terms of use

Compliance statement for state-mandated charity registrations

Rotary International and The Rotary Foundation Terms and Conditions

These Terms of Use ("Terms of Use") apply to the Rotary International website located at www.rotary.org, and other Rotary International controlled or integrated third party websites , software, platforms, applications, content, products, services and interactive features (collectively "the Site"). The Site, excluding the integrated products (defined below), is owned by Rotary International ("RI," "us," "we"). Access to and use of the Site is subject to these Terms of Use and all applicable laws. These Terms of Use govern your use and posting on RI's social media channels.

Please read these Terms of Use carefully. By accessing, using, or browsing, registering for or posting any content on the Site, you ("you," "your," "User," or "Users") accept and agree to these Terms of Use. More specific or supplemental terms and agreements may apply to certain features, software, platforms, applications, or products accessible through the Site ("supplemental terms"); and these supplemental terms are in addition to these Terms of Use. If these Terms of Use are not acceptable to you, do not use or access this Site. You must be 16 years of age or older to use this Site. Your use of this Site is also governed by Rotary's Privacy Policy.

RI may change, add, modify or remove portions of these Terms of Use at any time and the new or updated Terms of Use will become effective immediately upon posting. It is your responsibility to review these Terms of Use prior to each use of the Site. By using this Site, you agree to any changes in the Terms of Use and the supplemental terms. If there is a conflict between these Terms of Use and any supplemental terms, the supplemental terms will control. RI may change, suspend, interrupt, terminate operation or access to, or discontinue the Site or any portion of the Site at any time, without notice. RI may also impose limits on the Site or restrict your access to the Site or parts thereof without notice or liability.

RI is committed to protecting your privacy. Rotary's Privacy Policy applies to use of this Site, and its terms are incorporated into these Terms of Use by reference. Any personal data (for example, your name, address, telephone number or e-mail address) you transmit to the Site will be used by RI in accordance with Rotary's Privacy Policy.

The Site may integrate, be integrated into, or be provided in connection with third-party websites, software, services, applications, platforms, and/or content ("integrated products"). You may be required to login to these integrated products. RI does not control these third-parties. Please read the terms of use agreements and privacy policies that apply to these integrated products.

When using certain applications, you may grant certain permissions to RI for your device; consult the application regarding permission settings. By downloading, installing or using the Site, you agree to receive automatic software updates.

You may be required to set up an account to use the Site or portions thereof. If you are required to set up an account, you agree to provide accurate, current, and complete information about yourself as required, maintain and update such information, and be fully responsible for use of your account and any actions or activities that take place using your account. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of the information associated with your account, including any passwords. You agree to notify RI immediately of any unauthorized use of your account or password.

Any violation of these Terms of Use, including, but not limited to, your fraudulent, abusive or illegal activity on this Site may be grounds for termination of your account or access to this Site. RI reserves the right to terminate accounts in its sole discretion.

The content posted or available on this Site, including, but not limited to, information, text, articles, graphics, public service announcements/campaigns, illustrations, images, data, audio, videos, recordings, software, databases, code, trademarks, logos, promotions and other website content (collectively "Site Content"), is owned and/or controlled by Rotary International or The Rotary Foundation, or RI's licensors or used herein with permission and is legally protected, without limitation, under copyright, trademark, and other laws relating to the protection of intellectual property, in the United States and internationally. RI is, also, the owner of the compilation of the Site Content, the design and look and feel of the Site.

Many of the names, titles, trademarks, service marks, slogans, taglines and logos (collectively "trademarks") that appear on the Site are registered or common law (unregistered) trademarks of RI or third parties. You may not use RI's trademarks or any other trademarks appearing on the Site without prior written permission. Nothing on the Site or in these Terms of Use shall be construed as granting any license to use any trademarks.

If you would like to sell or give-away merchandise, with any of Rotary International's trademarks, please contact rilicensingservices@rotary.org. To learn more about licensing or find a list of official licensed vendors selling merchandise with Rotary International's trademarks, please visit https://my.rotary.org/en/manage/products-services/licensing.

RI permits Users and clubs to download or print a single copy of Site Content owned by RI for personal, non-commercial use only, provided you a) do not remove any trademark, copyright, or other notice contained in the Site Content, b) respect the integrity of the creator's work and use the Site Content as is without any alteration or modification and in compliance with any specified terms, and c) cite the author and source of the Site Content, and link to the Site Content. Clubs may visit the Brand Center to download ads, promotional materials, images and videos to Tell the story of Rotary. Some of the content on the Site is owned by others, used with permission, and may not be used or downloaded by Users and clubs.

Non-educational and commercial uses, and usage in film, video, products or publications or on websites requires the prior written permission of RI; please contact rilicensingservices@rotary.org to request permission.

RI welcomes clubs and other Users to link to the Site. Links may resolve to the home page, www.rotary.org, but direct linking to individual files (i.e., images, multimedia files, etc.) is not permitted. You shall not use Rotary International's logos or trademarks to link to the Site. Links to this Site should not assert or imply an endorsement by or affiliation with RI.

This Site may contain links to third-party websites, including social networking websites, and third party content. Third-party links and content are provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only, and does not indicate RI's endorsement, sponsorship of, or affiliation with the third party or its content, including any advertisements that may be posted. RI has no control over, makes no representations or warranties about and accepts no responsibility directly or indirectly for the security, legality, quality, availability, reliability accuracy or content of any third-party links or content. You should review any terms and policies of any third party site.

This Site includes interactive features in which you can post or submit messages, comments, materials, photos, videos, audio, personal information, updates, opportunities, recommendations, etc. (collectively, "User Content"). By posting or submitting User Content on this Site and/or any integrated products, be aware that your User Content may be seen and used by others.

RI welcomes your feedback, but please do not submit any unsolicited ideas, suggestions, original creative works or propriety information (collectively "ideas") in any form on the Site. If you do submit ideas, the following terms shall apply to your submissions: 1) RI is not under any obligation of confidentiality, express or implied and no confidential or fiduciary relationship is intended or created; 2) RI may have similar ideas already under consideration or in development; and 3) you grant RI a worldwide, transferable license to use or exploit your ideas without limitation or any compensation, reimbursement or attribution to you.

The information and opinions expressed in the Site are not those of RI or its foundation, affiliates or subsidiaries. RI is not responsible or liable for any misuse or misappropriation of your User Content or ideas. RI is not responsible for and assumes not liability for User Content or from any failure or delay in removing any User Content.

RI seeks to foster a positive, inclusive and safe environment. Your use of the Site and posting of User Content is subject to the following terms:

• Responsibility. You are solely responsible for the content you post or submit and use the Site at your own risk. Stay on topic;
• Respect Intellectual Property. Post content that you own or created or for which you have received permission or a license to post from the owner. You shall not post any content that infringes the copyright, trademark or other intellectual property rights of others;
• Privacy. Do not post photographs, images or videos of other people without their explicit consent, or the explicit permission from the parent or legal guardian of any minors. Do not post any contact or private information;
• Dignity / Civility. Express yourself in ways that unite. Do not post any content that is off-topic, illegal, abusive, threatening, harassing, discriminatory, degrading, intimidating, insensitive, hateful, cruel, derogatory, false, sexually explicit, pornographic or interferes with, silences or excludes another individual's use of this Site. Personal attacks will not be tolerated;
• No Solicitations. You will not send unsolicited, off-topic communications or collect contact information of other Site Users or individuals referenced in Site Content or User Content for any purpose whatsoever, including, but not limited to, sending unsolicited e-mails or other unsolicited communications. You will not include advertising or marketing in User Content; and
• Cybersecurity. You will not post content that contains viruses, harmful files, malicious scripts, or files, materials, or code intended to harm, damage, create an adverse impact on or interfere with the Site or RI's networks, servers or databases; and

You understand that RI has the right but not the obligation to monitor the Site or monitor, edit or remove any User Content and reserves the right to delete, remove, modify, refuse or block content without notice or your permission for any reason.

RI assumes no responsibility or liability for User Content or any other content on the Site, or from any failure or delay in removing any such content. Any use of the Site in violation of the foregoing violates these Terms of Use and may result, among other actions, in termination or suspension of your account.

You represent and warrant that you own the User Content you post on this Site. By posting any content or User Content to this Site, you automatically grant RI a worldwide, perpetual, royalty-free, irrevocable, nonexclusive, and sublicensable license to use, copy, reproduce, distribute, modify, adapt (including without limitation the rights to adapt to streaming, downloading, broadcast, mobile, digital, thumbnail, scanning or other technologies), publish, reformat, display, perform, broadcast, transmit, transcribe, exhibit, translate, host, cache, index, encode, hashtag, archive, create derivative works from, and license your content or User Content, including any of your content posted on RI's social media channels, for educational, promotional and other purposes without credit or other obligations to you.

You authorize RI to use your name, likeness, and any other personal or biographical data or information in connection with your User Content.

By accessing or using the Site and/or posting User Content you represent and warrant that: 1) your postings will be consistent with these Terms of Use and do not violate these Terms of Use; 2) you own all of the rights to User Content that you post or otherwise have permission or all necessary rights to post such User Content; 3) your User Content does not violate or infringe upon the rights of any third party, including, but not limited to, copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, or other personal or proprietary rights; 4) your User Content will not cause injury to any person or entity and does not contain defamatory or otherwise unlawful material; and 5) you will only post images, videos or recordings of individuals with the explicit written consent of the subject (or the parent or legal guardian of a subject under 18 years of age or who lacks legal capacity).

This Site and some of the interactive features and Site Content may be available via a mobile device, including, but without limitation, the ability to browse Site and upload or download content to or from the Site via your device or to use your device to make donations to The Rotary Foundation . You acknowledge that you are responsible for all mobile network charges and not all of the Site or integrated products may work with your device . When you send emails, text messages or other communications from your desktop, laptop or mobile device to RI, you are communicating with RI electronically, and you agree to receive communications from RI electronically, such as emails, texts, mobile push notices in response to your communication. Standard text and calling rates will apply.

RI may conduct promotions on or through the Site, including, without limitation, contests and promotions (collectively "Promotions"). Promotions may have additional terms and rules that will be posted on the Site or otherwise made available. You agree to abide by such terms and rules, including representing that you are of a sufficient legal age to participate in any Promotions.

Additional terms and conditions may apply to purchases of products or services, event registrations and donations. The inclusion of any products or services or event registration on this Site does not imply or warrant that such products or services will be available or the event will take place. If you wish to purchase a product or service, register for an event or make a donation, you acknowledge and agree that RI or The Rotary Foundation may provide such information to third parties for purposes of facilitating the completion of the transaction initiated by you, subject to Rotary's Privacy Policy. You represent and warrant that you have the legal right to use any credit card(s) or other payment method(s) utilized in connection with your transaction. RI shall not be responsible or liable for any third-party payment processing.

RI DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE SITE WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS OR PROVIDE SPECIFIC RESULTS. RI DOES NOT WARRANT THE ACCURACY, TIMELINESS OR COMPLETENESS OF THE SITE OR THE SERVICES PROVIDED ON OR THROUGH THE SITE OR THAT YOU WILL HAVE CONTINUOUS, UNINTERRUPTED, SECURE, OR ERROR-FREE ACCESS TO THE SITE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED OR THAT THE SITE WILL BE AVAILABLE OR FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS.

USE OF THIS SITE AND ANY LINKED SITES IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. THE SITE AND ALL CONTENT, INFORMATION, PRODUCTS (INCLUDING SOFTWARE), MATERIALS AND SERVICES MADE AVAILABLE TO YOU ON THIS SITE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. RI MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AS TO THE OPERATION OF THE SITE OR THAT THE CONTENT, INFORMATION, PRODUCTS, MATERIALS OR SERVICES INCLUDED ON OR MADE AVAILABLE ON OR THROUGH THIS SITE, UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED IN WRITING. TO THE FULL EXTENT PERMISSIBLE BY LAW, RI HEREBY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, ACCURACY, AND NONINFRINGEMENT.

TO THE FULL EXTENT PERMISSIBLE BY LAW, RI SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF DATA, DATA USE, BUSINESS, REVENUE, INCOME, CONTRIBUTIONS, PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, OR THE LIKE, GOODWILL OR REPUTATION, WHETHER BASED IN CONTRACT, TORT, NEGLIGENCE, OR STRICT LIABILITY LAW, OR OTHERWISE. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT RI IS NOT LIABLE FOR THE DEFAMATORY, OFFENSIVE OR ILLEGAL CONDUCT OF OTHER USERS OR THIRD-PARTIES AND THAT THE RISK OF INJURY FROM THE FOREGOING AND YOUR USE OF THE SITE RESTS ENTIRELY WITH YOU.

Your sole and exclusive remedy for any claims or any dispute with RI is to discontinue using the Site. Some jurisdictions may not allow limitations on liability, and in such case, any dispute or claim relating in any way to your use of the Site, or to any products or services sold to you or donations you made through the Site, will be governed under the laws of the State of Illinois, without regard to its conflict of laws provisions and resolved by the state courts sitting in Cook County, Illinois, or the federal courts in the Northern District of Illinois, which will have exclusive jurisdiction. Any claims under these Terms of Use must be brought within one (1) year after the cause or action arises, or such claim or cause of action is barred unless not permitted by law.

As a condition of your use of this Site and any integrated products and posting or submitting User Content, you agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless RI and The Rotary Foundation, including their respective directors, trustees, officers, employees, agents, contractors, and representatives ("Rotary Indemnitees") from and against all claims (including claims of trademark, and copyright infringement, defamation and violation of privacy or publicity rights), demands, actions, damages, losses, costs, liabilities, expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees and other legal expenses), awards, fines, and judgments asserted against or recovered from Rotary Indemnitees due to, arising out of or in connection with your use of the Site, any User Content you post or submit, your breach of these Terms of Use, any supplemental terms, terms incorporated herein and your representations and warranties, and any omission, negligence, misconduct, or unlawful act (or act contrary to any governmental order or regulation) of or by you in complying with these Terms of Use. RI shall not be liable in any way for injuries to persons, including personal injury, or damages to property incurred or suffered by Users or any virus transmission, violations of privacy laws and regulations by other Users, violations of these Terms of Use by other Users, denial of service, data theft, damage, destruction or corruption, identity theft or theft of ideas.

This Site is controlled, operated, and administered by RI from its headquarters within the United States. You may not use this Site or export the Site Content in violation of U.S. export laws and regulations. If you access this Site from a location outside the United States, you are responsible for compliance with all applicable laws, and may only use the Site according to the minimum age requirements set forth by your applicable law. Although the Site is accessible worldwide, RI makes no claim that the Site and the Site Content may be accessed, used, or downloaded outside the United States or are appropriate for use or legal outside the United States. If the Site and Site Content are available outside the United States, your access and use of, posting or submissions to, participation in any promotion on and any donation or payment on the Site is at your own risk.

RI respects the intellectual property rights of others and will take action against infringers, including terminating their accounts. In accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and other applicable laws, RI has adopted a policy of responding to claims that User Content or Site Content infringe intellectual property rights. If you wish to file a complaint for intellectual property infringement, or file a counter-notice, please submit your complaint to ip@rotary.org.

Written claims concerning copyright infringement must include:

• A physical or electronic signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright interest;
• A description of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed;
• A description of the location of the infringing material on the Site;
• Your full legal name, address, telephone and email address; and
• A declaration that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent or the law (fair use); and that you declare under penalty of perjury that the information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner's behalf.

These Terms of Use contain the complete agreement between you and RI with respect to your use of this Site, integrated products, and RI's social media channels, and supersede all prior or contemporaneous agreements or understandings, whether oral or written, with respect to the Site, unless otherwise stated in any other supplemental terms or terms or agreements incorporated herein. You will not transfer, sublicense, or assign, any of your rights or obligations under these Terms of Use to anyone else without RI's consent. Any failure or delay of RI to enforce or exercise any term or its rights under these Terms of Use shall not be construed as a waiver of those rights or provisions or a breach of these Terms of Use by RI. A waiver by RI of any terms of the Terms of Use in any one instance shall not be deemed to be a waiver of any terms in the future. If any term of these Terms of Use shall be held invalid, unenforceable or illegal, the remaining terms of the Terms of Use will remain valid, legal and enforceable. Any amendment to or waiver of these Terms of Use must be made in writing and signed by RI. RI reserves all rights not expressly granted to you.

In the event of termination of your use of this Site for any reason, you agree that the following provisions of these Terms of Use will survive: Copyright and Site Content, Trademarks, Copyright and Trademark Complaints, Licenses and Representations and Warranties, Disclaimers of Warranties and Limitations of Liability, Disputes, and Indemnification. If RI does take legal action against you as a result of your violation of these Terms of Use, RI will be entitled to recover from you all reasonable fees and costs of such action, in addition to any other relief RI may have at law or in equity.

If any questions arise about the meaning or interpretation of this policy, the English-language version of this policy is the official text.

Last updated: September 2020

Copyright © 1996-2021 Rotary International. All rights reserved.