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Official Rules

Overview of the Nature Valley Trail Grant:

General Mills Marketing, Inc. (“GMMI”) is sponsoring the Nature Valley Trail Grants (“Grants”) to establish, protect and maintain hiking trails across America and to address the waning federal and state funding for hiking trails. General Mills will fund ten monetary grants of $5,000 per project. By awarding much-needed grants across the nation, the Nature Valley Trail Grant helps secure volunteers, tools and materials to protect our cherished hiking trails. Consumers will be allowed to vote on the top 20 applications on www.wheresyours.com from October 1-October 31, 2008. The top ten applications receiving the top number of votes will each be awarded a $5,000 Grant by April 30, 2009.

Eligibility

Any nonprofit organization working on hiking trails is eligible as long as the project promotes and protects hiking trails and the hiking experience. Applications are due August 15, 2008 and GMMI announces the Grants by April 30, 2009.

When evaluating requests, the AHS selection committee will favor applicants meeting the following criteria:

  1. Projects that have hikers as the primary constituency; however, all human powered trail uses are applicable.
  2. Securing trail lands, including acquisition of trails and trail corridors, and the costs associated with acquiring conservation easements.
  3. Building and maintaining trails which will result in visible and substantial ease of access, improved hiker safety, and/or avoidance of environmental damage. (Higher preference is often given to projects with volunteer labor)
  4. Constituency building surrounding specific trail projects - including volunteer recruitment and support.

Funding and Accountability

Criteria for receiving Grants must fall within certain guidelines:
  1. Award amounts will be for $5,000 each.
  2. Applicants must be or represent nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations.
  3. Projects should be beyond the financial resources of the sponsoring organization.
  4. Except for land acquisition programs, acceptable projects should be completed in one year. Multi-year projects will be considered only in exceptional cases.
  5. Grants will not be awarded to: (a) religious organizations for religious purposes, (b) individuals not representing a nonprofit 501(c)(3)), (c) private foundations, or (d) for political causes, candidates or legislative lobbying efforts.
  6. Grants will be awarded directly to the nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization.
  7. A video or photo is required along with the application.
  8. An executive summary (50 words or less) should be reflected in the application.
A decision to decline a request does not imply that the applicant’s program is not needed or valued, but simply that it does not fall within our giving guidelines or priorities, or that funds are not available.

Process for Submitting Applications for Funding:

  1. Download the grant application from GMMI website at www.wheresyours.com or www.AmericanHiking.org.
  2. Limit your application, 3 pages, plus the cover page and required attachments.
  3. No hard cover notebooks or videos, please.
  4. All Grant proposals should be submitted to www.wheresyours.com or www.americanhiking.org .
  5. Keep in mind that judges will read many applications - clear and concise descriptions are appreciated.
  6. Provide sufficient background for your organization and the project; never assume that the selection committee is familiar with your group or region.
  7. If your project is large, try to break it into parts and request funding for a piece that can be completed in one year. Though there have been exceptions, the selection committee is more likely to fund a small project where the Grant will have a great impact.
  8. Provide examples of outcomes and impacts of your work.
  9. Complete all portions of the application.
  10. Include in your application other ways in which you have been involved with GMMI or American Hiking Society's programs (Volunteer Vacations, Advocacy Week, National Trails Day, etc.).
  11. Applications must be received by August 15, 2008.
  12. Only the top 20 selected applicants will be notified.

Funding Conditions:

  1. All applicants will be reviewed by the AHS selection committee. Decisions regarding the Grant shall be made at the sole discretion of the AHS selection committee and are final and binding. Selected award recipients must meet all eligibility requirements, must execute any necessary documentation, and must be solely responsible for reporting and payment of any applicable federal, state and local taxes. The AHS selection committee will review applications during August 16, 2008 through September 15, 2008.
  2. GMMI will retain the rights to visual (photo and digital) and text materials related to the 20 Grant applicants. This will include all rights to copy, edit, broadcast, publish and use, in whole or in part, as part of the Grants program for 2009. GMMI and AHS will not use any non-profit organization’s logo or trademark without express written permission from that organization. GMMI and AHS have the right to use all or part of the submitted applications on www.wheresyours.com or www.americanhiking.org for promotional purposes.
  3. By participating, all applicants agree to the following: the selection committee’s decisions are final and legally binding in all matters relating to this event. GMMI (which includes its affiliates and each of their agents, officers, employees, licensees and all other parties associated with this contest) is not responsible for lost, destroyed, delayed, incomplete, undelivered, stolen, postage due, illegible, misdirected materials or other errors or problems of any kind which may limit or affect an applicant’s ability to participate in the application process. In the event of sabotage, acts of God, terrorism, computer virus, mechanical, technical or operational defect or error or other events or causes beyond GMMI’s reasonable control, which corrupt the integrity, administration, security or proper operation of the application process, GMMI reserves the right to cancel, modify or suspend the application process. In the event of cancellation, grants will be awarded from among all eligible, non-suspect applications received prior to the event requiring such cancellation. All applications become the property of GMMI upon receipt and will not be acknowledged or returned. Applicants agree to allow GMMI to use their name, organization’s name, or likeness for publicity purposes without further compensation, where legal. As a condition of participation, Grant winners agree that: (1) any and all claims, judgments and awards are limited to actual out-of-pocket costs incurred in participating in this event; and (2) Grant winner waives all rights to claim any other damages, including punitive, incidental and consequential damages and attorneys’ fees. This event is subject to all laws of the United States.

Timing of Awards:

August 15, 2008 All applicants need to be submitted to www.wheresyours.com or www.americanhiking.org .
April 30, 2009 Grant recipients notified of the results.
Please direct any questions to: Ivan Levin, American Hiking Society Trail Programs Manager, at 301-565-6704 x 208 or www.ILevin@AmericanHiking.org