Legal
Program Rules
DRAFT — needs legal review. The headings below are the sections this page needs, based on what the site actually does. The wording is a starting point, not legal advice, and none of it should publish before counsel has read it. This page carries noindex until then.
Applications
Applying does not guarantee funding.
Submitting the form does not create any entitlement to funding, volunteer time, or storytelling. Selection is at the discretion of iHeart Port A.
Applications for 2026 close September 10. Interviews are completed by September 21.
Selection
Who decides, and on what basis.
To confirm: who reviews applications, how many people sit on that review, and the criteria applied beyond the published eligibility list. The site currently says applications are reviewed and interviewed but names no process.
Eligibility
The published criteria.
The nine eligibility requirements appear in full on the apply page. This section should restate them and note that eligibility is assessed as at the dates given.
Needs legal review: the eligibility language itself, particularly the references to IRS status and supporting-organization types.
Gifts and how funds are held
Between the giving window and the presentation.
Gifts are received during November 1 to 15 and presented to beneficiaries in December. This section must state which entity receives and holds the funds in the interval, and on what basis.
This is the most significant open item on the site. The compliance memo raised it and it is unresolved: a for-profit entity collecting and holding donations creates tax, custody, and conflict-of-interest exposure. Nothing here can be written until that structure is decided.
Tax deductibility
What donors can and cannot claim.
To confirm: whether gifts are tax deductible, which requires knowing the receiving entity and its EIN. Until then the site should make no statement about deductibility, and currently makes none.
Matching and campaign costs
What Cinnamon Shore covers.
The site states that Cinnamon Shore covers campaign and administrative costs. This section should set out what that includes and what it does not.
Gated: the stronger claim that one hundred percent of every gift reaches beneficiaries is written but switched off in the markup, pending confirmation that credit-card and payment-processing fees are also absorbed. It should not publish before then.
To confirm: the seed contribution and matching terms.
Publication
What gets published, and when.
Beneficiary names are published once selection is complete. To decide: whether grant amounts are published, as the apply page currently promises they will be.
Storytelling consent
Name, likeness, and photography.
Applicants agree to share their story publicly. This section should specify what is produced, who owns it, where it appears, for how long, and whether a beneficiary may withdraw consent later.
Changes and cancellation
If the campaign changes.
To confirm: what happens if the campaign is delayed or cancelled, if a selected beneficiary withdraws or loses its exempt status, and how gifts are handled in those cases.