Contribution Terms

A contribution to Mainers First is a voluntary, unconditional, and irrevocable gift. When Mainers First receives it, all right, title, and interest in it pass to Mainers First. You keep no ownership of it, no right to have it returned, and no right to direct or control how it is used.

A contribution is not a purchase of goods or services, a loan, an investment, or a deposit held for you. It does not make you a member, owner, or creditor of Mainers First, and it gives you no vote in its affairs.

Mainers First is a nonprofit social welfare organization described in section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code. Its board of directors decides, from time to time and in its sole discretion, how contributions are held, invested, spent, and granted, consistent with the organization's purposes and the law.

That may include public education and research, communications, lobbying, organizing, grants to other organizations, reserves and investments, operating costs, and the political activity the law permits a 501(c)(4) organization, which can include contributions to political committees.

Mainers First takes positions on public questions, and it may support causes, organizations, or committees that some contributors do not. Your contribution is not conditioned on your agreeing with any of them.

You are welcome to tell us what you hope your gift will support. Any such preference is a request, not a condition, and the board may use the contribution for any purpose described above. A contribution is restricted only if Mainers First agrees to the restriction in a writing signed by one of its officers before it accepts the gift.

No contribution may be earmarked for a candidate or for a particular election.

By making a contribution, you confirm that:

• the money is your own, or your organization's if you give on its behalf, and no one is paying you back for it;
• you are not giving in the name of another person;
• you are 18 or older; and
• if you are not a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, you have contacted us before giving, because federal law limits how contributions from foreign nationals may be used.

Contributions are final and are not refunded. Mainers First may decline any contribution, and may return one in its sole discretion, for example a contribution made by mistake or one it may not lawfully accept.

Contributions or gifts to Mainers First are not deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes.

Because Mainers First lobbies and may take part in political activity, a contribution may also not be deductible as a business expense. Please ask your own tax adviser.

Mainers First does not sell or publish its contributors' names. It may disclose information about a contributor when the law requires it, including federal and state tax and campaign finance laws. Contributions made or used for election purposes, for example, can become public under Maine law. Our privacy policy has more.

To the fullest extent the law allows, you release and give up any claim against Mainers First and its directors, officers, employees, volunteers, and agents arising out of or relating to your contribution, including how it is held, invested, spent, or granted, and any position, statement, grant, or activity of Mainers First, including its support for any cause, organization, or committee you do not agree with. You agree not to bring any such claim.

Mainers First does not act as your agent, trustee, or fiduciary, and a contribution creates no trust. This release does not reach any claim that the law does not allow to be waived.

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Maine. Any dispute about a contribution may be brought only in the state or federal courts located in Maine, and you agree to their jurisdiction.

These terms, together with any gift agreement signed by an officer of Mainers First, are the whole agreement about your contribution. Mainers First may update them; the version posted when you give applies to your gift. If any part is found unenforceable, the rest stays in effect.

Write to us at info@mainersfirst.org before you give if anything here is unclear.