1. Agreement
These Terms are a binding agreement between you and CrownForge LLC ("we," "us," or "our"), which operates Emberhall (emberhall.app) (the "Service"). By using Emberhall you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy. If you use Emberhall on behalf of an organization, you agree on its behalf and confirm you have the authority to do so.
2. Who can use Emberhall
- You must be at least 13 years old to create an Emberhall account.
- Organizations decide who may volunteer at their events, including any age limits and guardian requirements.
- Anyone 13 or older can create an Emberhall account, whether or not they belong to an organization yet, to find and follow organizations that choose to list themselves publicly and keep their sign-ups in one place. A volunteer account is still optional for signing up to a single shift. Officials need an account to claim games, get paid and track certifications.
- Organizations sign up for an account first. An organization can build drafts right away, but can't publish an event or game, invite anyone, or send messages until we approve it.
- You can sign in with a password, or with a one-time link we email you instead. Keep your sign-in details secure. You're responsible for activity on your account; tell us promptly if you think it has been compromised.
3. Organizations' responsibilities
If you run an organization on Emberhall, you:
- Are responsible for the events, shifts, games and instructions you publish, and for the safety and supervision of your volunteers and officials.
- Decide what you ask volunteers for, have a lawful reason to collect it, and use it only to run your volunteer program.
- Are responsible for your own waivers, forms and guardian requirements. Emberhall records acceptances, but does not provide legal advice or make your waiver enforceable.
- Set your own pay rules and background-check requirements for officials, and are responsible for paying what you owe them and for any decision you make based on a background check result.
- Keep volunteer information confidential and don't export it for unrelated purposes (such as selling it or adding people to unrelated mailing lists).
- Handle volunteers' requests about their information, with our help where needed.
4. Volunteers
Signing up for a shift is an arrangement between you and the organization, not with CrownForge LLC. We don't employ volunteers, run events, or supervise shifts, and we aren't responsible for what happens at an event.
5. Officials, pay and payouts
Some organizations use Emberhall's officials features to schedule and pay people who work their games (referees, umpires and similar roles).
- Claiming and assignment. Whether you can claim an open game, or be placed in one, depends on the organization's own rules (level, certifications, background check status, availability and conflicts). Meeting the rules doesn't guarantee you a game, and an organization or its assignor can decline or reassign one, subject to the organization's own policies.
- Pay. Each organization sets its own pay rules and adjustments. An earning is created when you're checked in to a game, and stays pending until the organization approves it. If a game is canceled or you don't show up, the earning tied to it is void.
- Payouts. Where an organization pays through Emberhall, we use Stripe Connect Express: you create your own account directly with Stripe, agree to Stripe's own terms, and Stripe handles identity verification, your bank details and your payout dashboard. We don't hold your payout funds ourselves. Stripe's account and payout fees apply, including an extra fee if you choose instant payout; these come out of what Stripe pays you, not from us. The organization separately pays Emberhall's own platform fee on the payout batch (see Plans, billing and cancellation); that fee doesn't come out of your pay.
- Officials under 18. Stripe requires Connect Express account holders to be adults, so a minor official can't be paid this way. Organizations pay minors directly, outside Emberhall (for example by cash or check), and may record that payment in Emberhall for their own reporting.
- Paid outside Emberhall. An organization can also choose to pay any official outside Emberhall (for example if they haven't set up Stripe yet); the organization marks these as paid itself, and we don't process that payment.
- Signing up to officiate is an arrangement between you and the organization, not with CrownForge LLC. We provide the scheduling and payment-processing tools; we don't set pay rates, decide who officiates, or supervise games.
6. Background checks
An organization can require a background check for a role. When it does:
- We work with Checkr to run the check. Before any check is run, you'll be asked to separately review and authorize it; that authorization, and the disclosures required by the Fair Credit Reporting Act ("FCRA"), are presented on their own, not buried in these Terms.
- We (and the organization) only see whether the result is clear or needs review, never the underlying report.
- If a result leads an organization to decline or remove you from a role, the notice-and-dispute process required by the FCRA applies before that decision is final.
- The organization chooses whether it or you pay for the check.
- An expired or missing required check or certification can block you from claiming a game until it's resolved.
7. Text messages
If you give us a phone number and opt in, Emberhall or an organization you volunteer or officiate for may text you: shift and game reminders, schedule changes and cancellations, open-game alerts (for officials), and messages from an organization's staff or assignor.
- Consent is separate from your Emberhall account. Giving us a phone number doesn't opt you in by itself, and you can use Emberhall without ever receiving a text.
- Message frequency varies with your activity and how many shifts or games you're involved in.
- Message and data rates may apply.
- Reply STOP to any text to stop all texts, or HELP for help; you can also turn texts off from your account settings.
- We don't share your mobile number with third parties or affiliates for their own marketing.
- Carriers aren't liable for delayed or undelivered messages.
8. Acceptable use
Don't use Emberhall to:
- Break the law, or collect people's information without a lawful reason.
- Send spam, or message or text people unrelated to your volunteer or officiating program.
- Harass, threaten or discriminate against anyone.
- Upload malware, probe or overload the Service, scrape it, or get around its limits or security.
- Impersonate someone, or access another organization's data.
Pro plans include unlimited events and sign-ups for normal event-organizer use. We may review, rate-limit, or require a custom plan for abusive, automated, unusually high-volume, or non-event usage.
9. Plans, billing and cancellation
- Emberhall offers a Free plan, paid subscription plans (Organizer and Pro), and, for organizations running games events, a Season Pass billed per season instead of monthly. Current features, limits and prices for each are shown on the pricing page.
- Where officials are paid through Emberhall, the organization pays a platform fee on each payout batch, on top of what it owes its officials: a percentage plus a minimum amount per official paid. Current rates are on the pricing page.
- The Free plan's officials features are tracking-only: an organization can schedule and check in officials, but can't pay them through Emberhall. Paying officials through Emberhall requires a paid plan or Season Pass.
- Paid plans are subscriptions billed in advance through Stripe and renew automatically until canceled.
- You can cancel at any time by contacting us at [email protected]. Your plan stays active until the end of the current billing period, then moves to Free.
- Payments are non-refundable, including for partial periods, except where required by law or where we decide otherwise at our discretion.
- If we change prices, we'll give at least 7 days' notice before the change applies to your next renewal.
- If a payment fails, we may move the organization to the Free plan after notice.
- Text messages are included in paid plans up to a monthly allowance; the Free plan doesn't include texting. Once an organization reaches its allowance, further texts pause until it resets, unless an overage option is available and turned on for that organization.
10. Your content
Organizations and users keep ownership of what they put into Emberhall (event details, logos, volunteer information). You give us permission to store, process and display it only as needed to run the Service for you. You're responsible for having the rights to anything you upload.
11. Our service
We work to keep Emberhall available and your data safe, but the Service is provided "as is" and "as available". We don't guarantee it will be uninterrupted or error-free. Keep your own copies of anything critical (organizations can export their volunteer lists at any time).
12. Suspension and termination
- You can stop using Emberhall and delete your account at any time.
- We may suspend or close accounts that break these Terms or put others at risk, with notice where reasonable.
- When an organization's account closes, its data is deleted as described in the Privacy Policy. Export anything you need first.
13. Disclaimers and limits of liability
To the maximum extent allowed by law:
- CrownForge LLC is not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for lost profits, data or goodwill.
- Our total liability for any claim relating to Emberhall is limited to the greater of the amount you paid us in the 12 months before the claim, or $100.
- We are not responsible for events, games, shifts, volunteers' or officials' conduct, pay disputes between an organization and an official, or injuries or losses at events organized through Emberhall.
- We are not a party to, and aren't responsible for, your agreement with Stripe (for payouts) or the results Checkr provides (for background checks); those are between you and them, under their own terms.
14. Indemnity
Organizations agree to defend and indemnify CrownForge LLC against claims arising from their events or games, their use of volunteer or official information, their pay or background-check decisions, or their breach of these Terms.
15. Changes to these Terms
If we make a significant change, we'll notify account holders by email and on Emberhall at least 7 days before it takes effect. Continuing to use Emberhall after that means you accept the updated Terms.
16. Governing law
These Terms are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. Disputes will be handled in the state or federal courts located in Pennsylvania, unless the law where you live requires otherwise.