Terms of Service

Acceptance of Terms

By accessing or using ChapterHQ ("the Service"), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service ("Terms"). If you are using the Service on behalf of an organization, you represent and warrant that you have the authority to bind that organization to these Terms. If you do not agree to these Terms, you may not use the Service.

The Service

ChapterHQ is a software as a service (SaaS) platform designed for small to mid size organizations, including civic clubs, fraternities, sororities, and foundations. The platform provides tools for member management, financial tracking, event coordination, governance, document storage, real time communications, and AI powered organizational insights.

The Service is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. We strive for high availability, but we do not guarantee that the Service will be uninterrupted, error free, or available at all times. We may perform scheduled maintenance, deploy updates, or modify features with reasonable notice when possible.

Accounts and Organizations

To use ChapterHQ, you must create an account through our authentication provider. You agree to provide accurate and complete information when creating your account and to keep that information up to date. Each individual may maintain only one account. You are responsible for maintaining the security of your account credentials and for all activity that occurs under your account.

Organizations on ChapterHQ are created and managed by designated administrators. Organization administrators are responsible for:

• Inviting and managing members within their organization.
• Configuring organization settings, permissions, and access controls.
• Ensuring that their organization's use of the Service complies with all applicable laws and regulations.
• Managing the data their organization stores on the platform, including member records, financial information, and communications.

Data Ownership

Your organization retains full ownership of all data it creates, uploads, or stores on ChapterHQ, including member records, financial data, documents, messages, and any other organizational content. We do not claim ownership of your data.

ChapterHQ acts as a data processor, not a data controller. We process your data solely to provide and improve the Service as described in these Terms and our Privacy Policy. We do not sell, rent, or share your organization's data with third parties for their own commercial purposes.

Organization administrators may export their data at any time through the platform or via the Admin API. Upon termination or deletion of an organization, all associated data will be permanently removed within 30 days, subject to any legal retention requirements.

Acceptable Use

You agree to use ChapterHQ only for lawful purposes and in accordance with these Terms. You may not:

• Use the Service for any illegal activity or to facilitate violations of any applicable law or regulation.
• Harass, abuse, threaten, or intimidate other users of the platform.
• Upload or transmit viruses, malware, or any other malicious code.
• Attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Service, other user accounts, or any systems or networks connected to the Service.
• Scrape, crawl, or use automated tools to extract data from the Service without express written permission.
• Circumvent, disable, or otherwise interfere with security features of the Service, including authentication, access controls, or rate limiting.
• Use the Service in any manner that could damage, disable, overburden, or impair our infrastructure.
• Impersonate any person or entity, or falsely state or misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity.

We reserve the right to investigate and take appropriate action against anyone who, in our sole discretion, violates this section, including suspending or terminating the offending account without notice.

Payment Terms

ChapterHQ offers subscription plans with pricing published on our website. By subscribing to a paid plan, you agree to pay the applicable fees as described at the time of purchase. All fees are quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

• Payment processing: all payments are processed securely through Stripe. We do not store or have access to your full credit card numbers. Your use of Stripe is subject to Stripe's Terms of Service.
• Free trial: new organizations may receive a 14 day free trial. At the end of the trial period, your subscription will begin and billing will commence unless you cancel before the trial ends.
• Cancellation: you may cancel your subscription at any time through the organization settings page. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period, and you will retain access until that date.
• Refunds: if you cancel within the first 14 days of a paid subscription (after any trial period), you are eligible for a full refund. After 14 days, refunds are prorated based on the remaining time in your billing period. Refund requests should be sent to [email protected].
• Price changes: we may adjust pricing with at least 30 days advance notice. Price changes will take effect at the start of your next billing cycle after the notice period.

API Usage

ChapterHQ provides an Admin API for programmatic access to organizational data. By using the API, you agree to the following additional terms:

• Rate limits: API requests are subject to rate limiting. Default limits are applied per API key and may vary by subscription plan. Exceeding rate limits will result in temporarily throttled responses.
• API key responsibility: API keys grant programmatic access to your organization's data. You are solely responsible for keeping your API keys secure and for all actions performed using them.
• Compromised keys: if you believe an API key has been compromised, you must revoke it immediately through the API key management page or the Admin API. ChapterHQ is not liable for unauthorized access resulting from compromised API keys.
• Scope and permissions: API keys are issued with specific scopes that control which data they can access. You should follow the principle of least privilege and grant only the scopes necessary for each integration.

AI Features

ChapterHQ includes AI powered features that use your organization's data to provide insights, generate content, and automate tasks. These features operate under the following terms:

• Data isolation: AI features analyze data within your organization only. Your data is never shared with, combined with, or made accessible to other organizations.
• Third party AI providers: AI features may use third party language model providers (Anthropic, OpenAI, Google). Data sent to these providers is used solely to generate responses for your organization and is not used to train their models. Organizations can select their preferred provider through the AI settings page.
• Bring Your Own Key (BYOK): organizations may provide their own API keys for AI providers. BYOK keys are encrypted with AES 256 GCM before storage and are never exposed in plaintext after initial entry.
• Action confirmation: AI tools that perform write operations (such as creating events, sending announcements, or updating member status) always require explicit user confirmation before execution. No write action is taken automatically by the AI.
• Disabling AI: organization administrators can disable AI features entirely at any time through the AI settings page. When disabled, no organizational data is sent to AI providers.

Intellectual Property

ChapterHQ and its original content (excluding user generated content), features, and functionality are owned by ChapterHQ and are protected by copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws. Our name, logo, and all related names, logos, product and service names, designs, and slogans are our trademarks. You may not use them without our prior written permission.

You retain all rights to the content you and your organization create, upload, or store on ChapterHQ. By using the Service, you grant us a limited, non exclusive license to host, store, and display your content solely as necessary to provide the Service. This license terminates when you delete your content or when your account or organization is removed from the platform.

Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, ChapterHQ and its officers, directors, employees, and agents shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, including without limitation loss of profits, data, business opportunities, or goodwill, arising out of or in connection with your use of the Service, whether based on warranty, contract, tort (including negligence), or any other legal theory, even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages.

Our total cumulative liability to you for any and all claims arising from or related to the Service shall not exceed the greater of (a) the amount you paid to ChapterHQ in the 12 months preceding the claim, or (b) one hundred US dollars ($100).

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of certain damages. In such jurisdictions, our liability shall be limited to the fullest extent permitted by law.

Termination

Either party may terminate the use of the Service at any time:

• By you: organization administrators may cancel their subscription and delete their organization through the settings page at any time. Upon deletion, all organizational data will be permanently removed within 30 days.
• By us: we may suspend or terminate your access to the Service immediately, without prior notice, if we reasonably believe that you have violated these Terms, engaged in fraudulent or illegal activity, or if your use of the Service poses a risk to the security or integrity of the platform or other users.

Upon termination, your right to use the Service ceases immediately. We will retain your data for 30 days following termination to allow for data export, unless the termination was due to a violation of these Terms, in which case we may delete your data immediately. Any provisions of these Terms that by their nature should survive termination (including limitations of liability, intellectual property rights, and governing law) shall survive.

Governing Law

These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Alabama, United States, without regard to its conflict of law provisions. Any legal action or proceeding arising under these Terms shall be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in the State of Alabama, and you consent to the personal jurisdiction and venue of such courts.

Changes to These Terms

We reserve the right to modify these Terms at any time. For material changes, we will provide at least 30 days advance notice by email or through a prominent notice on the platform. Non material changes (such as clarifications or formatting updates) may take effect immediately. Your continued use of the Service after the effective date of any changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated Terms. If you do not agree to the revised Terms, you must stop using the Service before the changes take effect.

Contact

If you have any questions about these Terms of Service, please contact us at:

[email protected]