One set of rules for everyone.
People often come to Advocate during a hard time. These rules keep every program safe, honest, and respectful. Breaking them can lead to a suspension, or a permanent ban.
Community guidelines
For everyone on Advocate: nonprofits, donors, volunteers, and the people they serve.
Be respectful and inclusive
Treat every person with respect. We do not allow discrimination, harassment, bullying, or hate speech based on race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, or anything else.
Be kind in every conversation. Disagreement is fine. Personal attacks and insults are not.
Protect privacy
Do not share another person's information without their clear consent. This includes contact details, addresses, and any other sensitive details.
No spam
Promote products, services, or fundraising campaigns only when they are relevant, respectful, and permitted.
No illegal or harmful activity
Do not take part in or encourage illegal activity, such as fraud, hacking, or sharing illegal content.
Do not exploit weaknesses in the platform or use it to cause harm.
Be honest
Give accurate, truthful information. Do not misrepresent yourself, pretend to be someone else, or deceive anyone.
If you make a mistake, own it. Honesty builds trust.
Report problems
Tell us about suspicious activity, rule violations, or concerns about someone's behavior. We take every report seriously and look into it quickly. Use the reporting tools in Advocate or contact support@advocatewithus.com.
Share appropriate content
Content must be suitable for all audiences. Do not share or link to offensive, graphic, sexually explicit, or violent content.
Respect intellectual property. Share only content you own or have permission to share.
Be helpful
Give constructive feedback and support. Keep the best interests of nonprofits and the people they serve in mind.
Follow the Terms of Service
Every user must follow our Terms of Service. Breaking these guidelines or the Terms can lead to a warning, a suspension, or removal of the account.
Serve the community
Our mission is to support nonprofits and community benefit organizations. Everything on the platform should reflect community service, integrity, respect, and personal care.
Help us improve
We want your feedback. Tell us how we can serve you better.
We review these guidelines regularly and update them when our community needs it.
What we expect from organizations
For every organization that runs programs on Advocate. We review how organizations perform against these standards regularly.
EIN and agreements
Organizations that pay for Advocate or take referrals must give us their EIN, so we can confirm they can accept donations and are tax exempt.
They must agree to our Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, and Acceptable Use Policy.
Community reputation
We prefer to work with organizations their communities trust. Organizations that are well respected usually do good work.
Results for participants
Advocate records every interaction in a program. We have seen well-funded programs deliver very little and small programs do a great deal.
It is not our place to judge how well a nonprofit uses its money. But if participants report that an organization did not deliver what it promised, we give a warning, then investigate. If needed, we suspend the organization and then ban it permanently.
Safety
Many programs on Advocate help people during a hard time in their lives. We have zero tolerance for any organization that harms or endangers participants.
Account security
Protect your accounts and devices. Use strong passwords, do not share logins, and sign out on shared computers.
Data sharing
Use data from Advocate only for the purposes our agreements allow.
Treat information about a person's household as private, unless that person agrees to another use.
Follow the law
Any organization found committing federal crimes through our platform will be banned permanently.
Version 1.0, published October 25, 2024. Questions? Email support@advocatewithus.com.