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Acceptable use policy.

Plain rules about who Bloom is for, what we don't allow on the platform, and how violations are handled. Same rules apply to every organization — no exceptions.

Effective April 24, 2026 · Last updated August 12, 2026

This Acceptable Use Policy (“AUP”) governs all use of the Bloom platform, services, websites, and APIs operated by Bloom One LLC (“Bloom,” “we,” “us”). It applies in addition to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. By using Bloom, your organization and its members agree to follow these rules.

1. Who can use Bloom

Bloom is built for, and is currently limited to, U.S.-based 501(c)(3) animal rescues, animal shelters, and humane societies (and a small number of closely-related programs they operate, such as low-cost spay/neuter clinics, transport networks, or affiliated veterinary services).

  • Your organization must hold valid IRS 501(c)(3) status (or be the fiscally-sponsored project of a 501(c)(3)) and be in good standing.
  • You must be authorized to bind your organization to Bloom's Terms of Service and to manage donor funds on its behalf.
  • Your organization must comply with applicable U.S. charitable-solicitation registration requirements in the states where it solicits donations.
  • Bloom reserves the right to verify 501(c)(3) status, state charitable registration, EIN ownership, and the identity of the responsible signing party at any time.

Verification before activation

Before activating payment processing for any organization, Bloom verifies the organization's EIN and IRS 501(c)(3) status, confirms the identity and authority of the signing party, verifies ownership of the bank account designated to receive funds, and screens the organization and its principals against OFAC and other applicable sanctions lists. Bloom may re-verify any of these at any time, and may suspend processing while a re-verification is outstanding.

2. Prohibited organizations

Bloom does not knowingly support, and will not onboard, organizations whose primary purpose involves any of the following:

  • Adult content or services (sexually explicit material, escort services, adult entertainment).
  • Firearms, ammunition, weapons sales or promotion (including parts, accessories, and 3-D-printed weapon files).
  • Gambling, sports betting, casino-style fundraising raffles outside what state law permits, or loot-box-style mechanics.
  • Cannabis, CBD, hemp, kratom, or other federally-controlled substances, regardless of state legality.
  • Tobacco, e-cigarettes, vape products.
  • Cryptocurrency-only fundraising, ICOs, token sales, NFT mints, or any service primarily centered on crypto trading. (Crypto giving via approved third parties is evaluated case by case.)
  • Multi-level marketing, pyramid schemes, payday lending, or get-rich-quick programs.
  • Political campaigns, PACs, or 527 organizations. Bloom is built for 501(c)(3) charities and is not a political-fundraising platform.
  • Hate-affiliated organizations, including any group designated as a hate organization by reputable civil-rights monitors, or any group whose stated purpose is discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.
  • Sanctioned entities or jurisdictions as designated by OFAC or analogous regulators.
  • Animal welfare organizations whose practices we cannot ethically support, including (but not limited to) puppy mills, dogfighting/cockfighting-related groups, or organizations operating outside applicable animal-welfare law.

Bloom may also decline or terminate organizations whose practices place donors, animals, or the platform at material risk, even if they are not explicitly listed above. Risk determinations are made by Bloom and are final.

3. Prohibited content & conduct

You may not upload, distribute, or solicit through Bloom any content that is:

  • Illegal under U.S. federal law or the law of any state where the content is published or where you solicit donations.
  • Fraudulent or deceptive, including misrepresenting your organization's identity, tax status, mission, programs, finances, animals, or impact.
  • Impersonating another organization, individual, or rescue, or implying affiliation, sponsorship, or endorsement that does not exist.
  • Infringing a third party's intellectual property, including unauthorized use of photos, copy, logos, or trademarks.
  • Harassing, threatening, or hateful toward any individual or group, or content that incites violence.
  • Sexually explicit or pornographic material of any kind, including CSAM (which we report to NCMEC and law enforcement).
  • Malware, phishing, or exploitative code, including links that distribute malware or harvest credentials.
  • Privacy-violating, including publishing personal information about identifiable individuals (donors, surrendering pet owners, volunteers, staff) without their consent.
  • Animal cruelty content presented for shock value, gratification, or to incite harm. Welfare-related rescue content is permitted when used responsibly to document need or fundraise for an animal's care.

4. Fundraising & donation rules

Donations are not donations to Bloom. Donations made through the platform are restricted gifts to the receiving 501(c)(3) and must be used in accordance with applicable charitable-use law and the donor's designation.

  • Honor donor designations. If a donor gives to a specific campaign, animal, or program, those funds must be used as designated. Reallocating restricted gifts is a violation of charitable-use law and of this AUP.
  • No false urgency or fabricated stories. Campaigns must accurately represent the animal, program, need, and timeline. AI-generated copy, images, or stories must be truthful and approved by a human at the organization before publishing.
  • No bait-and-switch. Don't solicit donations for one purpose and apply them to another without notifying the donor and obtaining consent (or refunding).
  • No buying or compensating donations. Do not reimburse, rebate, or kick back any portion of a donation to the donor in exchange for the gift.
  • No straw or self-funded donations intended to inflate metrics, qualify for matches, or move payment rails for unrelated purposes.
  • No chargebacks-as-policy. If a donor requests a refund, work with us through the in-platform refund flow rather than encouraging chargebacks. Excessive chargeback ratios will trigger review and potential suspension.
  • Tax receipts must be accurate. Bloom generates receipts on the organization's behalf. The organization is responsible for ensuring its EIN, legal name, address, and acknowledgment language are correct.

5. Email & SMS conduct

  • CAN-SPAM compliance (US): every marketing email must include the sender's legal name and address and a working unsubscribe link. Unsubscribes must be honored within 10 business days.
  • CASL (Canada) and GDPR (EU/EEA): if you email donors in those jurisdictions, you must rely on appropriate consent and provide the disclosures those laws require.
  • SMS / text messaging: follow TCPA and the carrier guidelines. Use only opt-in lists, include “STOP to unsubscribe” language, and never send marketing SMS to numbers that haven't consented.
  • No purchased lists. Do not import donor lists you didn't collect with consent. Importing third-party purchased lists is a fast path to suspension.
  • No deceptive headers or subject lines. The “From” name must reflect the organization, and subject lines must reasonably reflect content.

6. Platform integrity

You agree not to:

  • Reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble the platform or attempt to derive source code beyond what is publicly disclosed.
  • Probe, scan, or test Bloom infrastructure or attempt to circumvent authentication, rate limits, or scope boundaries (other than via our published vulnerability disclosure process).
  • Scrape donor, contact, animal, or content data belonging to other organizations on the platform.
  • Resell, sublicense, or repackage Bloom as if it were your own product.
  • Use automation to abuse forms, donations, emails, or APIs (test transactions, fake leads, brute-force attempts).
  • Interfere with other organizations' use of the platform or with shared infrastructure (DNS, email reputation, payment rails).

Payment processor policies

Bloom's payment processing is provided through Stripe and PayPal. Your organization's use of Bloom is also subject to the acceptable use, restricted business, and user agreement policies of whichever processor serves your account, and you agree to comply with them. Those policies apply directly to your organization, because your organization — not Bloom — is the merchant of record for donations it receives.

Bloom may suspend or terminate payment processing for your organization at the direction of a payment processor, a card network, or a regulator, or where continued processing would place Bloom or its processors in violation of those policies. Where we can, we will give you notice and a correction window first, as described in section 8. Where a processor requires immediate action, we may act without prior notice.

7. Donor data obligations

  • Donors are your supporters, not your product. You may not sell, rent, or trade donor contact data collected through Bloom to any third party.
  • You are the data controller. Bloom acts as a data processor for donor data under your direction. You are responsible for honoring donor rights under applicable privacy law (access, deletion, opt-out, correction).
  • Cross-border transfers: if you receive donations from outside the U.S., you are responsible for any cross-border data-transfer requirements that apply to your jurisdiction.
  • Children: do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 13. If you discover you have, notify Bloom and we will help you delete it.

8. Enforcement

When we identify a possible AUP violation, we will generally follow this escalation:

  • 1. Notice & correction window. For most issues we'll email a founder-to-founder note, describe the issue, and ask you to fix it within a stated window (typically 7 days, faster for urgent matters).
  • 2. Feature suspension. If the issue isn't fixed, we may temporarily disable the affected feature (e.g. pause outbound email, freeze a campaign) while the rest of the platform remains usable.
  • 3. Account suspension. Continued or severe violations result in account suspension. Donations collected during the suspension window are still owed to the org, subject to processor reserves and any related refunds.
  • 4. Termination. For prohibited verticals, fraud, repeat violations, or court-ordered action, we will terminate the account and assist with data export to the extent legally and operationally reasonable.
  • Immediate action. Bloom may take immediate action without prior notice for activity that risks donor safety, payment-rail integrity, court compliance, or other organizations on the platform.

9. Reporting violations

If you believe an organization, page, campaign, email, or user on Bloom violates this policy, please report it to [email protected]. Include URLs, screenshots, and any context that helps us investigate. We aim to respond to abuse reports within one business day.

For security issues (vulnerabilities, suspected fraud, account takeover), use [email protected] and follow the responsible-disclosure process described on our security page.

10. Contact

Bloom One LLC is a Delaware limited liability company. We may update this policy as the platform and the regulatory landscape evolve. Material changes will be announced via in-app notice and the “Last updated” date at the top of this page.