Applicants and reviewers must register with this site to enter. We don't do that to collect your info to market to you or anything. We just need to be able to communicate with you, and to control the submissions so we don't get spammed out.

Applicants may submit an application, in order to win an Online Business Startup or Business Improvement Service Grant. Make no mistake, you will have to EARN the award! The application is extensive, and judging is based on merit, not luck.

One Grant will be awarded each month by Firelight Business Enterprises, Inc. No money will be awarded by Firelight Business Enterprises, Inc. All grant awards presented by Firelight Business Enterprises, Inc. will be in the form of products or services. Some grant awards are provided by other business entities as noted below.

Online Business Startup or Improvement Grant - 1 Full Grant Awarded per Month

• 1 complete customized website build, value up to $2000 (value will vary, because the package will be customized to the needs of the individual business)
• 1 year hosting with generous space and bandwidth limits (value $20 to $50 per year)
• 1 year maintenance, backup, and support service (value $50 per month maximum, typically $300 to $600 per year)
• 1 hour marketing plan consultation (value $45)
• 1 year free Marketing Newsletter Subscription (value $50)
• 2 hours Virtual Assistance provided by Admin Services (value $60)
  
• Logo Design, provided by The Merry Bird, Chrysalis Logos, or Firelight Web Studio (value varies from $65 to $150)
  
• 2 hours Social Network Marketing Coaching provided by Dr. Sally Witt, Center for Healing and Training (value $500)
• 10 Directory Backlinks, provided by At Your Service (value $85)
• 1 Custom Marketing Article, provided by Collins-Admin Services (valued at $65)

Honorable Mention Grant - Up to 5 Grants Awarded per Month

• 1 Do It Yourself website kit, value up to $100 (value varies by need)
• 1 year hosting with reasonable space and bandwidth limits (value $20 to $50 per year)
• 1 year maintenance, backup, and support service (value $25 per month maximum)
• 1 year free Marketing Newsletter Subscription (value $50)

Applications will be judged based on business merit, owner preparedness, clarity of documentation, supporting evidence, and references.

Applicants must agree to have their basic business concept information made public to other members on the site. All applications will have non-private information available for public review prior to final judging.

Rules and Terms

1. You are responsible for obeying all applicable laws in regard to your business, and use of the award.

2. Program is aimed at US residents only. Sorry folks, but legal requirements in other countries are outside the scope of what we can deal with right now. If you live in another country, you are solely responsible for ensuring that your participation meets the legal requirements of the area you are in.

3. Judging is solely at the discretion of Kevin Wheeler, Laura Wheeler, Theresa Cook, Bobbi Jo Woods, and Sean Wheeler. All applications will be open to public review prior to judging, and that review will be taken into consideration by the judges, but will not be the determining factor in judging grant awards.

4.  Awards are provided by Firelight Business Enterprises, Inc, unless otherwise stated.

5.  Award notifications will occur through email, using the email address that the applicant has entered into their application form. If we do not receive a response from you within 10 days of award notification, the award will be granted to the next most qualified applicant.

6. In the event that two equally deserving applicants are chosen in a given month, the judges may choose to award a second grant, at their discretion. 

7. We reserve the right to substitute awards of comparable value if warranted by limited availability or unforeseen changes that make delivery of the original award impossible or impractical.

8. In the event that insufficient suitable applications are submitted, the award will not be granted. If the grant is not awarded, we will place a public notice on the Grant Website (http://contest.frontporchfolks.com) stating the reasons why the grant was not awarded.

9. Grants awarded may be accompanied by a contract for services. There are no "hidden charges" in any award, each is valuable without additional purchase. Some may require work on the part of the grant recipient, or additional services to be fully utilized, this is stated in the Grant Details and Limitations below.

10. Front Porch Folks is a division of Firelight Business Enterprises, Inc.. Firelight Business Enterprises, Inc. makes no warranties or guarantees of award suitability or quality beyond those stated, and makes no guarantees involving outcomes of award performance other than what may be stated in a service contract at the time of delivery.

11. Odds of receiving the grant are dependent upon total number of monthly entrants, and are based on both the efforts of the individual entrant, and the quality of their application. Grants are not awarded on a basis of chance, but on a basis of quality and viability, as determined by the grant judges.

12. Grants will run on an overlapping schedule, monthly. Application submission will run from the first of the month, to the last day of the month. Public review will commence the first of the following month, and end on the last day of that month. Judging will take place during the third month, beginning on the first day, with awards announced during the last week of the month. At any given time, multiple phases of the grant program may be running as new phases overlap old ones.

13. All submissions MUST be family friendly. We will not accept applications for businesses which are not family friendly, and small business friendly. This means we will not award a grant to a business that promotes pornography (including nudity of any kind), alcohol, tobacco, violence, which is discriminatory or hate related, or which promotes dishonest marketing or unwise business tactics. 

14. The judges reserve the right to reject any application for any reason, stated or unstated, and may reject applications based on reputation of the applicant, low quality of the application information, non-viability of the business concept, lack of demonstrated initiative on the part of the applicant, violation of family friendly or small business friendly terms, or any other reason that they judge as being inappropriate, or indicative of likely failure on the part of the business owner to make use of the grant that is being awarded. This grant is a privilege, not a right, and awards are granted based on the judgment and experience of the judges.

15. Grants will be awarded without regard to race, gender, age, religion, or other discriminatory factors. We are concerned primarily with granting opportunity to individuals who have the drive to work hard to build a business, but who can benefit from assistance in doing so due to lack of financial resources.

16. Contestants may have only ONE active application on the site at any given time. You may not submit more than one application, or both will be removed. Applications in any stage of processing count toward this limit.

17. Applicants may reapply if they are not awarded a grant, but they must wait until their application is no longer active before doing so.

18. Applications for unsuccessful candidates will be deleted from the database.

19. Applicants are limited to ONE full service award, per family. Immediate household members of a winning candidate are not eligible for the grant program. Successful applicants may not reapply for further grants from Firelight Business Enterprises, Inc.

20. Service provided by businesses other than Firelight Business Enterprises, Inc., are subject to terms specified by those individual companies.

21. Applicants are screened as specified, but award donors understand that no amount of screening can guarantee that an award is suitable for an award winner, and agree not to hold Firelight Business Enterprises, Inc. liable for any deception on the part of the applicants.

22. Five finalists will receive a subscription to the Firelight Web Studio Marketing Newsletter.

23. Award winners are responsible for all taxes and legal compliance in using the services awarded. Where required, Firelight Business Enterprises, Inc., will report award values to the IRS.

24. Reasons for automatic disqualification:

1. Abuse of our application process.
2. Incomplete application.
3. Obvious requests for money from individuals who have clearly not read what this grant IS.
4. Duplicate applications.
5. Businesses promoting products or services involving "adult" content, or other offensive content.

Automatic disqualification will result in removal of your application without notice.

Grant Details and Limitations

Monthly Maintenance consists of monthly backups, periodic updates to site software as needed, and limited technical support. Exact amount awarded will depend upon the site structure selected, and the modifications that are made to it. Improvement or content updating services will not be included, but may be purchased separately if desired. This service is needed after the free year, but the site owner can choose the provider of their choice.

Marketing Plan Consultation consists of a telephone conversation to isolate marketing needs, to define the target market and potential marketing venues, and to gain an understanding of the steps necessary to begin to market successfully.

Marketing Newsletter Subscription consists of a one year free subscription to the Firelight Web Studio Marketing Newsletter. 

Virtual Assistance Service consists of 2 hours of services as outlined on the Admin Services website, and are subject to the following limitations: Your award will be void if not used within 90 days of winning the grant. Hours not used within 30 days after starting any assignment will be forfeited.  Any assignment taking longer than the two hours awarded will be billed at $30 per hour.

Logo Design consists of a professional quality logo in a scalable file format, suitable for web and limited print use. Logo design must be completed prior to the website design so that it can coordinate, subject to scheduling availability on the part of the designer. Firelight Web Studio will assist the award winner in selecting the most suitable logo designer for their particular business.

Social Networking Coaching consists of a single 2 hour training session to help you maximize the potential of online networking, and increase the visibility of your internet presence. Follow up is available through a Skype room, additional coaching sessions are available at the regular price. Coaching session must be scheduled within 60 days of announcement of the grant award, and is subject to scheduling availability. Details about the program are available on Dr. Sally's website.

Directory Backlinks are personalized, hand submitted directory listings, submitted to quality screened internet directories. Each winner is given 10 backlinks, placed when their new site is ready to go live. Site owner must provide site descriptions for the backlinks. Must be redeemed within 7 months of award announcement.

Marketing Article is a high quality, 500 to 750 word article, written specifically to appeal to the target market of the business in question. The article will be submitted to three article directories, and may be used as content by the award winner on their website. Must be redeemed within 7 months of the award announcement.

Do It Yourself Website Kit consists of an initial consultation, to determine needs, and install of a website system that the individual may customize. Kits contain a selection of templates to choose from. Instructions for using the site are provided. The site owner must provide their own domain name.

Other Grant services may be added if suitable donors are found for complimentary services or products.