Terms of Service

Eligibility

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account. If you set up or administer a community, you represent that you are authorized to do so on its behalf.

The service

aVillage is a tool for coordinating practical care (such as meals, rides, and volunteer help) for foster, adoptive, and kinship families within a community.

aVillage is not a case-management system and does not provide legal, medical, counseling, or child-welfare advice. Always rely on qualified professionals and official agencies for those needs.

Your account

You are responsible for keeping your login credentials secure and for activity under your account. Notify us promptly of any unauthorized use.

Community roles and responsibilities

Communities and their leaders are responsible for who they invite, the roles they assign, and the content they share. Only collect and share information that is necessary, and respect the privacy of the families you serve.

Acceptable use

Do not use aVillage to break the law, harass others, or post content you don't have the right to share.

Do not enter unnecessary sensitive information about children (such as full names, case numbers, or medical or legal records).

Do not attempt to access data you are not authorized to see, disrupt the service, or reverse engineer it.

Objectionable content and abusive behavior

There is zero tolerance for objectionable content or abusive users on aVillage. Objectionable content includes harassment, threats, hate speech, sexual content, content that exploits or endangers a child, impersonation, spam, and anything that identifies a child in foster care beyond what their own family has chosen to share.

Objectionable material is kept out in the first place as well as taken down. Communities are invite-only — a member joins with a code from their own community's leaders, so nothing here is open to the public internet — and a community can require a family's post to be reviewed by a leader before anyone else sees it. Leaders can remove any content, and any member, within their community at any time.

Every place in aVillage where you can see another member's content carries a Report control. Reporting takes a few seconds, does not notify the person you reported, and sends the content to your community's leaders, who are notified straight away. If the problem is with a leader, or your community does not act, write to us directly at hello@avillage.com and we will.

You can also block another member yourself, without involving anyone. Blocking hides that person's posts, prayers, celebrations, group messages, and closet items from you, and prevents them from messaging you. Requests for practical help — a family's care need, a meal train, a family card — stay visible on purpose, because hiding them would hide a family's dinner rather than an abusive person's words.

Reported content is reviewed and acted on within 24 hours. Content that violates these Terms is removed, and the member who posted it may be removed from their community or have their aVillage account terminated. Serious matters involving a child's safety are referred to the appropriate authorities.

Community leaders may also remove content and members within their own community at any time.

Your content

You keep ownership of the content you submit. You grant us a limited license to host, process, and display that content solely to operate and improve the service for you and your community.

You are responsible for the content you submit and confirm you have the right to share it.

AI features

Optional AI-assisted features generate drafts to save you time. Output may be inaccurate and is not professional advice. You are responsible for reviewing AI-generated content before using or sending it.

Church contributions (platform funding)

aVillage is funded by the churches that use it. Your contribution is based on your size; small churches pay nothing, and any church can request a reduced or sponsored account — cost should never be the reason foster families go unserved. aVillage is always free for individual members and families; only the community's organization contributes.

How the contribution works: when a community is set up, its size (average attendance and families served) determines a monthly contribution amount. Small churches (below our published size threshold) automatically pay nothing. New communities receive a trial period with full access before any contribution is due.

Sponsored and reduced accounts: a community may request a reduced amount or a fully sponsored (free) account at any time, from the same screen where contributions are set. Access continues in full while a request is under review, and a request that is not decided within the review window is automatically approved. aVillage may also sponsor communities directly.

If no arrangement is in place: when a community has no contribution, sponsorship, or pending request in place after its trial (or after a declined request or an ended sponsorship term), access is paused in stages — first a grace period with full access, then a pause of leader management tools, then a pause of community access. Nothing is deleted when access is paused: all data is retained, members can still export their own data and delete their accounts, and full access returns as soon as an arrangement is in place.

Contributions are charged monthly, or annually at a discounted rate if the community chooses annual billing. A community can change its contribution, switch billing cadence, or request sponsorship at any time in the app; changes to recurring charges take effect for future billing periods. Giving more than the required amount is genuinely optional and helps sponsor small churches.

Donations, gifts, and fees

Separately from church contributions, individuals may choose to give. Donations are voluntary and are processed by our third-party payment processor, Stripe. By submitting a donation you authorize the charge and confirm the payment method is yours.

You can give in two ways: (1) a donation to a specific community's care ministry, or (2) a gift that supports aVillage itself. The recipient is shown before you confirm. Personal giving is never required to use aVillage and never unlocks any feature.

Fees: card-processing fees apply to every payment. For a gift to a community's ministry, aVillage also retains a platform fee (the current rate is shown before you confirm) that helps keep small churches sponsored; both this platform fee and the processing fee are disclosed before you confirm. When you give to a community you may choose to cover the fees so the community receives the full intended amount; if you do not, they are deducted from the donation. A gift made directly to aVillage carries no platform fee — only the processing fee, which you may also choose to cover.

Statement descriptor: your payment is processed through our payment provider and may appear on your card or bank statement under our registered payment-account business name rather than "aVillage." The name that will appear is shown to you before you confirm.

Donations to a community are made to that community or church — not to aVillage. aVillage only facilitates the transaction and is not responsible for how a community uses the funds it receives. Gifts and contributions made to aVillage support the operation of the platform.

Tax matters are between you and the recipient organization. aVillage Group, Inc. is not a tax-exempt charity, and payments to aVillage (contributions or support gifts) are not tax-deductible as charitable donations. aVillage does not provide tax or legal advice and does not represent that any donation to a community is tax-deductible; a community is responsible for its own charitable status and any receipts it issues.

Recurring payments (if you choose one) continue on the schedule shown until you cancel. You can cancel a recurring gift or contribution at any time, effective for future charges.

Refunds: donations and contributions are generally non-refundable except as required by law. If a payment was made in error, contact us (for payments to aVillage) or the community (for community donations) and we will work with you and Stripe in good faith.

Authorization and accuracy: you agree to provide accurate payment information and that you are permitted to use the payment method. Payments are also subject to Stripe's terms.

Shopping links and affiliate earnings

A foster closet's needs list can link to products on Amazon so you can buy an item and have it sent to the closet or bring it in yourself. As an Amazon Associate, aVillage earns from qualifying purchases made through those links, at no additional cost to you — the price you pay is the same either way.

These earnings help fund the platform and keep it free for small churches. They never influence what a closet asks for: a closet's coordinators decide its needs list, and neither the items nor their order are chosen by us or by Amazon.

Buying through a link is always optional. You can donate the same item any other way — bring it to the closet, buy it somewhere else, or give to the ministry directly — and nothing in aVillage treats those differently.

Purchases are made with Amazon, not with aVillage. Price, availability, shipping, returns, and any dispute about an order are between you and Amazon under their terms.

Text messages (SMS)

Text messaging is optional and requires your prior express consent (opt-in). If you opt in, you agree to receive automated text messages from your community through aVillage (such as care-need alerts and reminders) at the number you provide.

Consent to receive texts is not a condition of using aVillage or of any donation. Message frequency varies, and message and data rates may apply.

You can opt out at any time by replying STOP, or reply HELP for help; you can also turn texts off in the app. You confirm you are the owner or authorized user of the number you provide and will tell us if it changes.

Intellectual property

aVillage, including its software, design, and trademarks, is owned by us and protected by law. These Terms do not grant you any rights to our branding or software except to use the app as intended.

Disclaimers

The service is provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. We do not warrant that the service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or secure.

Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, aVillage and its affiliates will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or any loss of data, goodwill, or profits.

Our total liability for any claim relating to the service will not exceed the greater of the amount you paid us in the 12 months before the claim or USD $100.

Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless aVillage from claims, damages, and expenses arising out of your content, your use of the service, or your violation of these Terms or the law.

Dispute resolution; binding arbitration; class-action waiver

Please read this section carefully — it affects your legal rights.

Informal resolution first: before starting an arbitration, you agree to contact us at hello@avillage.com and try to resolve the dispute informally for at least 30 days.

Binding arbitration: except as noted below, any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the service will be resolved by final and binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its applicable rules, rather than in court. Judgment on the award may be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction.

Class-action waiver: you and aVillage agree to bring claims only in an individual capacity, and not as a plaintiff or class member in any class, collective, or representative proceeding. The arbitrator may not consolidate more than one person's claims.

Exceptions: either party may bring an individual claim in small-claims court, and either party may seek injunctive relief in court for intellectual-property or unauthorized-access matters.

30-day opt-out: you may opt out of this arbitration agreement by emailing hello@avillage.com within 30 days of first accepting these Terms, stating your name and that you opt out of arbitration.

Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, United States, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules. Subject to the arbitration agreement above, the courts located there will have exclusive jurisdiction.

Termination

You may stop using aVillage and delete your account at any time. We may suspend or terminate access if you violate these Terms or to protect the service or its users.

Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms. If we make material changes, we will update the date above and, where appropriate, notify you in the app. Continued use after changes take effect means you accept the updated Terms.

Miscellaneous

If any provision is found unenforceable, the rest remains in effect. These Terms are the entire agreement between you and us regarding the service. You may not assign them without our consent; we may assign them in connection with a merger or sale.

Contact us

Questions about these Terms? Email hello@avillage.com.