ATI Foundation Grant Program Rules

Participants in the Advanced Technology International (ATI) Foundation Grant Program (the “Program”) are eligible for a possible grant award.

SUBMISSION OF A PROPOSAL CONSTITUTES FULL AND UNCONDITIONAL AGREEMENT TO AND ACCEPTANCE OF THESE RULES.

NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR TO RECEIVE A GRANT AWARD.

‍1. Eligibility

The ATI Foundation Grant Program welcomes proposals from nonprofit and for-profit entities located within the United States and U.S. territories. Each proposal must identify a Lead Organization. The Lead Organization will assume responsibility for the receipt and management of any grant award and will maintain those fiduciary duties in close coordination with any partner organizations.

Eligibility related to any Lead Organization by type are as follows:

• An entity described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (“IRC”), that has received a tax determination letter from the Internal Revenue Service (such entity, a “501(c)(3) organization”).

• An entity other than a 501(c)(3) organization, including a nonprofit corporation, for-profit corporation, limited liability company or partnership, benefit corporation, flexible purpose entity, or similar "hybrid" entity organized under the laws of a state or territory of the United States that is in good standing under the laws of the jurisdiction in which it is organized or formed.

Eligible organizations are welcome to collaborate with nonprofit organizations, companies, foundations, schools, colleges and universities, government agencies, individuals, and other entities (either U.S.-based or non-U.S.-based) in order to develop and execute the project. An organization can also serve as a partner on a team for multiple proposals provided that each proposal proposes a separate, distinct project.

An organization cannot be identified as the Lead Organization for more than one proposal in response to the same Request for Proposals (RFP).

2. Ineligible persons or entities

Individuals, government agencies, and non-U.S.-based organizations are not eligible to participate as the Lead Organization but may serve as partners on a proposal submitted by an eligible entity. 

Current or former recipients of ATI Foundation funding may apply with projects that represent significantly different concepts from those already funded. 

Directors, officers, and employees of Advanced Technology International (ATI), the ATI Foundation and any other funders of the Program, and any of their subsidiaries and affiliates, and immediate family members (spouse, parent, child, sibling and their respective spouses, regardless of where they live) or persons living in the same households of such individuals, are not eligible to participate as a key member of the project team. The ATI Foundation reserves the right to deem a project ineligible for consideration if, in their sole opinion, granting an Award to the project would give rise to an actual or apparent conflict of interest.

Political parties, electoral campaign committees, and political action committees are not eligible to participate.

3. Geographic Eligibility

All proposed projects must be U.S.-based and relevant to issues facing residents of the United States.

4. Prohibited Use of Grant Award Funds

Grant award funds must be used for the project for which they are intended and may be dispersed to partners for project-related purposes. Award funds may not be used:

For non-charitable purposes;
To influence the outcome of any specific public election or to carry on, directly or indirectly, any voter registration drive (within the meaning of United States Internal Revenue Code (“Code”) section 4945(d)(2));
To carry on propaganda or otherwise to attempt to influence legislation within the meaning of Code Section 4945(d)(1);
To distribute funds to any organization not related to the proposal;
For the creation of any endowment or for the aggregation of philanthropic capital by organizations that regrant to nonprofit organizations;
For the creation of a venture capital fund, or pooled funds to invest in or distribute to for-profit organizations.

In addition to direct project costs, the budget may include a reasonable allocation for indirect expenses associated with the overall operations of the organization that are shared across the organization’s activities. The ATI Foundation reserves the right to review and adjust the amounts allocated for direct and indirect expenses.

5. Guidance Related to Non-Charitable Lead Organizations

Proposed projects must be consistent with charitable purposes and may not result in impermissible private benefit, as defined under IRC Section 501(c)(3), to other people, organizations, or entities, other than incidental private benefit that is a necessary byproduct of the accomplishment of the charitable purpose. Non-charitable (for-profit) organizations are encouraged to consult with qualified legal counsel. This will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. The ATI Foundation reserves the right to take action to recover any funds that are diverted or not spent for charitable purposes.

6. Other Rules

6.1 The ATI Foundation reserves the right to cancel, modify or suspend Program in whole or in part without liability. The ATI Foundation reserves the right to disqualify any participant who violates these RULES and any standards of behavior expressed or implied in them.

6.2 By participating in the ATI Foundation Grant Program, participants represent, warrant, and agree that:

They are the sole author, creator, and owner of the proposal;
the proposal is not the subject of any actual or threatened litigation or claim;
the proposal does not and will not violate or infringe upon the intellectual property rights, privacy rights, publicity rights, or other legal rights of any third party;
the proposal does not and will not contain any harmful computer code (sometimes referred to as "malware," "viruses" or "worms"); and
the proposal, and use of the proposal, does not and will not violate any applicable laws or regulations, including, without limitation, applicable export control laws and regulations of the United States and other jurisdictions.

6.3 Each lead organization may only submit one proposal per RFP. The ATI Foundation reserves the right to disqualify any proposal made by a participant violating this limitation, regardless of whether all of the respective parties had knowledge of such violation.

6.4 By submitting a proposal, participants agree to release, discharge and hold harmless the ATI Foundation and their partners, affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising agencies, agents and their employees, officers, directors and representatives from any loss arising out of participation in the Program and the acceptance and use, misuse, or possession of any grant award(s). The ATI Foundation does 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 Program entries or entry forms; or alteration of entries or entry forms. The ATI Foundation is 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 entry 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 participants’ or any other persons’ computers related to or resulting from participation, uploading or downloading of any materials related to this Program. In the event of a dispute about the identity of any participant, an online submission will be declared as if made by the authorized account holder of the e-mail address submitted at time of entry.

6.5 THIS PROGRAM IS VOID WHERE PROHIBITED. Participants agree that this Program shall be subject to and governed by the laws of the United States of America and the forum of any dispute shall be in the courts of the United States of America. Any arbitration between program participants and the ATI Foundation will be governed by the Commercial Dispute Reproject Procedures and the Supplementary Procedures for Consumer Related Disputes (collectively, "AAA Rules") of the American Arbitration Association ("AAA"), as modified by the TERMS, and will be administered by the AAA. The AAA Rules and filing forms are available online at www.adr.org, by calling the AAA at 1-800-778-7879.

6.6 If for any reason the Program is not capable of running as planned, due to infection by computer virus, bugs, worms, Trojan horses, denial of service, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures or any other causes beyond the control of the ATI Foundation that corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of this Program, the ATI Foundation reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual(s) who tamper with the process, and/or to cancel, terminate, modify, or suspend the Program.

6.7 Entry into the Program does not constitute entry into any other ATI Foundation competitions or programs, or promotion that may be offered by the ATI Foundation and/or its affiliates.

6.8 Participants permit the ATI Foundation to share or publish any proposal or related submission content as necessary. The names of the grant awardees will be posted on the ATI Foundation website for such period of time as the ATI Foundation deems reasonable. Unless otherwise requested in writing, the ATI Foundation may refer to participants as part of promoting the Program.

6.9 Unlawful, plagiarized, third-party intellectual property infringing, unintelligible, illegible, obscene, indecent or incomplete proposals will be disqualified at the ATI Foundation’s sole discretion. Proposals may not, in the sole and unfettered discretion of the ATI Foundation, contain obscene, provocative, defamatory, or otherwise objectionable or inappropriate content. The ATI Foundation reserves the right to scrutinize all proposals for these requirements at any time.

6.10 If, despite reasonable efforts, a potential awardee does not respond within five days of the first notification attempt, or any potential awardee fails or refuses to sign and return all required documents within five days of the ATI Foundation’s request, the proposal may be disqualified.

6.11 The ATI Foundation may determine in its sole discretion to close this competitive grant application process without making any award(s) or other grants at any time. The ATI Foundation reserves the right to stop all activity and/or to make substantive changes to this competitive grant application process, which might preclude all or some organizations from participating further. The ATI Foundation reserves the right to fund all, some, one, or none of the proposals submitted; may elect to fund only part of a submitted proposal; and may incrementally fund any or all awards.

6.12 Proposals submitted in response to the RFP must be: 1) written in English, 2) follow the structure provided in the RFP, 3) executable within 12 months from award.

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