UPDATE 03.03.2023 - As informed to all participants - call for application phase was changed from the 3rd of March to the 5th of March 2023 -23.55 CET. 

1.     Scope of the Prize

The Purina BetterwithPets Prize (“BWPP”, “BetterwithPets Prize”) is managed by Nestlé Enterprises S.A,, business division Nestlé Purina PetCare Europe, 12 Entre-deux-Villes, 1800 Vevey, Switzerland (“Purina”, “we” or “us”).

 The BWPP aims at recognising and supporting exceptional organisations (“Participant”) that are demonstrating the power of the pet-human bond and working to foster people’s health, with a focus on people in vulnerable  situations[1]. The Prize deliberately aims at identifying good practices, mapping relevant ecosystems and codifying/disseminating innovation for replicability and scalability. The Prize has strong alignment with and directly contributes to Purina’s commitment. 

- Purina’s People Commitment -

Foster People’s Health through the Power of Pet-Human Bond.

By 2030, we aim to help 1,000,00 people in vulnerable situations improve their health and well-being.

The BetterwithPets Prize will be awarded to those Participants who submit the best application at the BetterwithPets platform (“Entry”) in accordance with these Official Rules.

 

2.     Eligibility and terms

2.1.  Participants

Participants (“Participants” or “you”) eligible for the BetterwithPets Prize are:

• Non-Governmental Organisations. a non-profit organization that operates independently of any government, typically one whose purpose is to address a social or political issue.

• Social Enterprises. An operator in the social economy whose main objective is to have a social impact rather than make a profit for their owners or shareholders. It operates by providing goods and services for the market in an entrepreneurial and innovative fashion and uses its profits primarily to achieve social objectives. It is managed in an open and responsible manner and, in particular, involves employees, consumers and stakeholders affected by its commercial activities. Social Enterprises may be required, in Purina’s sole discretion, to provide proof of (i) company registration by submitting a registration certificate issued within the last three (3) months, or ongoing company registration, or any trade registry and proof ensuring the registration of the entity in the relevant country, and (ii) a valid professional insurance policy subscription.

Minimum age of Participant’s representative is 18 years. In case the legal age in a given country is more than 18 years, permission of the legal guardian is required.

Organisations or enterprises fully or partially owned by employees of Nestlé S.A. and their parent companies, affiliates and subsidiaries, joint ventures, advertising agencies, promotion agencies and other service providers for the BetterwithPets Prize are not eligible.

All the documents that may confirm the Participant’s eligibility may be required prior to awarding any prizes.

2.2.  Countries

The BetterwithPets Prize has a European scope. Participants residing in the listed countries (by alphabetical order) are eligible (in the following referred to as “Europe”):

Austria	Egypt	Israel	Netherlands	Sweden
Armenia	Estonia	Italy	Norway	Switzerland
Azerbaijan	Finland	Kazakhstan	Poland	Turkey
Belarus	France	Latvia	Portugal	Ukraine
Belgium	Georgia	Lebanon	Romania	United Kingdom
Bulgaria	Germany	Lithuania	Slovakia
Croatia	Greece	Luxembourg	Slovenia
Cyprus	Hungary	Malta	Spain
Czechia	Ireland
Denmark

2.3.  Language

All Entries must be in the English language. Entries that are in any other language will not be considered.

2.4.  Eligibility

The Prize seeks to support high-impact, registered non-profit organisations as well as social enterprises headquartered and operating in Europe. Organisations are free to decide whether they fit such criteria and thus wish to apply. Organisations working towards health outcomes for people in vulnerable situations that don’t have in place programs leveraging the pet-human bond but that have clear plans to do so are eligible to apply.

The Prize will not consider organisations that:

• discriminate in their leadership, staffing, or service provision on the basis of age, gender, race, ethnicity, disability, national origin, political affiliation, religious belief or sexual orientation;
• promote a religious agenda, or from those seeking religious contributions;
• promote a political agenda, or from those seeking political contributions or
• in any other way are considered; at Purina’s sole discretion, as acting in a way that is violating the law, breaching these Official Rules or not in line with Purina’s principles and values.

All the documents that may confirm the Participant’s eligibility may be required prior to awarding any prizes.

2.5.  Terms

• Only one Entry per Participant will be accepted.
• If selected for the Interviews phase, the Participant, Participant’s founder, co-founder, CEO or an equivalent management member must be available during April 3-7, 2023 to attend the interview.
• If selected for the Award, the Participant, Participant’s founder, co-founder, CEO or an equivalent management member must be present in person for the award on 19^th April 2023.

 

3.     How to enter

To make an Entry you must first create an account on the Purina BetterWithPets Prize 2023 platform: https://purina-agorize.com/betterwithpetsprize . The platform is created and hosted by AGORIZE SAS, registered with the Paris Trade and Companies Registry under no. 530 774 439, having its registered office at 15 rue Béranger, 75003 Paris, France

You confirm that you have authority to bind the organisation or enterprise on which behalf you make an Entry, and that organisation or enterprise accepts these terms. By making an Entry you confirm that all information is true and accurate and that you will update such information as needed.

Once Participants have created an account and accepted these Official Rules and the Privacy Policy, they can login to save edits, publish the Entry, and edit and change the Entry up until the 3rd of March 2023 (23:55 CET). The estimated time to complete the entry form is 30-40 minutes and only published entries will be considered as valid. The Entry and all related information can be deleted in the acount’s settings in the delete account section.

The Entry submission period opens on 23^rd January 2023 and closes on 3rd of March 2023 (23:55 CET).

 

4.     Evaluation criteria

Winning Entry(ies) will show strength in the following areas:

Selection criteria. 10 key selection criteria guide the analysis of participants. The criteria are grouped in two sets, labeled ‘Impact’, focusing on what the organisation does; and ‘Organisation’, focusing on how the organisation operates (to support what it does). The application and weighing of these criteria is at Purina’s sole discretion.   

BWPP: 10 Selection Criteria
Impact	1. Mission and Strategy
	2. Programs’ Innovation
	3. Evidence of Impact
	4. Monitoring and Evaluation
	5. Replicability / scalability
Organisation	6. Finance and Fundraising
	7. Communications
	8. Legal set up and Governance
	9. Leadership and Team
	10. Partnerships
Strategic fit criteria

 

5.     Prizes and Benefits

 All Participants will:

• Collective initiatives: connecting Participants to one another and to other relevant stakeholders that can help foster their impact;
• Have the possibility for networking and fundraising: leveraging Purina’s local organisations, partners etc. to help organisations increase their donor base
• Join the BWPP Community and receive updates and news;
• Be eligible to attend webinar and participate to development of best-practices.

All these benefits are subject to availability and at Purina’s sole discretion.

Up to 10 short-listed Entries will:

• Be featured in and on Purina’s media activities at Purina’s discretion. 
• Be eligible to benefit from skills-based volunteering: leveraging Purina’s team in terms of their knowledge, expertise, networks. For example, this could include providing support in the areas of IT, marketing or communication.

 Winning Participant(s) will be selected to receive:

• A 2-year grant of up to EUR 100,000 per annum.
• Funding may be paid in different phases based on the action plan defined after the grant agreement
• Prize money may be shared between more than one winner

 

6.     Timeline

6.1.  Phase 1 – Call for applications: (23^rd January 2023 – 3^rd of March 2023) 

Participants will register on the platform and fill out an entry form in order to submit their initiative to the competition.

Once Participants have created an account, they can login to save edits, publish the Entry and edit the Entry until 3^rd of March (23:55 CET).

Deadline for Entries is 3^rd of March (23:59 CET).

6.2.  Phase 2 – Shortlisting phase (6 March – 24 March 2023)

Participants who have been selected to participate in the Shortlisting phase will be directly notified by email to the address provided during registration.

This shortlisting phase focuses on due diligence of the Participants based on the systematic application of the BWPP selection criteria. A team of Purina and supporting social impact external reviewers will score and provide feedback: They will consider any additional points based on the Evaluation Criteria. 

6.3.  Phase 3 – Interviews phase (27 March - 14 April 2023)

Participants who have been selected to participate in the Interviews Phase will be directly notified by email to the address provided during registration.

This Interviews phase entails a deep due diligence of the Participants and involves direct interaction with them via meetings, calls or field visits. This stage is carried out by the BWPP team, trained and supported by external social impact consultants (“BWPP team”).

After the end of the Interviews phase on 14 April 2023 (23:59 CET), the BWPP team will choose the winning organisation(s) (“Winner(s)”)

6.4.  Phase 4 – Award (19 April 2023)

Winner(s) will be announced on 19 April 2023. Winner(s) will be expected to be available on this day (April 19th 2023) to participate in communication activities to support the winner(s) announcement. 

6.5.  Phase 5 – Collaboration phase (May 2023 – December 2024)

After the Winner(s) have been awarded and grant(s) agreement(s) signed, Purina, Winner(s) and the extended BWPP community of Participants upon relevance will be invited to collaborate to develop best-practices and guidelines to extend the impact of initiatives to support people in vulnerable situations through the power of the pet-human bond. This collaboration phase may take various forms of activities (e.g. communication, webinars, interviews or others).

 

7.     Value of the BetterWithPets Prize

The total amount available for Purina BWPP 2023 will be 200,000 EUR over the 2 years of the edition. Decisions regarding the amount of financial support to be provided to Purina grantees are supported by the following principles: Purina aims to determine the size of its grants by balancing two key objectives: 1) on the one hand, it strives to be a strategic donor, so to provide significant, impactful support to the grantee; 2) on the other hand, it aims at avoiding excessive dependence on Purina. In this context, as a framework of reference – Purina aims at providing support in the range of ~10% and not exceeding 50% of the last available annual budget of the grantee. These principles/thresholds serve as strategic reference and aren’t binding.

The receipt of the BetterwithPets Prize may be subject to different taxes, such as income tax, social security, and indirect taxes, depending on the Winner’s country of tax residence and the country where the programme takes place. It is the Winner’s responsibility to comply with all applicable laws, including tax laws. In this respect, the BetterwithPets Prize is granted as gross amount, and any tax is due by the Winner, except if the applicable law explicitly provides for the liability of the donor. The BetterwithPets Prize will be awarded in Euros. All costs associated with currency exchange are the sole responsibility of the Winner.

8.     Use of Prize Awards

Before disbursing any funds, Purina will enter into a Grant Agreement with each organisation selected as Winner(s). The Agreement outlines the terms of the grant and of the relationship that Purina intends to have with the grantee. These includes an indication of the monitoring process applied by Purina as well as the type of information that the grantee will need to provide to Purina.

Winner(s) agree(s) to regular and appropriate monitoring and evaluations by Purina, as well as to provide progress reports as may be required by Purina. Each touchpoint shall result in a thorough review of the organization based on the BWPP monitoring criteria. Selection and monitoring are interdependent: the same criteria are used for the purpose of monitoring a grantee.

 

9.     Participation

Prizes are awarded without warranty of any kind from Purina, express or implied, except where this would be contrary to federal, state, provincial, or local laws or regulations. Submission of Entry for this BetterwithPets Prize requires that Participants agree to be bound by the terms of these Official Rules and by the decisions of Purina, which are final and binding on all matters pertaining to this BetterwithPets Prize. Any short-listed Participants who are not available for the Interviews in phase 3 will be disqualified and alternative Participant(s) will be invited from the top 10 shortlist.

Ownership of and all intellectual and industrial property rights in and to the Entry shall remain with the Participant.

Participants certify that their Entry is original and that they are the sole and exclusive owner and right holder of the submitted Entry and/or that they have the right to submit the Entry for the BetterwithPets Prize. Each Participants agrees not to submit any Entry that (1) infringes any 3rd party proprietary, intellectual property, industrial property, personal rights or other rights, including without limitation, copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret or confidentiality obligation; (2) otherwise violates applicable law in any countries in the world or (3) is considered defamatory, injurious, obscene, pornographic, vulgar, offensive, aggressive, uncalled-for, violent, threatening, harassing, racist or xenophobic nature, or with sexual connotations, inciting violence, discrimination or hatred, encouraging illegal activities, or more generally content that is contrary to good morals or the purposes of the BetterwithPets Prize.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, each Participant indemnifies and agrees to keep indemnified Purina, its subsidiaries, agents, directors, officers, employees, representatives and assigns harmless at all times from and against any liability, claims, demands, losses, damages, costs and expenses resulting from any act, default or omission of the Participant and/or a breach of any warranty set forth herein.

To the extent permitted by law, entrants agree to hold Purina, its subsidiaries, agents, directors, officers, employees, representatives and assigns harmless from any injury or damage caused or claimed to be caused by participation in the BetterwithPets Prize and/or use or acceptance of any BetterwithPets Prize awarded, except to the extent that any death or personal injury is caused by the negligence of Purina. Purina is not responsible for any erroneous information communicated by Purina, availability and/or functionality of the platform, administration of the BetterwithPets Prize or in the announcement of the BetterwithPets Prize.

A Participant may be prohibited from participating in this BetterwithPets Prize if, in Purina's sole discretion, it reasonably believes that the Participant has attempted to undermine the legitimate operation of this BetterwithPets Prize by cheating, deception, or other unfair playing practices or annoys, abuses, threatens or harasses any other Participants, Purina or associated agencies.

 

10.  Communication rights

The finalists grant Purina the right and free-of-charge license to use their name and related intellectual property rights for communication in connection with the BetterwithPets Prize. Purina shall seek written prior approval of all communication using the short-listed’ intellectual property rights. Such approval shall not be unreasonably withheld or delayed. Nothing in these Official Rules shall be considered or is intended to confer from one Party to another any ownership right or interest in any intellectual property right (such as trademark, design, symbol, etc.).

 

11.  Confidentiality and retention of submitted material

Purina intend to make strategic use of the information and knowledge it will accumulate over time. Knowledge of organisations coming from sourcing, selection and monitoring will be stored and used for both internal and external purposes.

Internally, information is stored in a way that fosters learning, that builds institutional memory and ultimately fosters impact. Externally, Purina can leverage the information it possesses to share lessons learnt with others, disseminate good practices and foster systemic impact.

Upon prior request, individuals or organizations’ submitting Entries can claim for their file to be deleted.

 

12.  Personal data

Purina is collecting and processing your personal data as set out in the Privacy Notice.

 

13.  Modification of the official rules

Purina reserves the right to modify the Official Rules. Any change will be published on https://purina.agorize.com/betterwithpetsprize.

 

14.  Jurisdiction

The Official Rules and administration of the Purina BetterwithPets Prize will be governed by the laws of Switzerland and the relevant court of Canton de Vaud, Switzerland shall have jurisdiction.

NO RECOURSE TO JUDICIAL OR OTHER PROCEDURES: To the extent permitted by law, the rights to litigate, to seek injunctive relief or to make any other recourse to judicial or any other procedure in regard to the judgment of the BetterwithPets  Prize Team are hereby excluded, and any Participant expressly waives any and all such rights.

[1]Vulnerability is a broad, multi-faceted concept. In the context of Purina’s people commitment, a deliberate focus on people in vulnerable situations does not equal a ‘narrow’ focus. Purina’s commitment targets a broad range of groups including people who are characterised by one or more of the following conditions: physical and/or mental health issues, poor/unemployed, homeless, migrant / refugee, minorities, woman / youth / elderly suffering from or at risk of economic / social distress.