Official Rules

  1. OFFICIAL WEBSITE: You may enter the InvestWrite® competition by completing all steps outlined on the official website: www.investwrite.org
  2. ENTRIES: Adult educators/Stock Market Game Advisors with valid registration of 4th-12th grade classes in The Stock Market Game™ during the eligible Stock Market Game sessions are qualified to participate in the current InvestWrite competition. Entries may be submitted by "teachers with classes" according to the eligibility requirements posted on the official website.
  3. PARTICIPATION: All entrants who participate in InvestWrite will be entered into the competition for the national awards described on the official website. All winners will be notified via email or by phone once the competition has been closed and winners have been selected. Allow 10 to 12 weeks for notification from the close of the competition. Sponsor will not accept multiple attempts to submit entries. Entries must be submitted by the authorized Stock Market Game Advisor account holder with a valid Stock Market Game username and password for eligible Stock Market Game sessions.
  4. SUBMISSIONS: A registered adult educator/Stock Market Game Advisor may submit entries from all Stock Market Game classes. All essays must be submitted in English. Eligibility for submission will be based on administration records located in the Stock Market Game administrative records for the eligible Stock Market Game sessions. Entries which are submitted without compliance to instructions and rules on the official website will be disqualified.
  5. GENERAL: Use of automated entry devices or programs is prohibited. Any attempts by an individual to access the site via a bot script or other brute-force attack will result in that IP address becoming ineligible. The SIFMA Foundation reserves the right to cancel online entries for the competition without notice if it becomes infected with a virus or is otherwise technically corrupted or unfeasible. Sponsor is not responsible for lost, late, misdirected or illegible entries or for any computer, online, telephone or technical malfunctions or failure or delayed, garbled or corrupted data transmitted by participants via the internet. All entries become the property of the Sponsor and will not be returned. Entries can be excerpted and/or adapted and/or annotated for publicity purposes. By submitting an entry to InvestWrite®, entrants accept and agree to be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of the judges, which shall be final, binding and conclusive on all matters. Eligibility starts and ends upon the official opening and closing of the InvestWrite program.
  6. WINNING ENTRIES: Winners are selected in a process to be determined by the Sponsor. Winners will be notified via email and/or by phone if selected. Entrants will not be declared official winners until they have complied with all terms contained in these rules and any other terms contained in the SIFMA Foundation websites: www.stockmarketgame.org and www.investwrite.org
  7. JUDGING: Entries must be submitted prior to the deadline. Entries will be based on criteria determined by the Sponsor. Judging will be performed by qualified Sponsor staff or representatives appointed by the Sponsor. Entries will be judged anonymously. Decisions of the Sponsor are final and binding.
  8. CONDITIONS: All Federal, State, and Local laws apply. This offer is void where prohibited by law. The award/gift amount may be treated as 1099 income. If required, the recipient will receive a Form 1099-MISC. The recipient may be required to provide SIFMA Foundation with a completed W-9 form, which includes social security number, to be used for issuing a 1099 for tax purposes, as well as signing an award acceptance form.
  9. ELIGIBILITY: Unless otherwise specified InvestWrite® is open only to select parties that have been invited to participate by the SIFMA Foundation and are adults registered as "teachers with classes" in the Stock Market Game for eligible sessions. “Teachers with classes” registered for the Stock Market Game and active by August 1 of each year are eligible to participate in the “Fall” and “Spring” InvestWrite competitions. “Teachers with classes” registered only for the Stock Market Game in a session that begins after January 1 of each year are eligible for the “Spring” competition window only. All educators/Stock Market Game Advisors and students must reside in the contiguous United States, Hawaii, or Alaska. United States federal, state and local taxes are the sole responsibility of the winner. In order to be ranked as a winning essay an affidavit completed by a third-party educator must be submitted as required by the SIFMA Foundation if the ranked essay was submitted by an educator/Stock Market Game Advisor that is an immediate family member or resides in the same household of the student to be awarded.
  10. QUALIFICATION: Essays submitted without proper attribution may constitute plagiarism and can be disqualified. Entries must represent the work of the student as their own and must in fact be their own individual work. At the discretion of the SIFMA Foundation, a submitted essay may require an Affidavit of Qualification or Affidavit of Eligibility signed by a supervising educator or administrator other than the educator/Stock Market Game Advisor submitting the essay in order to be qualified as a valid entry.
  11. RELEASE: Except where prohibited, a Media Permission/Publicity Release must be returned within the time period specified or the winner can be disqualified and an alternate winner selected.
  12. TRANSFER: No transfer or assignment of any award to anyone other than a winner determined by the SIFMA Foundation is permitted. Only one award per person will be given. Only the highest-level award will be awarded to educators/Stock Market Game Advisors who submit more than one winning student essay. Awards will be released only upon receipt of signed forms as listed in Rules 10 and 11. Awards will be transferred to the winner within 16 weeks of notification of award. Should a stated award be unavailable or undeliverable, an award of similar value will be provided as determined by the SIFMA Foundation. The SIFMA Foundation reserves the right to determine deliverability and award value. This sweepstakes shall be governed and construed by New York, and the venue for all controversies will be in state or federal court in New York.
  13. RELEASE OF LIABILITY: All entrants release the SIFMA Foundation and SIFMA, and their clients, affiliates, subsidiaries, officers, directors, agents, employees and all others associated with the program from any and all liability with respect to or in any way arising from this competition and/or acceptance or use of the awards, including liability for personal injury, death, damages or loss. Sponsor is not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by website users or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in InvestWrite or by any technical or human error which may occur in the processing of InvestWrite submissions. Sponsor assumes no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to, or alteration of, InvestWrite entries or panel membership applications or data. Sponsor is not responsible for any problems or technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines, computer online-systems, servers or providers, computer equipment, software, failure of email or players due to technical problems or traffic congestion on the internet or at any website or combination thereof, including injury or damage to participants or to any other person's computer related to or resulting from participating or downloading materials in any application. Sponsor is not responsible for user cheating or fraud by any participant. If, for any reason, InvestWrite is not capable of being executed as planned, including without limitation infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or any other causes beyond the control of Sponsor which corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct of InvestWrite or panel of judges, Sponsor reserves the right at its sole discretion to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the competition without notice.
  14. SPONSOR: InvestWrite® is sponsored by the SIFMA Foundation.
  15. ENTRY DISSEMINATION: SIFMA Foundation reserves the right to edit, publish, disseminate, and otherwise use all entries at their discretion.