2023 Recipient Hub

When will I receive my award?

• Your Comcast RISE award fulfillment will be broken up into three phases. Each Phase will last anywhere from 4-6 weeks. Phase 1 is set to begin in early September. To understand which award you will receive in each phase, reach out to your RISE Lead.
  Note: You will not be able to receive any part of your award until after your signed Terms and Conditions have been received.

What if I can’t accept my award during the designated phase?

• If you cannot accept any part of your award during the designated phase, you will have to wait until all three award phases are complete before fulfilling that award. Any award phases that had to be “skipped”, must begin fulfillment following the end of Phase 3.

Is there a cash alternative to the award services?

• No. There is no ability to substitute business services with a cash equivalent for business services.

Are there any tax implications for accepting my award?

• Recipients are responsible for all applicable federal, state and local taxes, if any, as well as any other costs and expenses associated with prize acceptance and services being provided under the program. Recipients are expected to provide the appropriate information for purposes of applicable tax forms. Recipients are strongly encouraged to consult with their tax advisors to determine any tax consequences in connection with award acceptance and program services.
• For Tech Makeover awards, recipients will be subject to federal tax based on the approximate retail value of the services and equipment, which is $7,500. Comcast will issue pro-rated 1099 Forms to all recipients based on the approximate months the services were delivered. The $7,500 Tech Makeover value will be pro-rated over 12 months as follows:
• Tax Year 2023 = 3 months of value from October to December = $1,875. 1099 will be sent February 2024
• Tax Year 2024 = 9 months of value from January to September = $5,625. 1099 will be sent February 2025
• For Creative and Media Campaign awards, recipients will be subject to federal tax based on the value of the production of the 30-second television commercial and the one hundred-eighty (180) day linear TV media schedule. The approximate retail value of each Creative and Media Campaign prize is $17,500. Comcast will issue pro-rated 1099 Forms to all recipients based on the approximate months the services were delivered. The $17,500 Creative and Media value will be pro-rated over 6 months as follows:
• Tax Year 2023 = 3 months of value from October to December = $8,750. 1099 will be sent February 2024
• Tax Year 2024 = 3 months of value from January to September = $8,750. 1099 will be sent February 2025
• If the value of the non-cash Comcast RISE awards (services and equipment) is reported as income to the recipient on Form 1099, the recipient may be entitled to tax deductions of an equivalent amount. Recipients are strongly encouraged to consult their tax advisor.

Where do I access my LinkedIn Learning account?

• Email invitations will be sent to all Comcast RISE recipients in late August, with a link to activate your LinkedIn Learning account. Once activated, you can always access content at www.linkedin.com/learning/

How long will I have access to my complimentary LinkedIn Learning account?

• Comcast RISE recipients will have complimentary access to their LinkedIn Learning accounts for one year from the date you activate your account.

I’m having trouble logging into my LinkedIn Learning account. Who can I reach out to?

• If you are having issues with your LinkedIn Learning account, you can reach out to your Comcast RISE Lead who will connect you with admin.

Who is Hello Alice?

• Hello Alice is a free platform enabling more than one million small business owners across the United States to measure and improve their business health. Committed to equitable access to capital and networks for women, people of color, members of the LGBTQ+ community, veterans, and entrepreneurs with disabilities, Hello Alice provides frameworks to scale, access to fair funding, and a diverse community of entrepreneurs across all 50 states.

What is the Business Health Score Assessment?

• Rooted in risk models from thousands of financial institutions, your business health score assesses the fundamentals of your business, upon which everything else can grow. For RISE recipients, your business health score is a pivotal piece of your coaching experience. Your coach will use your score and associated recommendations to deeply understand your business and track your growth as you work together over the course of the year.

What is involved in the coaching offering?

• The coaching offering will provide you with 1-on-1 access to a dedicated business coach for an hourly session each quarter. Your coach will be trained in Hello Alice curriculums, prepared to discuss a variety of topics with you, from funding to strategy to finance.

How do I sign up for a coaching session?

• Once you have gone through the Hello Alice training webinar, signed up for a Hello Alice owner profile, and taken your Business Health Score assessment, you will receive an email with a link to your coach’s calendar. You then have one month to book a session that will take place within a three month period of receiving that first invitation, based on the time that works best for you and your coach. After scheduling your session, you will receive email confirmation and reminders, and your coach will be able to review your Hello Alice business owner profile information and business health score to get to know you better and prepare for the session.

Is there a deadline to sign up for my coaching session?

• Yes. From the day you receive your first coaching session invitation, you have one month to book a session that will take place within a three month period of receiving that invitation.

What should I expect to learn from my coach?

• Your coach will be trained in Hello Alice curriculums, prepared to discuss a variety of topics with you, from funding to strategy to finance. Your coach will be able to review your Hello Alice business owner profile information and business health score to get to know you better and prepare for the session. In order to get the most out of your time with your coach, plan to come prepared for each session with a few current questions, challenges or ideas.

Who is my coach?

• Once you sign up for a coaching session, you will find out your coach’s name and bio. All of the coaches in the program are skilled in entrepreneurship and small business coaching, and they have been trained to assist you with a variety of topics related to small business ownership.

Can I switch coaches?

• All of our coaches are prepared to tailor their expertise to your specific business needs and goals, informed by the results and recommendations of your Business Health Score, as well as the business owner profile information that you provide when you sign up for Hello Alice. That foundation of training, combined with adequate meeting preparation on both sides, will help you to build a strong relationship with your assigned coach. If after two sessions you do not feel the coaching is a good use of your time, please reach out to your Comcast RISE lead to discuss further.

How long are my coaching sessions?

• Coaching sessions are intended to last one hour maximum. You are encouraged to spend the full hour with your coach, but the coach is not obligated to continue the session after one hour.

How many coaching sessions do I have in total?

• Through this program, you have access to 4 total coaching sessions.

Can I save one of my coaching sessions for another quarter?

• No, coaching sessions do not roll over to the next quarter.

What happens if I need to cancel or reschedule my coaching session?

• You can work with your coach to cancel or reschedule a session up to 24 hours in advance of the session. If you cancel with less than 24 hours until your session, you forfeit that quarter’s session.

How can I give feedback on my coaching session?

• You will be invited to share feedback on your coaching experience once per quarter. If you have additional feedback to share in between those surveys, you can share it with your Comcast RISE Lead to share with Hello Alice.

How will I know when it’s time to sign up for my next coaching session?

• Three months after you receive your first coaching session invitation via email, you will receive an invitation via email to schedule the next quarter’s session.

Can I get in touch with my coach in between sessions?

• Since coaches are working with several Comcast RISE recipients at once, we cannot guarantee they will be responsive to questions or communication between sessions. You are encouraged to keep track of your questions and updates for your coach in between sessions, so that you are prepared to speak to those items in your next session.

What should I do if I have a question about the coaching program?

• If you have any questions about the coaching program, please contact your Comcast RISE Lead, and they can get in touch with Hello Alice to ensure you have all of the information you need.

What is the Hello Alice Comcast RISE community space?

• All Comcast RISE recipients will be added to a dedicated and exclusive Comcast RISE group within the virtual Hello Alice Community that will serve as a convening center for you to connect with other recipients through shared resources, best practices, and business growth advice. You can expect monthly resources from Hello Alice (think events, educational content, news, opportunities), conversation with your fellow recipients, and regular monitoring from Comcast RISE Leads to answer questions and share program information.

How do I access the Hello Alice Comcast RISE community space?

1. Create a free Hello Alice account and complete the onboarding assessment
2. Head to your Hello Alice Dashboard
3. In your user dropdown (Click your profile picture!), click “Hello Alice Community”
4. Once inside the virtual Hello Alice Community, look for the Comcast RISE group in your left-side community navigation. (If you get logged out, sign in again using your Hello Alice credentials)

What are the beginning steps to the production process?

• A creative intake form is submitted by the recipient and is automatically entered into our project management system. From there our production team takes a look to see if the RISE winner has provided a script or has given any special instructions for their edit. This can include specific calls to action, image placement or direction on editing down an existing video. If there is no script provided, our Script Writer will use the completed form information and the client’s website to gain a better understanding of their business in order to write a :30 spot.

If I missed capturing information on the initial intake form, should a new form be submitted?

• It’s very important to only fill out and submit the order form once. If multiple forms are submitted the information will be separated as a different order and may be missed. Additionally, we need complete information so that the writer can better write a script tailored to your needs. If additional information needs to be submitted, please “Reply All” on the confirmation email received upon submission.

What happens after the script is finalized?

• Voiceover is then ordered based on your preference for gender and style and production time is scheduled. The editor will look at everything you have uploaded (logo, photos, video) and create a spot using those items as well as high resolution images and video footage from our extensive stock library.

What happens if I do not upload any creative materials?

• If no items were sent to us, we still do the best we can to find something to use from either your website or social channels. This can be challenging and time consuming and will slow down the creative process as we will also have to find stock images and video to supplement. It is very important to upload everything you want used the very beginning of the order submission.

What happens when a production draft is completed?

• You will be sent a first draft and can approve it or make one round of visual revisions at no cost.

What is the turnaround time for completed commercial production?

• There is no way for our teams to pinpoint an exact completion date as its all based on how much information was given to us, the number of other commercials in production, edits based on feedback received, etc.

Once my commercial production is complete, what is the turnaround time for a completed media campaign?

• Generally, this step is completed between 1 and 2 weeks after your commercial is produced.

Can I use the commercial produced for me on my own websites and social media?

• Yes, you will be able to download a final copy of the commercial to be used at your own discretion.

If my business is virtual, am I able to extend my reach to additional markets for my media campaign?

• We recommend sticking to one market (and no more than 3 zones within this market). If you have interest in purchasing more markets, we can connect you with our sales teams to buy a complementary schedule.

How will I know when and where my media campaign is airing?

• Once your media campaign has been built and scheduled, your RISE Lead will share with you a confirmation which details start and end dates, total number of expected commercial spots, and a chart showing all of the networks the campaign will run on, etc.

Can I produce my own commercial or provide a commercial that my business already has?

• Yes. If you have your own commercial that you would like to use, your RISE Lead will work with you to have that commercial scheduled for the complimentary, 6-month media campaign.

If I am producing my own commercial, how long should that be?

• At this time, we can only accept and air commercials that are :30. There is additional documentation we can share around acceptable formats for commercials. Please be sure to ask your RISE Lead for this information.

What if a month has passed but I have not seen any traction with my business?

• As our schedules run for 6 months, we recommend waiting until the half-way point to assess performance. Additionally, it takes consumers about 3-4 views before they are motivated to action.

I am already a Comcast Business customer. Now that I’m a RISE Recipient, can I stop paying my bill?

• If you are currently a Comcast Business customer, you will still be responsible for your normal monthly bill until your Comcast RISE services are installed/activated. You will receive a confirmation email informing you when the change in service is complete. Please continue paying the bill for your existing Comcast Business services until you receive the “change in service” email. Once your complimentary services are installed, you will be responsible for the final, pro-rated bill of your previous services.
• Your complimentary service is limited to the packages included in the program. Any desired service outside of the Comcast RISE offerings must be added as a paid service. If you opt for additional services, it is important that payments remain up-to-date as any service interruption due to lack of payment will impact all services, including the complimentary services.

What is included in my Technology Makeover?

• A Technology Makeover consists of 12-months of complimentary Comcast Business services. Your complimentary services are limited to the packages included in the program and cannot be changed or altered during your award.
• In addition to 12 months of complimentary services, you will also receive free, brand new computer equipment, which will consist of a combination of laptops and tablets.

Do I have to return the computer equipment after the program ends?

• No, you do not have to return the computer equipment after the program ends. It is yours to keep.

When will I get my monetary grant?

• Payment of the cash grant will be facilitated by our partner, Hello Alice. In mid-October, you will receive an email with instructions on how to securely submit your banking information and what the next steps are. After banking information is successfully submitted, your monetary grant should be transferred within 5-10 business days.

Do I have to pay back the $5,000?

• No. The grant does not need to be paid back. However, federal and local taxes may apply. Acceptance of your Comcast RISE award implies the acceptance of all applicable federal and state/local taxes.

What can I use my grant for?

• There are no restrictions on how the $5,000 monetary grant can be used. The grant can be used for anything as the recipient sees fit.