The agreement that keeps a light on rescue work.

RescueBeacon (the “Service”) is a fundraising and community platform for verified animal-welfare organizations — primarily U.S. 501(c)(3) rescues, sanctuaries, and similar groups, plus government animal shelters (whose donations are deductible under IRC §170(c)(1)). The Service is operated by Beatriz Wheeler, doing business as RescueBeacon, a sole proprietorship based in Hampton, South Carolina, United States. We connect those organizations (each a “Rescue”) with people who want to fund specific needs and follow what happens next.

Our commitments are simple and permanent: verification before a Rescue can raise funds, specific and capped needs, documented outcomes, no public comments, no leaderboards, and no manipulative engagement mechanics. Nothing in these Terms overrides those commitments.

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account, apply to be verified as a Rescue, or make a donation. By agreeing to these Terms you represent that you are eligible and that any information you provide — your name, email, organization details, EIN, or banking information — is accurate and current.

If you apply on behalf of a Rescue, you represent that you are authorized to bind that organization to these Terms.

The Service has two account kinds, and one person may hold both (optionally linked):

• Supporter accounts let you follow Rescues, share and save flares, build a profile, and — when we enable payments — donate directly to a Rescue.
• Rescue accounts are created only through a verified application and onboarding code, and are bound to a specific, verified organization.

You are responsible for everything done through your account, and for keeping your password secure. Accounts may not be transferred or sold. You may link your Supporter and Rescue accounts if you are authorized to act for the Rescue; you may unlink them at any time.

You agree to these Terms when you create an account (Supporter or Rescue), when you apply to be verified as a Rescue, and when you request an invite as a supporter. We record a time-stamped consent record for each agreement, noting the version you agreed to.

If we update these Terms, we will post the new version with a new effective date and notify you. Continued use of the Service after an update constitutes acceptance; if you do not agree, you may close your account (to the extent permitted below).

Applying is free. Submitting an application does not guarantee verification, and applying several times will not change that. The application asks about your organization's mission, operations, and the documentation you can provide (such as your EIN and — depending on your type — a 501(c)(3) determination letter or official government documentation for a shelter).

The documents you provide are kept confidential, are used only for verification and for our legal compliance, and are handled as described in our Privacy Policy. You authorize us to perform reasonable verification checks. An organization that is not truthful in its application or during verification will not be verified, and, if already verified, may lose its verification.

Verification is a standard requirement for every Rescue: it is completed when you sign up, and it is required again every year. In addition, compliance checks may be performed at any time — and when they are, they are always random. A Rescue that fails to complete its annual verification, or that fails a compliance check, may lose its verified status and the ability to raise funds until the issue is resolved.

Once your organization is verified and a public rescue profile exists on RescueBeacon, that public profile is retained for 3 years after you leave the Service — whether you freeze it, request deletion, or stop using RescueBeacon. This is a deliberate design choice for transparency: supporters need to be able to look up an organization's history and outcomes on RescueBeacon, even after the organization stops using the Service.

What this means for you as a Rescue:

• You may freeze your profile at any time. A frozen profile displays a “This Beacon is Not Active” badge, is excluded from our discovery tools, and stops receiving new activity — but it remains visible exactly as it was, so supporters can still see what you did and what happened.
• You may request deletion from your dashboard at any time. Your organization is frozen immediately, and the public record is removed after the 3-year retention period.
• You may not remove past flares, outcomes, or the public record of your activity during the retention period, and you cannot make your profile disappear before it ends.
• If you believe the public record is inaccurate or harmful, you may request a correction through our support team (support@rescuebeacon.org); we will review legitimate correction requests, but the record itself stays for the retention period.

The private materials you submitted during application are treated differently — see the next section.

You can request deletion of your personal data — the documents, notes, and personal details you submitted during application, and the personal information tied to your supporter account — from your dashboard (“Request deletion”) or through our support team (support@rescuebeacon.org). The request goes to our review queue; when it is approved, we send a confirmation email and delete the data. We will honor requests in a reasonable time, subject to our legal and audit obligations.

Retention periods. We keep personal information only as long as needed for the purposes described in our Privacy Policy, plus any period required by law. Specifically:

• Supporter accounts are deleted on approved request; donation and payment records are retained as required by law.
• Verified rescue public records are retained for 3 years after the organization leaves the Service (Section 6), then removed.
• Consent records are kept for the life of the platform so that what was agreed — and when — can always be established.
• Email and audit logs are kept for operational and security purposes.

What cannot be deleted: the public rescue profile during its 3-year retention period, and any record we are required to keep by law (for example, donation or payment records for tax purposes). Where deletion overlaps with a legal requirement, the legal requirement wins, and we will tell you when that is the case.

You can also deactivate your supporter account from your settings at any time; a deactivated profile is hidden from other users but is never silently destroyed, so nothing is lost if you choose to reactivate.

A “flare” is a specific, time-bound request for funds described by a Rescue. Rescues agree to post only accurate flares with a real, documented need; to use the urgency levels honestly; and to file an outcome update when a flare closes. Invented urgency, misleading copy, or undisclosed affiliation (for example, a flare that quietly benefits a board member) is a violation of these Terms.

Flares are permanent public records: they cannot be deleted by a Rescue once posted, and edits are routed through review based on the Rescue's verification standing. If we discover a flare that was posted in violation of these Terms, we may correct or remove it (and, for a verifiable violation, may suspend the Rescue).

Donations on RescueBeacon are paid directly to the verified organization you choose, less any processing fees, which are shown to you before you donate. When we enable payments, each donation is a gift to the organization — not to RescueBeacon — and is subject to that organization's own policies once received.

We intend donations to be irrevocable gifts, as they are on comparable platforms, and we will say so clearly at the point of donation. We will never auto-enroll you in recurring giving or charge you anything you did not explicitly confirm. If a specific Rescue's flare is closed or funded before your donation processes, we will refund or redirect it as we explain at the point of payment.

RescueBeacon has no public comments, no direct messaging, and no leaderboards — by design. The standards below govern the content you do create: your profile, your flares, your shared links, and your saved collections.

• No misleading or fraudulent content, including fabricated needs, fabricated outcomes, or impersonation of another organization or person.
• No images of minors. Content depicting anyone under the age of 18 is prohibited on RescueBeacon — in flares, profiles, outcomes, or anywhere else on the Service — because we cannot obtain or verify parental consent, and the privacy and safety of minors is not negotiable. This prohibition applies to all users, including rescues posting about animals in their care.
• No graphic imagery used as persuasion, and no content that is unlawful, harassing, or harmful.
• No spam, scraping, data harvesting, or attempts to disrupt the Service.
• No content that violates any third party's rights, including copyright or trademark.

We may remove content that violates these standards and, for repeated or serious violations, suspend or terminate accounts. We will notify you when we do, and you may appeal through support@rescuebeacon.org.

RescueBeacon owns all rights in the Service itself: the RescueBeacon name, logo, beacon mark, and lockup; the design system, graphics, and visual identity; the software, code, and architecture; and all original content we publish on the Service. These are protected by copyright, trademark, and other intellectual-property laws of the United States and other countries.

You may not copy, reproduce, modify, or reuse the RescueBeacon name, logo, beacon mark, design, graphics, or any other element of our brand or interface without our prior written permission. Nothing in these Terms grants you any license to our intellectual property.

Content you post — your profile text, flares, outcomes, and shared links — remains yours. You grant RescueBeacon a limited, non-exclusive license to host, display, and distribute that content solely to operate the Service, including the permanent public record described in Section 6.

You may stop using the Service at any time. Supporters may delete their personal account data as described in Section 7.

We may suspend or terminate a Rescue's use of the Service if we determine — in our reasonable judgment, after review — that the Rescue has violated these Terms, misled supporters, or endangered animals or supporters. Suspension does not delete the public record described in Section 6; it freezes it with a clear, accurate badge, the same way a voluntary freeze works.

We also reserve the right to ban or suspend rescues, supporters, or unregistered users for any content we deem abusive or harmful to any user, to RescueBeacon, or to the integrity of the platform. This includes, without limitation, harassment, fraudulent activity, attempts to manipulate the platform, and content that violates Section 10. We will notify you when we take such action, and you may appeal through support@rescuebeacon.org.

We work hard to keep RescueBeacon safe, honest, and available, but the Service is provided “as is” and “as available.”

Limitation of liability. To the fullest extent permitted by law, RescueBeacon and its operator disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or secure. We are not responsible for site downtime, technical errors, or interruptions of any kind, and we are not liable for any losses you may suffer in connection with your use of the Service — including lost donations, lost data, or other user losses — except where liability cannot be limited by law. In no event shall our total liability to you exceed the amount you have paid us in the twelve months before the claim, or one hundred dollars ($100), whichever is greater.

You agree to indemnify RescueBeacon against claims arising from content you post or actions you take through the Service that violate these Terms or applicable law.

We may update these Terms to reflect changes in the Service or the law. We will post each new version with its effective date, and we will notify you of material changes. If you keep using the Service after a change takes effect, you accept the new Terms. The version you agreed to is always recorded, so nothing retroactively changes.

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of South Carolina, United States of America, without regard to conflict-of-law rules, and any disputes will be resolved in the state or federal courts located in that state.

RescueBeacon is operated by Beatriz Wheeler, doing business as RescueBeacon, Hampton, South Carolina, United States. Questions about these Terms, deletion requests, or appeals of moderation decisions go to support@rescuebeacon.org.