Santa Lawyer 2020 Contest Rules Are Out!

The rules:

  1. The 2020 contest begins Tuesday, December 1st, and runs through Tuesday, December 22nd at 11:59 p.m. Unless there is a tie, the winners will be announced on Wednesday, December 23rd. The first place winner will be the organization that receives the most votes, and will receive a $500 donation from Rubric Legal. The 2nd place winner will receive a $100 donation from Rubric Legal. Sorry, still no third place this year.  Any ties will be broken by giving the organizations (or those that nominated them) 24 hours to submit 280 characters as to why even the Grinch should be on Santa’s nice list.  Santalawyer will select the response that best captures the season!
  2. New and different prize this year: the first person that votes on each of the first 5 days of the contest will win a one of a kind Santalawyer-decorated mask! If no votes come in on a given day, then the mask giveaway extends for another day.
  3. To enter the contest, all Twitter users must first follow: @thesantalawyer. Contest updates and daily tallies will be posted to this twitter account. Silly holiday themed tweets including favorite holiday songs will be posted to this account. *Disclaimer* tweets may include holiday themed videos that might be considered NSFW. And cats. Many cats, possibly even holiday cats.  There may also be special bonus point opportunities announced via this Twitter account.
  4. All nominations must come in by one of these two methods – Twitter (@NonprofitRubric or @thesantalawyer), or email: santa at rubriclegal.com.**If you are using Twitter to nominate, please use #santalawyer so we can keep track of votes!** If you do not use the hashtag, the vote will not be counted.
  5. Prior winners are not eligible to win first prize. Sorry ☹  
  6. To be eligible, nominee must be a Minnesota charity with gross annual revenues less than $1 million.
  7. One vote/day/organization/person (so, you can vote for more than one organization each day but only one vote per organization per day), and must be accompanied by a holiday themed photo or GIF (by email vote, or Twitter vote)! Post a video to Twitter of yourself singing an entire holiday tune – you get a one-time bonus of 25 votes. *If a video is sent to email, it is implied that we have your consent to post the video to Twitter.* Post a video to Twitter of yourself or a group dancing to a holiday themed song, and you will get a one-time bonus of 35 votes. Special consideration and additional points may be granted if the dance is choreographed.
  8. We reserve the right to redirect the funds if a review of the selected organization’s Form 990 and/or other info indicates it is not a good steward of charitable funds.
  9. Nominees that meet the Charities Review Council’s Standards of Accountability get a one-time 25-point bonus.
  10. I have no idea what the odds are of winning, but you can’t win if you don’t participate!

Finally, this contest is inclusive of ALL winter holidays. This is not a Christian Christmas contest, as Santa Lawyer celebrates Christmas as a secular holiday, mostly involving (too many) decorations and sparkly things, holiday sweaters, inappropriate holiday themed music, and being kind to everyone. Whatever this holiday season means to you, that’s what this contest intends to honor and celebrate.

Good luck, and have fun!

Dougie is ready!

Santa Lawyer 2019 Contest Rules Are Out!

The rules:

1. The 2019 contest begins Sunday, December 1st, and runs through Friday, December 20th at 11:59 a.m. Unless there is a tie, the winners will be announced on Friday, December 20th at 12:00 p.m. The first place winner will be the organization that receives the most votes, and will receive a $500 donation from Rubric Legal LLC. A twitter poll will be used to break any ties and will be open for 24 hours.

2. New this year: the contest will now award 2nd place with a $100 donation, and there will be no prizes for 3rd place (but you are still a winner in Santa Lawyer’s eyes).

3. To enter the contest, all Twitter users must first follow: @thesantalawyer and all Instagram users must follow @rubriclegal. Contest updates and daily tallies will be posted to the twitter account. Silly holiday themed tweets including favorite holiday songs will be posted to this account. *Disclaimer* tweets may include holiday themed videos that might be considered NSFW. And cats. Many cats, possibly even holiday cats. There may also be special bonus point opportunities announced via the Twitter account.

4. All nominations must come in by one of these three methods – Twitter (@thesantalawyer), Instagram (@rubriclegal – tag us in your photos or stories and use #santalawyer) or email: santa at rubriclegal.com.**If you are using Twitter to nominate, please use #santalawyer so we can keep track of votes!** If you do not use the hashtag, the vote will not be counted.

5. Prior winners are not eligible to win first prize but may still enter the contest for 2nd place.

6. To be eligible, nominee must be a Minnesota charity with gross annual revenues less than $1 million.

7. One vote/day/organization/person (so, you can vote for more than one organization each day but only one vote per organization per day), and must be accompanied by a holiday themed photo (by email vote, or Twitter vote)! Post a video to Twitter of yourself singing an entire holiday tune – you get a one-time bonus of 10 votes. *If a video is sent to email, it is implied that we have your consent to post the video to Twitter.* Post a video to Twitter of yourself or a group dancing to a holiday themed song, and you will get a one-time bonus of 20 votes. Special consideration and additional points may be granted if the dance is choreographed.
8. We reserve the right to redirect the funds if a review of the selected organization’s Form 990 and/or other info indicates it is not a good steward of charitable funds.

9. Nominees that meet the Charities Review Council’s Standards of Accountability get a one-time 25-point bonus.

10. I have no idea what the odds are of winning, but you can’t win if you don’t participate!

Finally, this contest is inclusive of ALL winter holidays. This is not a Christian Christmas contest, as Santa Lawyer celebrates Christmas as a secular holiday, mostly involving (too many) decorations and sparkly things, holiday sweaters, inappropriate holiday themed music, and being kind to everyone. Whatever this holiday season means to you, that’s what this contest intends to celebrate.

Good luck, and have fun!

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Panda’s first Xmas

Santa Lawyer 2018 Contest Rules are Out!

Panda’s first Xmas

Ho Ho Ho! It is almost time for the 2018 Santa Lawyer Contest! As always, we tweak the rules a bit each year to try to make the contest a little better, a little sillier, and overall more likely to shine a spotlight on and support small charities!

The rules:
1. The 2018 contest begins Saturday, December 1st, and runs through Friday, December 21st at 11:59 a.m. Unless there is a tie, the winners will be announced on Friday, December 21st at 12:00 p.m. The first place winner will be the organization that receives the most votes, and will receive a $500 donation from Rubric Legal LLC. A twitter poll will be used to break any ties and will be open for 24 hours.

2. New this year: the contest will now award 2nd and 3rd place winners with a monetary sponsorship of the Wizard fee to go through the Charities Review Council’s Accountability Wizard review process! For more info on that process, see: https://smartgivers.org/nonprofits/.

3. Additionally, we will be auctioning off a holiday-themed sweater personally created by Santa Lawyer; proceeds from that auction will be donated to the 2nd place winner.

4. Please note our Twitter handle: @thesantalawyer, where contest updates and daily tallies will be posted. Silly holiday themed tweets including a daily favorite holiday song will be posted to this account. *Disclaimer* tweets may include holiday themed videos that might be considered NSFW. And cats. Many cats.

5. All nominations must come in by one of these two methods – Twitter (@NonprofitRubric), or email: santa at rubriclegal.com.**If you are using Twitter to nominate, please use #santalawyer so we can keep track of votes!** If you do not use the hashtag, we may not see it and the vote will not be counted.

6. Prior winners are not eligible to win first prize, but may still enter the contest for 2nd or 3rd place.

7. To be eligible, nominee must be a Minnesota charity with gross annual revenues less than $1 million.

8. One vote/day/person/charity (vote multiple times daily for multiple charities). Post a video to Twitter of yourself singing an entire holiday tune – you get a one-time bonus of 5 votes. *If a video is sent to email, it is implied that we have your consent to post the video to Twitter.* Post a video to Twitter of yourself or a group dancing to a holiday themed song, and you will get a one-time bonus of 10 votes. Special consideration and additional points may be granted if the dance is choreographed. Post a selfie with a holiday themed item for 3 bonus points (with each vote, not a one-time bonus).

9. First place donation amount will be $500. We reserve the right to redirect the funds if a review of the selected organization’s Form 990 and/or other info indicates it is not a good steward of charitable funds.

10. Nominees that meet the Charities Review Council’s Standards of Accountability get a one-time 25-point bonus.

11. I have no idea what the odds are of winning, but you can’t win if you don’t participate!

Finally, this contest is inclusive of ALL winter holidays. This is not a Christian Christmas contest, as Santa Lawyer celebrates Christmas as a secular holiday, mostly involving (too many) decorations, holiday sweaters, and inappropriate holiday themed music. Whatever this holiday season means to you, that’s what this contest intends to celebrate.
Good luck, and have fun!

Santa Lawyer Contest Success Story!

What a contest! Now that the dust has settled, we wanted to thank everyone for their participation in the 2017 Santa Lawyer Contest. In particular, we were filled with warm, fuzzy, holiday feelings seeing the enthusiasm from the folks who ran away with the contest this year: Lincoln Park Child & Families Collaborative.

We heard from Executive Director Jodi Broadwell that the donation from Rubric Legal (and the bonus personal donation from Santa Lawyer) was much-needed for their organization:

“This year we raised enough money to purchase 11 Chromebooks and 4 tablets for the children and families that we serve. The kids have access to Chromebooks at school, but are not allowed to take them home so for many kiddos, especially those who do not have a computer at home, they end up falling behind in school due to this disconnect. With the donation from Santa Lawyer, we were able to purchase 4 of the Chromebooks.”

We are already looking forward to the 2018 Santa Lawyer Contest! Happy New Year from the Santa Lawyer team!

Santa Lawyer contest…we have a winner!

Santa Lawyer has been blown away by the breadth of Lincoln Park CFC’s participation in this contest. With the 100 point bonus earned this week, Lincoln Park CFC brought in an astounding 157 points this week, to add to their already impressive 93 points from week one.

As a result of this absolute domination , Santa Lawyer has made the decision to call the 2017 Santa Lawyer Contest, and award the $500 donation to Lincoln Park Children & Families Collaborative.

But that’s not all! Due to their passion, determination, and the joy they brought to this contest, Santa Lawyer is going to personally throw in an additional $100 donation to Lincoln Park CFC.

Thanks to everyone that participated this year! We are already counting down the days to the 2018 Santa Lawyer Contest. Happy Holidays! Don’t forget, you can find Santa Lawyer tomorrow, December 16th, at SantaCon in St. Paul!

Santa Lawyer Contest – Week 1 results are in!

WOW. The 2017 #santalawyer contest is off to a wild start! Santa Lawyer’s helper has been working furiously to compile votes between email, Facebook and Twitter and it’s official: Lincoln Park CFC is like a runaway sleigh full of jolly voters (who happen to be talented singers to boot)!

Here are the vote totals for week 1 (combined with the early votes from October for a grand total through 12/8):

  • Oasis for Youth: 4
  • CRC: 2
  • Our Streets Minneapolis: 1
  • Saving Grace: 2
  • Hispanic Outreach MN Redwing: 2
  • Global Team for Local Initiatives: 2
  • Hope Multipurpose Inc.: 2
  • Public Art St. Paul: 1
  • Medical Crisis Program: 1
  • MN Pitbull Rescue: 2
  • Artsage MN: 1
  • Micro Grants: 1
  • TC Food Justice: 1
  • YNPN Twin Cities: 2
  • Urban Boatbuilders: 9
  • Minnesota Sinfonia: 4
  • Gender Justice: 4
  • Pollen Midwest: 1
  • Lincoln Park CFC: 93 
  • City House: 32

– Lincoln Park CFC is in the lead with 93 points, thanks to multiple pictures, daily voting, and several videos for added bonus points.

– In second place, City House has 32 points thanks to Nick Hansen winning the one day 20 point bonus for doing a good deed for a stranger (and earning himself a spot on the nice list).

Stay tuned for new bonus opportunities next week! 

 

Early votes are in – Santa Lawyer Contest starts 12/1!

It’s almost time for the 2017 Santa Lawyer contest to (officially) begin!
Back in October, Santa Lawyer spent two days at the annual MCN conference spreading good cheer, representing Rubric Legal LLC, and taking early nominations for this year’s Santa Lawyer contest. Here is a list of the charities nominated and a tally of current standings:Leaders:
– Lincoln Park Children and Families Collaborative (LPCFC): 6 points
– Urban Boatbuilders: 5 points
– Oasis for Youth, Gender Justice, and Minnesota Sinfonia tied for 4 points

Santa Lawyer contest begins December 1st; don’t forget to brush up on the rules here!

‘Tis the season…Santa Lawyer Contest is back!

Dougie is ready!

Back by popular demand! Instead of sending out holiday cards, we give a contribution to a small Minnesota-based charity and you get to be Santa’s helpers via the Santa Lawyer Contest! Beginning on December 1st, 2017, Santa Lawyer will begin taking nominations and posting holiday-themed images of the Rubric crew, as well as providing periodic updates on the status of nominees on Facebook, Twitter, and santalawyer.com! And – all winter holidays and celebrations are welcome here, so don’t think you are limited to x-mas images or messages!

Continue reading “‘Tis the season…Santa Lawyer Contest is back!”

Santa Lawyer contest, day 15!

With just one week left to get your votes in, Red Ribbon Ride MN has pulled ahead of the pack!

  • Red Ribbon Ride MN – 2 votes plus 2 bonus points for festive pictures

That gives Red Ribbon Ride 10 total points! Still in second we have NEON with 4 total votes, and One Heartland in third with 3. Still plenty of time to get your votes in before the 12/22 deadline; let’s see your festive pictures and give Red Ribbon Ride MN (and Gabriel Skelly) a run for their money!

Lowertown SantaCon, December 17th!

Santa Lawyer got really excited about this year’s 9th annual SantaCon in Lowertown (St. Paul), and was so filled with holiday spirit that she decided to sponsor the event! If the thought of a large pack of people in various holiday themed costumes roaming Lowertown from pub to pub sounds like fun to you, please come on down, join the party, and see if you can pick out Santa Lawyer from the masses!