Acceptable Use Policy

1.1. The Platform is designed exclusively for legitimate charitable fundraising by nonprofit organizations recognized as tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code or equivalent status under applicable law.

1.2. Permitted activities include:

• Creating fundraising campaigns for charitable, educational, religious, scientific, or literary purposes as defined by Section 501(c)(3).
• Accepting one-time and recurring donations from individuals and organizations.
• Managing donor relationships and communications.
• Issuing tax-deductible donation receipts.
• Running peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns.
• Hosting fundraising events with ticketing.
• Using Platform tools for donor engagement, reporting, and analytics.

2.1. Fraudulent or Deceptive Purposes. Campaigns that misrepresent the organization, its mission, or how funds will be used. This includes impersonating another organization or creating fake nonprofit entities.

2.2. Personal Enrichment. Campaigns that primarily benefit individuals rather than a charitable cause, including campaigns where funds are directed to personal accounts, family members of organizers, or for-profit business activities disguised as charity.

2.3. Illegal Activity. Campaigns that fund, promote, or facilitate any activity that violates federal, state, or local law, including but not limited to drug trafficking, human trafficking, weapons sales, or sanctions violations.

2.4. Hate Speech and Discrimination. Campaigns that promote hatred, violence, harassment, or discrimination against any individual or group based on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, or age.

2.5. Terrorism and Violent Extremism. Campaigns that fund, support, or promote terrorism, violent extremism, or organizations designated as terrorist groups by the U.S. government.

2.6. Political Campaign Activity. Campaigns that constitute political campaign intervention, including support for or opposition to candidates for public office. (Note: Issue advocacy and nonpartisan voter engagement activities consistent with 501(c)(3) status are permitted.)

2.7. Regulated Items and Activities. Campaigns that involve the sale or promotion of firearms, ammunition, explosives, tobacco, cannabis, controlled substances, gambling, or sexually explicit content.

2.8. Get-Rich-Quick and Investment Schemes. Campaigns that promise financial returns to donors or resemble investment opportunities, multi-level marketing, or pyramid schemes.

2.9. Unapproved Medical Claims. Campaigns that promote unproven medical treatments, cures, or health claims that could endanger public health.

3.1. Fake Accounts. Creating accounts using false identities, fictitious organizations, or stolen credentials.

3.2. Spam and Unsolicited Communications. Using the Platform to send unsolicited bulk communications, harvest email addresses, or engage in any form of spam.

3.3. Donation Manipulation. Artificially inflating donation totals through fake donations, self-donations intended to mislead, or coordination schemes designed to create a false appearance of grassroots support.

3.4. Scraping and Data Harvesting. Using automated tools, bots, or scripts to extract data from the Platform, including donor information, campaign data, or user profiles.

3.5. Platform Abuse. Attempting to exploit, hack, or disrupt the Platform's infrastructure, including denial-of-service attacks, SQL injection, cross-site scripting, or other security exploits.

3.6. Circumventing Controls. Bypassing or attempting to bypass access controls, rate limits, fee structures, or any other technical measures on the Platform.

3.7. Impersonation. Pretending to be another user, organization, or GiveLink employee.

3.8. Fee Avoidance. Structuring transactions or using external tools to avoid applicable Platform or processing fees.

3.9. Intellectual Property Infringement. Uploading content that infringes copyrights, trademarks, or other intellectual property rights of third parties.

4.1. All campaign content (descriptions, images, videos) must be truthful, not misleading, and owned by or licensed to the Organization.

4.2. Campaign images must not contain graphic violence, sexually explicit material, or content that is likely to shock or offend a general audience.

4.3. Organizations must clearly disclose how donated funds will be used.

4.4. Testimonials and endorsements included in campaigns must be genuine and comply with FTC guidelines.

5.1. Investigation. We reserve the right to investigate any suspected violation of this AUP. We may review campaigns, account information, and transaction patterns as part of an investigation.

5.2. Actions We May Take. If we determine, in our sole discretion, that a violation has occurred or is likely to occur, we may take one or more of the following actions without prior notice:

• Issue a warning to the account holder.
• Remove or disable specific campaigns or content.
• Temporarily suspend the account pending investigation.
• Permanently terminate the account.
• Place a hold on pending payouts while we investigate.
• Report the activity to law enforcement or regulatory authorities.
• Cooperate with law enforcement investigations.

5.3. Payout Holds. If we have a reasonable basis to believe that funds were raised through fraudulent or prohibited means, we may instruct Stripe to hold payouts until the matter is resolved. We will attempt to notify the account holder promptly, but we are not required to do so if notification could compromise an investigation or pose a risk to others.

5.4. Appeals. If you believe an enforcement action was taken in error, you may appeal by emailing legal@datawake.io with the subject line "AUP Appeal" within thirty (30) days of the action. We will review your appeal and respond within fifteen (15) business days.

5.5. No Liability for Enforcement. GiveLink shall not be liable to you for any damages resulting from enforcement actions taken in good faith under this AUP.

6.1. If you believe a campaign or user is violating this AUP, please report it to us at legal@datawake.io with the subject line "AUP Violation Report."

6.2. Include as much detail as possible: the campaign URL, the nature of the suspected violation, and any supporting evidence.

6.3. We take all reports seriously and will investigate promptly. We may not be able to share the outcome of investigations due to privacy considerations.

6.4. Reports may be submitted anonymously.