Last updated: May 10, 2026
These Terms of Service ("Terms") are a binding agreement between you and Friends of Sierra ("Friends of Sierra," "we," "us," or "our") covering your use of friendsofsierra.org, the donor portal, and any donations, sponsorships, or thank-you items you arrange through us. By making a donation, starting a sponsorship, placing an order, signing into the portal, or otherwise using the site, you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the site.
1. About Friends of Sierra
Friends of Sierra is a 501(c)(3) public charity organized in the United States, EIN 83-2716638, with its registered address at 7100 S Clinton St, Suite 200, Centennial, CO 80112. We support working dogs and service animals through physical therapy, injury prevention, conditioning, equipment, education, research, and outreach.
2. Eligibility
You must be at least 18 years old and able to enter into a binding contract to donate, sponsor a dog, place an order, or maintain a donor account. Our services are intended for residents of the United States; non-US donors are welcome, but the experience and tax treatment are designed for US supporters.
3. Donations
When you submit a one-time donation, you authorize Friends of Sierra and our payment processor, Stripe, to charge the payment method you provide for the amount shown at checkout, including any thank-you items and processing fees you have chosen to cover.
Charges are made in US dollars. If a charge fails (declined card, expired card, insufficient funds), we will notify you and your donation will not be completed unless the underlying issue is resolved.
Donations are voluntary, gratuitous transfers and are generally not refundable except as described in Section 7. Please review your bag carefully before completing checkout.
4. Sponsorships and Recurring Billing
A sponsorship is a recurring donation tied to a specific dog. Each dog you sponsor is billed as a separate Stripe subscription, so each can be modified or canceled independently. By starting a sponsorship, you authorize us to charge your payment method on the cadence shown at checkout (typically monthly or yearly) until you cancel.
You may modify the amount, change the payment method, pause, or cancel a sponsorship at any time from the donor portal. Cancellations take effect at the end of the current billing period; we do not prorate or refund partial periods. If a recurring charge fails, we will attempt retries per Stripe's standard schedule and notify you by email; if the issue is not resolved, the sponsorship will be canceled and the corresponding dog's sponsorship slot will be released.
5. Tax Receipts and Deductibility
Per-donation receipts are emailed to the address on file at charge time, and downloadable from the portal. An annual giving summary is also available in the portal. Friends of Sierra is a 501(c)(3) public charity; contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
When your bag includes a physical thank-you item (for example, a T-shirt), the fair-market value of that item is not a charitable contribution. The deductible portion is your total payment minus the fair-market value of any goods received, and your receipt will reflect this. We do not provide tax, legal, or accounting advice — please consult your own adviser for guidance on your specific situation.
6. Thank-You Items, Shipping, and Availability
Thank-you items are offered to recognize your support. Sizes, designs, and availability may change without notice; if an item becomes unavailable after your order, we will contact you to arrange a substitution or refund of the item portion of your payment.
If your bag includes a physical item, you must provide a valid US shipping address at checkout. We typically ship within a reasonable time after the order is placed, but timelines are estimates and not guaranteed. Risk of loss passes to you on delivery to the carrier. We are not responsible for carrier delays, lost packages once delivered, or addresses entered incorrectly.
7. Refunds, Cancellations, and Disputes
Refunds are reviewed on a case-by-case basis and may be limited by payment processor rules, tax receipt requirements, and whether goods have already been shipped:
- Charity portion: if you believe a donation was made in error (e.g., duplicate charge, wrong amount), contact us within 30 days and we will work with you in good faith. After 30 days, refunds become impractical due to tax receipt issuance.
- Product portion: we will refund the fair-market value of an item that arrives damaged or defective if you notify us within 14 days of delivery and follow our return instructions. We do not offer general satisfaction returns on apparel.
- Sponsorships: you can cancel future charges anytime from the portal. Already-paid periods are not refunded except where required by law.
- Chargebacks: please contact us before filing a chargeback so we can address the issue directly. A successful chargeback may result in the cancellation of any associated sponsorship and the loss of corresponding tax receipts.
8. Donor Portal and Account Security
The donor portal uses passwordless sign-in via single-use magic links sent to your email. You are responsible for keeping your email account secure, for the accuracy of the information in your profile, and for activity that occurs under your account. Notify us promptly if you believe your email or portal account has been compromised. We may suspend or terminate access if we detect abuse, fraud, or violation of these Terms.
9. Acceptable Use
You agree not to:
- Submit false, misleading, or fraudulent information, including donor identity or payment details.
- Use stolen or unauthorized payment methods.
- Interfere with, probe, scan, or attempt to compromise the security, integrity, or availability of the site or our infrastructure.
- Attempt to access another donor's account, records, or receipts.
- Use automated tools to scrape, mirror, or harvest content without our written permission.
- Use the site or any thank-you items for unlawful purposes.
- Misrepresent your affiliation with Friends of Sierra or imply endorsement we have not given.
10. Intellectual Property
The Friends of Sierra name, logo, dog photos, copy, and other materials on this site are protected by copyright, trademark, and other intellectual-property laws. You may share links to our pages and quote short excerpts for personal, educational, or journalistic purposes with appropriate attribution. Any other use — including commercial use, redistribution of dog imagery, or use of our marks — requires our prior written permission.
11. User-Submitted Content
If you submit a dedication message, testimony, photo, or other content to us, you represent that you have the right to do so and grant Friends of Sierra a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license to use that content for the organization's charitable, fundraising, and educational purposes, including on the website and in donor communications. You can ask us to remove specific content you submitted at any time.
12. Third-Party Services
The site relies on third-party services including Stripe (payments), Cloudflare (hosting, storage, delivery), and Elastic Email (transactional email). Your use of those services through our site is also governed by their respective terms and privacy policies. We are not responsible for outages or errors caused by upstream third parties, but will work in good faith to resolve them.
13. Disclaimers
The site, the portal, and any thank-you items are provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including without limitation warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, accuracy, or uninterrupted availability. We do not warrant that the site will be error-free, secure against every threat, or available at all times.
14. Limitation of Liability
To the maximum extent permitted by law, Friends of Sierra and its directors, officers, employees, volunteers, and service providers will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for lost donations, lost data, or business interruption, arising out of or related to these Terms, your use of the site, or any product or service obtained through the site. Our aggregate liability for any claim arising out of or related to these Terms will not exceed the greater of (a) the amount you paid us in the twelve months before the claim arose or (b) one hundred US dollars (USD $100). Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of certain damages; in such cases, our liability is limited to the smallest amount permitted by law.
15. Indemnification
You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Friends of Sierra and its directors, officers, employees, volunteers, and service providers from any claims, damages, liabilities, and costs (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of your breach of these Terms, your misuse of the site, or your violation of any law or third-party right.
16. Termination
You may stop using the site at any time and may cancel sponsorships and delete your account from the portal. We may suspend or terminate your access if we reasonably believe you have violated these Terms or to comply with the law. Sections that by their nature should survive termination (including those covering intellectual property, disclaimers, limitation of liability, indemnification, and governing law) will survive.
17. Changes to These Terms
We may update these Terms from time to time. When we do, we will revise the "Last updated" date above. Material changes will be reflected with reasonable prominence on the site. Continuing to use the site or make donations after an update means you accept the revised Terms.
18. Governing Law and Disputes
These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Colorado, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. The state and federal courts located in Centennial or Denver County, Colorado have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute that is not subject to mandatory arbitration or small-claims jurisdiction in your locality. Nothing in these Terms limits any right you may have under applicable consumer-protection law that cannot be waived by agreement.
19. Entire Agreement and Severability
These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and Friends of Sierra regarding the site and supersede any prior agreements on the same subject. If any provision is held unenforceable, the remaining provisions will remain in full force, and the unenforceable provision will be modified to the minimum extent necessary to be enforceable. Our failure to enforce any right or provision is not a waiver of that right or provision.
20. Contact
Questions about these Terms can be sent to [email protected] or mailed to:
Friends of Sierra
7100 S Clinton St, Suite 200
Centennial, CO
80112
EIN 83-2716638