Terms for using the site

Read Before Use

If you wish to make use of the Website’s service (the “Service”), then please read this Agreement. By using this Website, you represent, warrant, understand, agree to, and accept all terms and conditions contained in this Agreement and the Privacy Policy. If you object to anything in this Agreement or the Privacy Policy, do not use the Website or the Service.

The Terms are subject to change at any time, effective upon posting on the Website. You will be notified of changes to this Agreement via a notation next to the link to the Agreement from the main page of the Website stating that the Agreement is new and the date on which it was updated. Your continued use of the Website or the Service after such posting will constitute acceptance by you of such changes. By accessing the Website or becoming a member, you consent to have this Agreement provided to you in electronic form.

Disclaimer

The Council makes no representations about the suitability or reliability of the Services, the Nonprofits, or the services promoted or described by the Nonprofits on the Website. The Council does not verify all statements made by the Nonprofits on this Website, nor does it assume any responsibility for the information provided by the Nonprofits on this Website.

All users of the Website expressly agree not to hold the Council and Council officers, directors, employees, and agents liable for any instruction, advice, or services delivered which originated through the Website.

Information on the Website is not promised or guaranteed to be correct, current, or complete, and the Website may contain inaccuracies or typographical errors. The Council assumes no responsibility (and expressly disclaims responsibility) for updating the Website to keep information current or to ensure the accuracy or completeness of any posted information. If you believe any information on the Site is inaccurate or incomplete, please let us know by contacting us at info@smartgivers.org.

The Council provides no assurances that any reported problems will be resolved, even if we elect to provide information with the goal of addressing a problem.

Permissible Use

The Website and all content on the Website may not be copied, reproduced, republished, uploaded, posted, transmitted, distributed, mirrored, framed, or otherwise used or displayed, or used for the creation of derivative works, without the Council’s prior written consent, except that the Council grants you a non-exclusive, non-transferable, limited and revocable permission to access and display the Web pages within the Website, for your personal, non-commercial (unless you have a business relationship with the Council) use of the Website. The Council further grants you a limited, nonexclusive and revocable right to create a hyperlink to the Website so long as the link does not portray the Council, its affiliates, the Nonprofits, or their respective products or services in a false, misleading, derogatory, or otherwise offensive manner. These permissions are conditioned on your not modifying the content displayed on this site, your keeping intact all copyright, trademark, and other proprietary notices, and your acceptance of any terms, conditions, and notices accompanying the content or otherwise set forth on the Website.

You may not use the Website in a manner that violates any local, state, national, foreign or international statute. You may not interfere with the functioning of the Website or with other users’ use of the Website in any way, including but not limited to modification of the Website; attempting to gain access to unauthorized portions of the website; enabling high volume, automated, electronic processes that apply to the Website or its systems, the content of the Website or any portion or derivative thereof; or attempting to gain access to other accounts, computer systems, or networks connected to the Website, whether through hacking, password mining, or any other means. You may not use the Charities Review Council name, trademarks, services marks, or logos in any meta tags or any other “hidden text”; use data mining, robots, spiders, crawlers, scrapers, or similar automated or non-automated data gathering or extraction methods; or compile, repackage, disseminate, or otherwise use data extracted from the Website.

The Website is not meant for use by minors. If you are a legal minor in your jurisdiction, please do not use the Website, or access the Website only under the supervision of a parent or legal guardian. Furthermore, the Website does not knowingly solicit or collect information about children under the age of 13. Should the Council learn that it has inadvertently collected information about a child under the age of 13, it will delete that information as soon as possible. Please see our Privacy Policy for further detail.

Your failure to comply with the terms, conditions, and notices on this Website will result in automatic termination of any rights granted to you, without prior notice, and you must immediately destroy all copies of downloaded materials in your possession or control. Except for the limited permission in the preceding paragraph, the Council does not grant you any express or implied rights or licenses under any patents, trademarks, copyrights, or other proprietary or intellectual property rights.

Eligible Users

By using the Website, you represent and warrant that you have the right, authority, and capacity to enter into this Agreement. Our Website and the Services are available only to adults in the United States.

Your account is for your sole, personal use. You agree that you will not authorize others to use your account, that you will keep your password secure, and that you will not assign or otherwise transfer your account to any other person or entity.

Release

By using this Website, you represent, understand, and expressly agree to hold the Council harmless for any claim or controversy that may arise from any disputes between you and any other user(s) of the Website. You understand and agree that problems concerning the services received by individuals from Nonprofits or concerning payment due to a Nonprofit by an individual are not the Council’s responsibility.

Content

Except as otherwise expressly noted, the Website and all contents of the Website are the intellectual property of the Council. You acknowledge that this content is protected by copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, or other proprietary rights, and that these rights are valid and protected in all forms, media, and technologies existing now or hereinafter developed. The Council owns a copyright in the selection, coordination, arrangement, and enhancement of such intellectual property. Except as permitted by a separate written agreement between you and the Council, you may not modify, remove, delete, augment, add to, publish, transmit, participate in the transfer or sale of, create derivative works from, or in any way exploit any Council intellectual property, in whole or in part.

The Charities Review Council logo, Meets Standards^® name, Meets Standards^® Seal logo, Accountability Wizard^® name, Accountability Standards^® name, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Toolkit^™ name, Smart Givers^™ name, Giving Matters^™ blog name, FORUM^™ name, Nonprofits Strengthening Project^™ name, Great Givers^™ name, Great Givers^™ logo, and the Charities Review Council name are registered and unregistered trademarks of the Council. These, along with any other trademarks, service marks and logos used and displayed on the Website are registered and unregistered trademarks of the Council. Nothing on the Website should be construed as granting, by implication, estoppel or otherwise, any license or right to use any trademark displayed on the Website, without the prior written permission of the Council. Fair use of the Council’s trademarks requires proper acknowledgment. Other product and company names mentioned in the Website, if any, may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

Nonprofit Users and Posts

The following paragraphs apply only to Nonprofits or other users who have provided information for the Council to post on the Website:

You are responsible for providing accurate, current, and complete information in connection with your use of the Website. You are solely responsible for any content, messages, photos, reviews, or profiles (collectively, “Content”) that you publish or display (hereinafter, “post”) on the Website or transmit to other users of the Website.

You agree that you will not post on the Website, or transmit to any other user(s), any defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, obscene, profane, offensive, sexually oriented, threatening, harassing, racially offensive, or illegal material, or any material that infringes or violates another party’s rights (including, but not limited to, intellectual property rights and rights of privacy and publicity).

You understand and agree that the Council may review and delete any Content that, in the sole judgment of the Council, violates this Agreement or which might be offensive, illegal, or that might violate the rights, harm, or threaten the safety of users of the Website.

Confidential Information and Submissions

The Website does not collect confidential information from you, except to the extent that you submit it via email or other means. The Council does not want to receive confidential or proprietary information from you through the Website, email or other means. Therefore, any information or material sent to the Council will be deemed not to be confidential. By sending the Council any information or material, you grant the Council an unrestricted, irrevocable, and fully paid-up license to use, copy, reproduce, publish, upload, post, transmit, distribute, publicly display, perform, modify, create derivative works from, and otherwise freely use those materials or information. You also agree that the Council is free to use any ideas, concepts, know-how, or techniques that you send us for any purpose, without compensation of any sort. However, we will not release your name or otherwise publicize the fact that you submitted materials or other information to us unless: (a) we obtain your permission to use your name; (b) we first notify you that the materials or other information you submit to a particular part of the Website will be published or otherwise used with your name on it; or (c) we are required to do so by law.

Website Links

The Website contains links to other websites and to material contained on other websites. The Council is not responsible for the content of such other websites and disclaims all liability in respect to such content and of any other websites or content which you may be able to access from the Website.

Indemnification

By agreeing to the terms of this Agreement, users of the Website agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the Council, its directors, officers, employees, and agents from and against any and all claim, loss, expense, or demand of liability, including attorneys’ fees and costs incurred by the Council in connection with any claim by a third party (including an intellectual property claim) arising out of (i) materials and Content you submit, post or transmit through the Website or (ii) use of the Website by you in violation of this Agreement or in violation of any applicable law.

Copyright Infringement

If you believe any materials accessible on or from the Website infringe upon your copyright, you may request removal of those materials (or access thereto) from this Website by contacting the Council at info@smartgivers.org, (651) 224–7030, or 700 Raymond Ave Ste 160, Saint Paul, Minnesota 55114.

Disclaimer of Warranty

USE OF THIS WEBSITE IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK. ALL MATERIALS, INFORMATION, SERVICES AND PRODUCTS ARE PROVIDED “AS IS,” WITH NO WARRANTIES OR GUARANTEES WHATSOEVER. THE COUNCIL EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW ALL EXPRESS, IMPLIED, STATUTORY, AND OTHER WARRANTIES, GUARANTEES, OR REPRESENTATIONS, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT OF PROPRIETARY AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS. WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE COUNCIL MAKES NO WARRANTY OR GUARANTEE THAT THE WEBSITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, CORRECT, COMPLETE, TIMELY, SECURE, OR ERROR-FREE OR THAT DEFECTS IN THE WEBSITE WILL BE CORRECTED.

YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT IF YOU OBTAIN MATERIALS, INFORMATION, PRODUCTS, OR SERVICES, YOU DO SO AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND RISK AND THAT YOU WILL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGES THAT MAY RESULT, INCLUDING LOSS OF DATA OR DAMAGE TO YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM.

SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF WARRANTIES, SO THE ABOVE EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

Limitation of Liability

IN NO EVENT WILL THE COUNCIL BE LIABLE TO ANY PARTY FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY TYPE WHATSOEVER RELATED TO OR ARISING FROM THE WEBSITE OR ANY USE OF THE WEBSITE, OR OF ANY SITE OR RESOURCE LINKED TO, REFERENCED, OR ACCESSED THROUGH THE WEBSITE, OR FOR THE USE OR DOWNLOADING OF, OR ACCESS TO, ANY MATERIALS, INFORMATION, PRODUCTS, OR SERVICES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY LOST PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOST SAVINGS OR LOSS OF PROGRAMS OR OTHER DATA, EVEN IF THE COUNCIL IS EXPRESSLY ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. THIS EXCLUSION AND WAIVER OF LIABILITY APPLIES TO ALL CAUSES OF ACTION, WHETHER BASED ON CONTRACT, WARRANTY, TORT, OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORIES.

Applicable Law and Venue

This Agreement shall be governed by, and construed and enforced in accordance with, the laws of the State of Minnesota, without giving effect to any principles of conflicts of laws. You expressly agree that the exclusive jurisdiction for any claim or action arising out of or relating to this Agreement or your use of this Website shall be filed only in the state or federal courts located in the State of Minnesota, Ramsey County, and you further agree and submit to the exercise of personal jurisdiction of such courts for the purpose of litigating any such claim or action.

Not Partners

Nothing in this Agreement makes either party the partner, joint venturer, agent, legal representative, employer, contractor, or employee of the other. This Agreement will be binding on and will inure to the benefit of the legal representatives, successors, and assigns of the parties hereto.