Rules & Legal Information

GreaterGood.org (GGO) is proud to announce "THE 2009 ANIMAL RESCUE SITE $100,000 SHELTER⁺ CHALLENGE — together with PETFINDER.COM" will grant up to $100,000 USD in support and assistance to select domestic and international animal rescue and welfare organizations.

Each participating animal rescue and welfare organization will initially be selected by Petfinder.com and the Petfinder.com Foundation and the eligibility of each organization is at the sole discretion of Petfinder.com and the Petfinder.com Foundation.

How the Challenge Works

Visitors to THE ANIMAL RESCUE SITE will have an opportunity to choose from a list of select animal rescue and welfare organizations created by Petfinder.com. Visitors can cast one vote daily to help pick the most-deserving ones to receive support from GreaterGood.org. Voters are limited to one (1) vote per person per day and votes will be accepted from Monday, September 14, 2009 until Midnight (PST) on Sunday, December 20, 2009.

Funds are anticipated to be distributed in the following manner: Grand Prize of $20,000 for the organization with the most votes (one prize); Second Prize of $5,000 for the organization with the second highest total of votes (one prize); Third Prize of $3,000 for the organization with the third highest total of votes (one prize); Most Touching Story Prize to be judged by The Animal Rescue Site (two prizes of $2,000 each); Weekly Prize of $1,000 each for organizations with most votes during that week of the Challenge (fourteen prizes of $1,000 each**); and Fifty-four regional prizes including State Prizes of $1,000 for an organization in each U.S. state, and one in the District of Columbia, with the most votes (fifty-one prizes of $1,000 each), Canadian Prizes of $1,000 for the shelters in Canada with the highest and second highest vote total for their country (two prizes of $1,000 each), and an International Prize of $1,000 for the organization with the most votes located outside the United States and Canada (one prize of $1,000).

All organizations who have not previously won a Grand Prize during the current calendar year are eligible for the top three prizes regardless of location; these include the Grand Prize, Second Prize, and Third Prize. Any eligible shelter can also enter for the Most Touching Story Prize.

*Most Touching Story Prize: These prizes will be awarded to two stories submitted to The Animal Rescue Site. To be eligible, stories must be submitted by a representative of an eligible Petfinder Shelter member organization, and include a photo, the name of the shelter, and the location of the shelter. Winners are determined soley by The Animal Rescue Site.

**Weekly Prizes: $1,000 will be awarded each week for the organization with the most votes during that week (fourteen prizes of $1,000 each, participants are eligible for only one weekly prize during the Challenge).

Winners of the Weekly prizes will be announced weekly on The Animal Rescue Site and in The Animal Rescue Site newsletter emails. No organization may win more than one Weekly Prize. Organizations may win up to two (2) prizes total. The Grand Prize, Second, and Third Prize winners must be separate organizations (no organization can win more than one of the three prizes for the most votes). Organizations receiving the Grand Prize, Second Prize, Third Prize, or Most Touching Story are ineligible for Regional Prizes (For example, if the Grand Prize Winner is located in California, the State Prize will go to the organization in that state with the highest vote total after the Grand Prize Winner). Grand Prize winners from prior Shelter⁺ Challenges are not eligible for the Grand Prize, Second, or Third prizes during subsequent Shelter⁺ Challenges during the same calendar year, but remain eligible for all other prizes.

Rules

Staff and volunteers of organizations are allowed and encouraged to vote for their own organizations, subject to the one vote per person per day limitation. No nominated organization will be chosen as a finalist without its written consent, and GreaterGood.org reserves the right to determine the final eligibility of each organization to receive funding and to audit, recount, and discount votes. The Animal Rescue Site reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to disqualify any votes that appear to be (a) created by an automated system; or (b) fraudulent in any way .

Questions?

Questions can be directed to CustomerService@TheAnimalRescueSite.com .

Vote for your favorite organization today!

Legal Notice

GreaterGood.org did not select any of the organizations selected for the Challenge. The distribution of award monies by GGO to various animal rescue and welfare organizations through the Challenge should not be construed as an endorsement by GGO of the recipient organization's practices or policies.

The GGO and The Animal Rescue Site are not responsible for any inability to vote in or participate in the Challenge due to accessibility or connectivity problems, technical or otherwise, associated with the Challenge, the GGO website, The Animal Rescue Site website, or otherwise.

The final determination of the winners in the Challenge is in the sole discretion of The Animal Rescue Site and GreaterGood.org.