Term of Service & Privacy

A terms of service page for this website?  Yes.  The attorneys.  They make you do all sorts of stuff.  We believe agreements should be clear to all parties though, so it’s a lot easier to read than most. (And more fun.)

Here are the terms you need to agree to and understand if you’re going to be on this site:

• Who are we looking to support? If the project helps victims of trauma/abuse or the disabled, uses our talents and can scale, it’ll get our attention. If you’re the type of person who will make a difference in your community and your family has been hit with some kind of disability we’d like to see if we can provide a lifeline and make life a little better.
• How do I apply for funding? You apply by emailing us and we’ll have a conversation about the need. Fair warning: We’re not big, so unless you have excellent folks who can vouch for you know it’s going to be hard as we already have individuals in our local communities we’d love to support but don’t have the cash to. That said, we play by all the rules, so race, creed, blah blah… that stuff doesn’t matter.
• We may use analytic data to keep track of how many visitors we have, how they get here, what they do on the site, and where they go when they leave.  That means you need to be ok with ‘cookies’ (The computer kind… Not. Food.)  Also, that ‘third-parties’ will be collecting data… that sounds lame, but it really just means that the analytic and activity data is processed and stored by folks that aren’t us.  (But it’s not being used by anyone but us and, perhaps, the NSA.)
• We use Stripe.com to process all credit/debit card transactions.  Oh boy.  Let’s just start with the big picture:  “Stripe.com is awesome and processes kajillions of dollars in transactions every day.  Many kajillions even.”  What it means to you is roughly this:  Even though it looks like you’re entering credit card info on our site… you’re not.  It’s all securely done using ‘SSL’ data transmission directly with Stripe’s servers.  If you setup a monthly gift:  Thanks!  Stripe.com is who is storing the card details.  They use the highest and best practices of any industry firm we’ve come across.
• We’ll email you a record of your donation and news (if you ask for it).  We’ll email you if you email us first (well, probably anyway).  That’s it.  Nobody else will get your email address and we won’t offer you the chance to make millions working at home or to get a good deal on unsold cruise ship berths.
• The IRS can change the rules / revoke / disallow and basically do whatever they want when it comes to ..well.. most anything.  So while we fully expect your gifts to be tax deductible, we can not say (nor can anyone) that such status is guaranteed to abide.  So give often and generously to all the causes you care about, but remember the “ask your tax professional” is important.
• All the information on this site is accurate to our knowledge.  Joshua avoids spelling and grammar errors like nobody’s business.  Dan can proofread in his sleep.  None the less, if we thought it said ‘kajillions’ and it really said ‘kaboodles’… well, you can see there’s room for error.  Always double check anything you deem important.  Using or giving on this site you run the risk of material harm.  We will not be responsible for, or indemnify, any loss of any kind that results from any error (gross, funny, intentional, negligent, or otherwise).  (We know.  That’s the cheerful bit of any TOS if there ever was one.)
• To keep the IRS happy here’s something to keep in mind:  Any charitable organization you give to can allocate funds however it deems best… IF you want the contribution to be deductible.  IF you say ‘it’s for this’ or ‘it’s for that’ then the charity is legally required to use it for that purpose; but then you lose the ability to deduct the donation.  …we know that can seem a little strange.  Fortunately, most of us just want to get the causes you care about funded.  So while we have to allow you to direct us what to do with your funds, may we humbly recommend that you instead just mention which effort was most interesting to you or why you visited.  However, if you say ‘I require my funds’ in the memo field we’ll follow those directions (or return your funds).  If you say nearly anything else, we’re going to understand that you accept our decision as to where the funds go as final, and thus keep the tax deductible nature intact. Assume we’ll do what we need to in order to keep the IRS happy and our 501(c)3 status intact.
• Companies we work with, like Google, Twilio, Amazon, and any others, all have businesses to run. Anything they do/don’t do for you, keep in mind they are responsible for themselves. Nothing any of them do or allow on our site should be construed as an endorsement of Adullam Agape.
• One other thing you need to be OK with if you give: If Adullam Agape were to stop operations while cash-in-the-account, it’ll all be distributed to local non-profits with as similar objects as we can find (rather than sent back to donors). This, as we understand it, is required by law (and it makes a lot of sense to us as well)
• The you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me-right-now section:  We don’t solicit donations from minors.  If you’re a minor please don’t grab your parent’s credit card without permission.  We have terms of service (you’re reading them : ) and a privacy policy.
• Here’s our privacy policy:  We don’t share your information with anyone for any reason unless it’s the NSA… they just take it anyway.  Or we get served with a valid court order.  We comply with those.  We’ll tell anyone else to get lost though.  No court thing?  No info.  Not even if they offer us cookies (the food kind).”