Terms of Use

Effective Date: September 26, 2025

1. Acceptance of the Terms of Use

These Terms of Use, together with any documents they expressly incorporate by reference (collectively, these “Terms of Use”), are entered into by and between you and the Rizing Tide Foundation (“RTF,” “we,” “us,” or “our”).

The terms “you” and “your” refer to the individual user, visitor, or person who accesses, uses, or contributes to the Sites or Services, and, if applicable, the entity or organization on whose behalf such individual is acting.

These Terms govern your access to and use of:

The primary website located at www.rizing-tide.com;

The community platform located at www.community.rizing-tide.com; and

All associated subdomains, landing pages, and interactive features (collectively, the “Sites”), including any content, functionality, scholarship application processing, donor management, and community networking tools offered on or through the Sites (collectively, the “Services”).

BY USING THE SITES OR SERVICES, YOU ACCEPT AND AGREE TO BE BOUND AND ABIDE BY THESE TERMS OF USE AND OUR PRIVACY POLICY.

In order to be eligible to use, or to use the Services, you must be at least 18 years old or have parental consent.

If you do not agree to these Terms of Use or the Privacy Policy, you must not access or use the Sites or any of the Services.

2. Intellectual Property Rights and Ownership

The Sites and Services, including their entire contents, features, and functionality (including but not limited to all information, software, text, displays, images, video, and audio, and the design, selection, and arrangement thereof) are owned by RTF, its licensors, or other providers of such material and are protected by United States and international copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, and other intellectual property or proprietary rights laws.

  • Prohibited AI Usage: No part of the Sites, the Services, or any content contained therein may be used manually, through automated means, or through any other means for the purposes of training, validating, or improving machine learning, neural networks, or any other artificial intelligence technologies.
  • RTF Property: Any data, cumulative status, "reputation" indicators, or digital badges earned within the Sites or Services are deemed a limited license right and are the sole property of RTF. These items have no monetary value and may be revoked or modified by RTF at any time in its sole discretion. "Rizing Tide Foundation" and the RTF logo are protected trademarks owned exclusively by RTF. All rights are reserved.

3. User Contributions and Community Standards

The Sites and Services contain interactive features that allow users to post, submit, or transmit content (“User Contributions”).

License Grant: By providing any User Contribution on the Sites, you grant RTF a royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, non-exclusive, and sub-licensable license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, summarize, reformat, publish, re-publish, and distribute such content in any and all media or distribution methods.

User Warranty: You represent and warrant that you own or control all rights to your User Contributions and that their posting does not violate the rights of any third party or applicable law.

Passive Conduit: RTF acts as a passive conduit for User Contributions. We do not guarantee the accuracy of content posted on the Sites and disclaim all liability for any offensive, defamatory, inaccurate, or illegal material posted by third parties.

Third-Party Content: RTF is not responsible or liable for the content, activity, or practices of any third-parties, including without limitation any content, activity, or practices of any users or other contributors of or to any, some portion, or all of the Sites and/or Services, any websites linked from any of the Sites and/or Services, and any materials or other content that is authored, created, provided or posted by any person or entity other than RTF.

If you provide your email address to RTF, then you consent to receive communications electronically by email for scholarship updates, newsletters, and other RTF communications.

4. Prohibited Conduct and Security

You agree not to use the Sites or Services to:

  • Violate any applicable federal, state, local, or international law(s).
  • Engage in "scraping," "crawling," or using any robot, spider, or other automatic device to access the Sites and/or Services for any purpose.
  • Attempt to gain unauthorized access to, interfere with, damage, or disrupt any parts of the Sites, the Services, or the servers on which they are stored.
  • Use the Sites or Services for unauthorized commercial solicitation or political campaigning.

5. Monitoring and Termination

RTF has no obligation to review or monitor user activity on the Sites and Services. However, e reserve the right to do so at our discretion.
We have the absolute right to:

  • Remove or refuse to post any User Contributions for any reason.
  • Terminate your access to the Sites or Services for any violation of these Terms or for conduct that we deem harmful to RTF or the Rizing Tide community.

6. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES

YOUR USE OF THE SITES, THE SERVICES, THEIR CONTENT, AND ANY ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THEM IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. THE SITES AND SERVICES ARE PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS, WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED.

NEITHER RTF NOR ANY PERSON ASSOCIATED WITH RTF MAKES ANY WARRANTY OR REPRESENTATION WITH RESPECT TO THE COMPLETENESS, SECURITY, RELIABILITY, QUALITY, ACCURACY, OR AVAILABILITY OF THE SITES OR THE SERVICES. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, RTF DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE SITES OR THE SERVICES WILL BE ACCURATE, RELIABLE, ERROR-FREE, OR UNINTERRUPTED.

7. LIMITATION ON LIABILITY

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PROVIDED BY LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL RTF, ITS AFFILIATES, OR THEIR LICENSORS, SERVICE PROVIDERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, OFFICERS, OR DIRECTORS BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, UNDER ANY LEGAL THEORY, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE, OR INABILITY TO USE, THE SITES, THE SERVICES, ANY WEBSITES LINKED TO THEM, OR ANY CONTENT THEREON, INCLUDING ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES.

IN NO EVENT SHALL RTF’S LIABILITY EXCEED THE GREATER OF USD $100 OR ANY AMOUNTS YOU PAID TO USE THE SERVICES.

8. INDEMNIFICATION

YOU AGREE TO DEFEND, INDEMNIFY, AND HOLD HARMLESS RTF, ITS AFFILIATES, LICENSORS, AND SERVICE PROVIDERS FROM AND AGAINST ANY CLAIMS, LIABILITIES, DAMAGES, JUDGMENTS, AWARDS, LOSSES, COSTS, EXPENSES, OR FEES (INCLUDING REASONABLE ATTORNEYS' FEES) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF OR RELATING IN ANY WAY TO YOUR VIOLATION OF THESE TERMS OF USE AND/OR YOUR USE OF THE SITES OR SERVICES.

9. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

All matters relating to the Sites, the Services, and these Terms, and any dispute or claim arising therefrom or related thereto, shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the internal laws of the State of Arizona without giving effect to any choice or conflict of law provision or rule.

Any legal suit, action, or proceeding arising out of, or related to, these Terms of Use or the Sites shall be instituted exclusively in the federal courts of the United States of America or the courts of the State of Arizona, in each case located in Maricopa County. You waive any and all objections to the exercise of jurisdiction over you by such courts and to venue in such courts.

Class action lawsuits, private attorney-general actions, and any other proceeding where someone acts in a representative capacity shall not be allowed, and are forever waived. Combining individual proceedings without the consent of all parties also is not allowed, and is forever waived.

The terms and conditions of this paragraph shall survive any termination or cancellation of the relationship between you and RTF.

10. Contact Information

All feedback, comments, and other communications relating to the Sites or Services should be directed to:

Rizing Tide Foundation

4545 North 36th Street, Ste 109; Phoenix, AZ 85018

Telephone: (602) 675-1834

Email: privacy@rizing-tide.com