2007 Conference

The Net Impact Network Challenge

What can we do next?

Your great idea can spur a network into action

If there were 10,000 people ready to help you change the world, what would you do next?

In honor of Net Impact's 15^th anniversary, we are launching a challenge to our membership: what can our network do to change the world through business?

Net Impact is the most powerful international network of MBA students and emerging business leaders who are committed to using business for social good. With over 140 chapters in universities and in cities, Net Impact members are smart, ambitious, and driven to change the world. This contest will challenge participants to use their business savvy to come up with an actionable plan that the 10,000+ members of Net Impact will implement over the coming months.

To participate, individuals or teams will submit proposals for the Network Challenge, with finalists selected to present their idea at the annual Net Impact Conference in November, 2007. The winning proposal will be marketed to the Net Impact network and beyond, including potential exposure in leading business magazines and newspapers.

Basic guidelines for the Challenge include:

Proposals should use business / business skills to address a social / environmental issue
The proposal should be actionable by all or a large part of the Net Impact network
The result of the action should be measurable
Entrants are encouraged to respond to one of the following problem statements (this focus is suggested, but not mandatory). Read more about the problem statements.
- Climate change: Using existing technologies and our knowledge base, how can we as a network reduce our carbon footprint?
- Business and Peace: How can business models be practically applied to minimize the great danger posed by the proliferation of nuclear weapons and those that wish to create terror? (Please note: The Saga Foundation will award the winner in this category an additional prize).
- Malaria: What strategies can the Net Impact network identify to mobilize the human and financial capital of the corporate sector to raise awareness, funding and action to help get malaria under control?
- Education: How can the Net Impact Network develop strategic partnerships between the nonprofit, public, and for-profit sector to develop programs that would ensure all teachers are rewarded and rewarded fairly?
- Opportunity Finance: How can we capitalize and expand the impact of the innovative, market based solutions the Opportunity Finance industry has already proven to be successful in low income and low wealth communities across the United States?

The deadline for applications is October 8 (What Will You Do Next? Application). Semi-finalists will be selected by October 10, with final presentations to occur in Nashville, TN on November 3.

$1,000 for the first place team and the winning idea will be promoted to the media and throughout the network, and introductions to appropriate Net Impact friends, contacts, and advisors, as wanted. $500 prize for second place. Prizes are sponsored in part by HIP Investor Inc.

For more information, please contact us.

Official Rules of Entry

How to enter and participate

Submit the What Will You Do Next? Application

Multiple entries from a given institution are permitted. Individuals may enter only one official submission and are only eligible for the prize based on one official submission. Preliminary applications are due October 1, 2007.

Entry period
The Competition evaluates proposals submitted between August15, 2007 and October 1, 2007. The Competition is organized and administered in the United States of America, and all entry information will be collected on servers in the USA.

Eligibility
You must be 18 years of age or older and a Net Impact member in order to participate in the Competition. Employees of Net Impact and their family members are not eligible to enter. No purchase required. Void where prohibited. All team members must be registered as members at Net Impact (www.netimpact.org). There is no size limit for teams.

Rights for judging
By submitting an application for the Network Challenge, you are agreeing to all the rules of the competition and are giving the competition judges all rights necessary or convenient for judging the winning individual or team. All information is collected by Net Impact, which will administer and oversee the judging process.

Judging criteria
All eligible submissions/contributions will be tallied, ranked and judged by our selected panel of judges, based on the following criteria:

How clear and coherent is the explanation of the project and the problem it solves? Is the idea original and unique? Does the idea successfully use business skills to create change? How scalable is the concept? Specifically, can the idea be implemented by multiple members of the Net Impact network?

General conditions

Entrants agree to be bound by the terms of these Official Rules. In the event of a dispute, the laws of the state of California in the United States govern the contest. All federal, provincial, state, and local laws and regulations apply. International applicants are subject to applicable international laws. Potential winners will be required to execute and return an Affidavit of Eligibility and Liability Release and where legal, Publicity Release, within seven (7) days following the date of issuance of notification. Non-compliance within this time period or return of any prize/prize notification as undeliverable may result in disqualification and selection of an alternate winner. Acceptance of prize constitutes permission for Net Impact and its agents to use winner's name and likeness for advertising and promotional purposes without additional compensation unless prohibited by law.

Net Impact reserves the right to use and distribute submitted materials for educational purposes. By entering, participants release and hold harmless Net Impact and its respective subsidiaries, affiliates, advertising and promotions agencies, prize suppliers, and all of their employees, officers, directors, shareholders and agents from any and all liability or any illness, injuries, loss or damage of any kind arising from or in connection with the Challenge, or the acceptance or use of any prize won unless prohibited by law.

Internet and submissions problems
Proof of e-mailing or submission does not constitute proof of delivery. Net Impact is not responsible for any lost, late, illegible, garbled or misdirected contributions, contribution totals or registrations (hereinafter "submissions"), theft or destruction or unauthorized access to, or alteration of, submissions, or errors, omissions, interruptions, deletions, defects, delays in operation or transmission, communications line failure, including without limitation any problems or technical malfunction of any telephone network or telephone lines, computer on-line systems, servers, or providers, computer equipment, software, failure of any e-mail or submission to be received on account of technical problems, human error or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any Web site, or any combination thereof, including any injury or damage to your or any other person's computer relating to or resulting from participation in the Challenge or downloading of any materials in connection with the Challenge.

Who won?

Winners will be announced at the 2007 Net Impact Conference: Building a Sustainable Future: What will you do next? in Nashville, Tennessee: November 1-3, 2007. A list of winners will be posted online after November 3, 2007 at http://www.netimpact.org.