (ii) waived Social Venture Network Conference registration fees for 2013 and
2014(value = $2640); and (iii) waived orientation fee for Social Venture Network Peer Circle participation (value =
$500). Sponsor will also reimburse Selected Applicants for travel and hotel expenses up to an aggregate of $1500
each to travel to and attend the Social Venture Network Fall 2013 Conference. In the event that a Selected Applicant
does not attend the Fall 2013 Conference, such Selected Applicant forfeits that portion of the Award and shall not be
entitled to a substitution of cash or any other award. Selected Applicants are responsible for making their own air travel
arrangements, although Sponsor will make hotel arrangements as long as the Selected Applicant will be staying at the
Renaissance Harborplace Hotel in Baltimore, Maryland where the conference will be held. No prize substitution is
allowed except at the sole discretion of Sponsor. If a prize cannot be awarded due to circumstances beyond the
control of Sponsor, a substitute prize of equal or greater retail value may be awarded. Prizes will be awarded, subject
to the limitations stated in these Rules. Any costs or fees not specifically listed herein are the responsibility of Selected
Applicants. Selected Applicants must take delivery of prize on or before October 1, 2013.
7)
CONDITIONS. The Awards are subject to these Official Rules. Applicants represent and warrant that there are no
patents or copyrights pending or registered in whole or part of their Submissions. Applicants further agree to waive any
and all proprietary right(s) and claim(s) they may have in whole or part of their Submissions, including without limitation
any copyright or patent right(s). By participating, Applicants agree: (i) to be bound by these complete Official Rules and
the decisions of Sponsor and the judging panel which shall be final and binding; and (ii) to waive any right to claim
ambiguity in the Awards or these Official Rules, except where prohibited by law. By participating in the Awards or
accepting a prize, each Applicant agrees to release Sponsor, including any affiliated entities together with their
respective directors, employees, officers, licensees, licensors and agents, and respective advertising and promotion
entities and any person or entity associated with the production, judging, or administration of the Awards, (collectively,
the “Releasees”) from any and all liability, loss or damage arising from or in connection with awarding, receipt and/or
use or misuse of prize or participation in the Awards or any prize-related activities. Sponsor reserves the right to
cancel or suspend the Awards, in its sole discretion, should it receive fewer than 20 entries, or due to circumstances
beyond its control, including natural disasters. Sponsor may, in its sole discretion, cancel, modify or suspend the
Awards should a virus, bug, computer problem, unauthorized intervention or other causes beyond Sponsor’s control,
corrupt the administration, security or proper play of the Awards. Sponsor may prohibit an Applicant from participating
Social Venture Network
Phone: (415) 561-6501 | Fax: (415) 561-6435 | P.O. Box 29221 San Francisco, CA 94129 | www.svn.org
Page 6 of 8
in the Awards or any future awards, or winning a prize if, in its sole discretion, it believes such Applicant is attempting
to undermine the legitimate operation of the Awards by cheating, deception, or any other unfair playing practices of
intending to annoy, abuse, threaten, undermine or harass any other players or Sponsor representatives. Sponsor
reserves the right to disqualify any Applicants it suspects to be violating these Official Rules. Disputes regarding these
Official Rules and/or these Awards will be governed by the internal laws of the State of California. In the event that
Sponsor cancels the Awards, all Applicants who have submitted a complete Submission on or before the cancellation
date, will receive a book from the SVN Book Series.
8)
PUBLICITY. Sponsor reserves the right to use the Submissions for all business purposes, including advertising and
promotional activities, prior to or after the Awards end date, in any media, and to use the name, likeness, hometown
name, of the named individual listed for each Submission, and all or part of each Submission, throughout the world, in
perpetuity, without any compensation, notice or approval, unless specifically prohibited by law. Each Applicant grants
Sponsor a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, fully paid up, transferable, sublicensable license to copy,
use, modify, display and otherwise exploit his or her entry (including all copyrights, trademarks, design rights, moral
rights and all other intellectual property rights embodied in such ideas and submissions) for any and all purposes in
any and all formats, including for posting on Sponsor’s website and for use in Sponsor’s marketing material. Each
Applicant waives any moral rights such Applicant may have in its Submission. Selected Applicants understand and
agree that all or part of their Submissions may potentially be posted or published for use, viewing and/or
implementation by third parties throughout the world, with or without credit to Selected Applicant. That said, it is not the
intention of Sponsor to publish any of the information contained in a Submission without first attempting to notify the
Applicant.
9)
TAXABILITY; LEGAL RESTRICTIONS. Taxes, if any, are the sole responsibility of Selected Applicants, and
Applicants may be issued an IRS Form 1099 for the ARV of any awarded prize. Selected Applicants may be required
to supply a Taxpayer ID Number prior to the award of any prize. The Awards are void outside the United States and
where prohibited or restricted by law, and subject to applicable federal, state, provincial and local laws.
10) ADDITIONAL RULES. Situations which arise not contemplated by the above Official Rules will be resolved by the
judging panel of the Awards and their decision will be final. Sponsor and the judging panel reserve the right to amend
the Official Rules without notice, including in the event situations occur that are not covered by the above Official Rules
or to further interpret or clarify the existing Official Rules when necessary.
11) OFFICIAL RULES AND WINNERS LIST. For a copy of these Official Rules or the names of Selected Applicants,
send your request in a self-addressed, stamped envelope (WA, VT residents need not affix postage) to: Social Venture
Network, 2013 Innovation Awards P.O. Box 29221 San Francisco, CA 94129-0221. Request must be received by
December 31, 2013.
Social Venture Network
Phone: (415) 561-6501 | Fax: (415) 561-6435 | P.O. Box 29221 San Francisco, CA 94129 | www.svn.org
Page 7 of 8
2013 SVN Innovation Awards Rules
Please sign and indicate your acceptance of the 2013 SVN Innovation Awards Rules.
I have read and agree to the terms above.
Signature:
(See email signature instructions below)
Date:
EMAIL SIGNATURE INSTRUCTIONS:
Type “/s/(your name)”
EMAIL TO:
awards@svn.org
QUESTIONS?
If you have questions about the 2013 SVN Innovation Awards,
please email awards@svn.org.
Social Venture Network
Phone: (415) 561-6501 | Fax: (415) 561-6435 | P.O. Box 29221 San Francisco, CA 94129 | www.svn.org
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