Terms of use

Please read these Terms carefully before using the site. These Terms of Use (the “Terms”) are a binding agreement between you and Warm Heart Foundation (“the Foundation”, “we”, “us” or “our”), a nonprofit organization based in the United States. They apply whenever you visit the website, make a donation, create an account or propose a cause.

You accept these Terms when you use the site, check a box that refers to them or complete a donation. The Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy, Donation & Refund Policy, Fundraising & Disbursement Policy and Advertising & Promotion Policy are part of these Terms. If a specific policy and these Terms disagree on a point, the more specific policy controls.

If you do not agree with these Terms, please stop using the site.

The site is run by a U.S. nonprofit organization. We publish causes — people, families, animals and communities in need — and we collect donations for them.

• Donations are made to the Foundation. We receive them through our payment processors and grant them to the cause you chose, under the Fundraising & Disbursement Policy.
• Causes are created by the Foundation or proposed by organizers and beneficiaries. Every cause is reviewed by a person on our team before it is published.
• We send the money to the beneficiary or, when it is practical, directly to the provider of what is needed, such as a hospital, landlord, school or veterinarian.
• We may promote causes through advertising on platforms such as Meta (Facebook and Instagram), TikTok and Google (including YouTube), as described in the Advertising & Promotion Policy.

• You must be at least 18 years old, or use the site with the involvement of a parent or legal guardian who accepts these Terms for you.
• Organizers and beneficiaries who receive funds must be 18 or older, or be represented by a parent, guardian or authorized representative.
• You may not use the site if you are on a U.S. government sanctions or restricted-party list, or if you are located in a country or region subject to comprehensive U.S. sanctions.
• If you act for a company, nonprofit or other group, you confirm that you are authorized to accept these Terms on its behalf.

You can donate without an account. Proposing a cause, following causes and seeing your donation history require one.

Keep your account details accurate and your password private. You are responsible for activity on your account. Tell us right away at contact@warmheartfoundation.com if you believe someone has accessed it without permission. One person or organization per account; accounts cannot be sold or transferred.

• A person or organization proposes a cause and describes who benefits, what the money is for and how much is needed.
• A member of our team reviews the proposal, verifies the organizer and the beneficiary and may ask for documents before anything is published.
• Once published, anyone can read the cause and donate. Donations are made to the Foundation and shown on the cause page as they clear.
• The Foundation grants the funds to the beneficiary, or pays the provider directly, as described in the Fundraising & Disbursement Policy. Organizers report on how the money was used.
• We may pause, edit for clarity or remove a cause at any time, and we decide how and when funds are disbursed.

• A donation is a voluntary gift to the Foundation for the cause you select. It is not a purchase, a loan, an investment or a contract for goods or services, and it gives you no ownership or control over the funds.
• We honor your choice of cause. If a cause cannot use the funds — for example, it is cancelled, fully funded, found to be inaccurate or the beneficiary declines the money — we will use them as described in the Fundraising & Disbursement Policy, which may include granting them to a similar cause or refunding them.
• Amounts are shown and charged in U.S. dollars unless the page says otherwise. Your bank may apply its own conversion or international charges.
• You receive an email receipt for every completed donation.
• You are responsible for the accuracy of the information you give at checkout and for the payment method you use being yours to use.

If you propose or manage a cause (an “organizer”), you agree that:

• Everything you submit is true, complete and up to date, and you will correct it if it changes.
• You have the right to raise funds for the beneficiary and their consent to share their story, name and images, including in advertising.
• You will cooperate with identity and beneficiary verification and provide documents we reasonably request, such as an ID, medical estimate, invoice or lease.
• Funds will be used only for the purpose described on the cause page, and you will tell us at once if that purpose changes.
• You will answer donors' questions honestly and report on how the money was used when we ask.
• You will follow the Fundraising & Disbursement Policy, including its list of prohibited causes.

We may decline, edit for clarity, pause or remove any cause, hold or return funds, and we decide how and when funds are disbursed.

You may not propose or run a cause that:

• Is illegal, fraudulent or misleading, or misrepresents who benefits or how the money will be used.
• Supports violence, terrorism, hate, harassment, discrimination or the abuse or exploitation of anyone, including children and animals.
• Funds weapons, drugs or drug paraphernalia, gambling, adult content, multi-level marketing, investments, loans or anything promising a financial return.
• Pays for the legal defense of anyone accused of violent, hate-related or sexual crimes, or pays fines and penalties for financial crimes.
• Spreads health or medical claims that are false or could cause harm.
• Raises money for a political campaign, a candidate or a ballot measure.

The full list, with examples, is in the Fundraising & Disbursement Policy. We may remove a cause that breaks these rules and report it to payment processors and authorities.

Whoever you are, you may not:

• Launder money, evade sanctions, test stolen cards, abuse refunds or chargebacks, or move funds for someone else.
• Impersonate anyone, or claim a connection with a cause, a beneficiary or the Foundation that you do not have.
• Infringe anyone's intellectual property or privacy, or post content that is defamatory, obscene or harmful.
• Scrape the site, use bots or automated tools, interfere with security, probe for vulnerabilities or upload malware.
• Harass organizers, beneficiaries, donors or our team, or use the site to send unsolicited messages.

We may remove content, cancel causes, close accounts, hold or return funds and report activity to payment processors and authorities.

Payments are processed by Stripe, Inc. and, where offered at checkout, other providers such as PayPal. Accepted methods may include credit and debit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Link and bank payments (ACH), depending on your location and device.

Card details are entered on the processor's secure fields and never reach our servers. By paying, you also agree to the processor's own terms. We and our processors may screen payments for fraud, verify your identity, or decline, delay or reverse a payment that appears unauthorized, fraudulent or unlawful.

The total you will be charged is shown before you confirm. If you see a charge you do not recognize, please contact us before disputing it with your bank; most problems are solved faster that way.

If you choose a recurring donation, you authorize us to charge your payment method on the schedule you selected until you cancel. You can cancel at any time from your account or by writing to us; cancellation stops future charges and does not refund past ones. We will tell you before any change to the amount or schedule.

Because donations are gifts that are granted to causes quickly, a completed donation is generally final. We do refund in the situations listed in the Donation & Refund Policy — a duplicate or wrong charge, a technical error, a payment you did not authorize, a cause found to be fraudulent or misleading before the funds were disbursed, and any other genuine reason raised within 7 days of the donation and before disbursement.

To ask, write to contact@warmheartfoundation.com with the date, amount and receipt number. We reply within 5 business days, and refunds go back to the original payment method. Recurring donations can be cancelled at any time; cancelling stops future charges and does not refund past ones.

Your receipt shows the amount, date and cause. Whether a donation is tax-deductible depends on the Foundation's tax status, the cause and your own circumstances. Under U.S. law, gifts intended for a specific, named individual are generally not deductible. We do not give tax advice; please consult a tax professional.

You keep ownership of the stories, photos, videos and messages you submit. You grant the Foundation a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license to host, display, adapt (for example, crop or translate) and distribute that content to operate the site and to promote the cause and the Foundation, including in paid advertising and on social media. You can ask us to stop using it in new promotion at any time; content already published may take a short time to remove.

You confirm you have the rights and permissions needed for what you submit, including consent from any person shown. We may moderate or remove content that breaks these Terms.

The site's name, logo, design, software and editorial text belong to the Foundation or its licensors. You may use the site for its intended purpose and share links to causes. You may not copy, resell or build on the site without written permission.

If you believe content on the site infringes your copyright, send a notice to contact@warmheartfoundation.com with your contact details, the work, the location of the material, a statement of good-faith belief, a statement under penalty of perjury that the notice is accurate and that you are authorized to act, and your signature. We respond to valid notices under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, accept counter-notices and close the accounts of repeat infringers.

The site relies on services we do not control, including payment processors, hosting, email, analytics and advertising platforms. Their own terms and privacy policies apply to what they do. Links to other sites are provided for convenience; we are not responsible for their content, and a link is not an endorsement.

Our Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it and the choices you have, including about cookies and advertising. By using the site you agree to the practices it describes.

We review every cause and verify organizers and beneficiaries, but we cannot confirm every statement or guarantee that a goal will be reached or an outcome achieved. The site is provided “as is” and “as available”, without warranties of any kind, express or implied, to the extent the law allows — including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement.

To the extent the law allows, the Foundation and its directors, staff and volunteers are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for loss of data, profits or goodwill. Our total liability for any claim related to the site is limited to the greater of the amount you donated in the twelve months before the claim or one hundred U.S. dollars. Some jurisdictions do not allow these limits, so they may not apply to you.

If you propose a cause or submit content, you agree to defend and hold harmless the Foundation from claims, losses and costs (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising from your cause, your content, your breach of these Terms or your violation of anyone's rights.

You may stop using the site and close your account at any time. We may suspend or end access, remove causes or close accounts if we believe these Terms or the law have been broken, or to protect donors, beneficiaries or the Foundation. Sections that by their nature should survive — such as donations already made, licenses, disclaimers, liability and disputes — survive termination.

Please write to contact@warmheartfoundation.com first; most concerns are resolved informally, and we ask for 30 days to try. If we cannot resolve it, any dispute will be settled by binding individual arbitration under the Federal Arbitration Act and the consumer rules of the American Arbitration Association, except that either of us may bring an individual claim in small-claims court or seek an injunction for misuse of intellectual property.

You and the Foundation each waive the right to a jury trial and to bring or join a class or representative action. You may opt out of arbitration by emailing us within 30 days of first accepting these Terms.

These Terms are governed by U.S. federal law and the laws of the U.S. state in which the Foundation is incorporated, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. Any matter not subject to arbitration will be heard in the state or federal courts of the U.S. state in which the Foundation is incorporated.

Neither of us is responsible for a delay or failure caused by events beyond reasonable control, such as natural disasters, epidemics, outages of payment or hosting providers, labor disputes, war or actions of authorities. Obligations are paused for as long as the event lasts.

We may change, add or remove features of the site at any time. We may also update these Terms; the date at the top shows the current version. For material changes we will give notice on the site or by email before they take effect. Continuing to use the site after that means you accept the updated Terms.

By using the site you agree to receive receipts, notices and other communications from us electronically — by email and through messages on the site — and that these satisfy any requirement that a communication be in writing. Keep your email address up to date. You can unsubscribe from non-essential email at any time; receipts and notices about your account or donations are still sent.

These Terms, with the policies they include, are the entire agreement between us about the site. If a provision is unenforceable, the rest remains in effect. Not enforcing a provision is not a waiver. You may not transfer your rights under these Terms; we may transfer ours in a merger or reorganization. Headings are for convenience only.

Questions about these Terms: contact@warmheartfoundation.com.

Email: contact@warmheartfoundation.com · Contact form: Help & contact