Legal
Terms of Service
Last updated: April 15, 2026
The short version
By using beanumber.org, buying a shirt, or becoming a sponsor, you’re agreeing to these terms. They’re written plainly on purpose. The most important ones, if you’re short on time:
(1) Sponsorships renew monthly until you cancel. You can cancel any time for any reason. (2) Shirt orders ship from a small team and may take a few weeks. (3) Photos, names, and stories of sponsored children are shared with you privately and must stay private. Do not post them publicly. (4) We’re governed by the laws of the State of Michigan.
Questions: kevin@beanumber.org.
Who we are
Be A Number, International is a U.S. 501(c)(3) public charity (EIN: 93-1948872), incorporated in 2023 and headquartered in Marshall, Michigan. In these terms, “Be A Number,” “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to Be A Number, International. “You” refers to the person using this site, buying a shirt, or sponsoring a child. “YDO” refers to Youth Development Organisation Uganda, our program partner in Omoro District, Northern Uganda.
Accepting these terms
By visiting beanumber.org, creating a sponsor account, placing a shirt order, or making a donation, you agree to these terms and to our Privacy Policy. If you don’t agree, please don’t use the site.
You must be at least 18 years old (or the age of majority in your jurisdiction) to create an account, make a purchase, or sponsor a child.
Sponsor accounts and login
When you become a sponsor we issue you a private sponsor code and a login link. Keep these to yourself. Anyone with your sponsor code and email can see the private updates about the child you sponsor, including photos and first names. Treat it like you’d treat a password.
You’re responsible for the activity that happens under your account. If you think someone else has your code, email us and we’ll rotate it.
Shirt purchases and shipping
Every numbered shirt you buy is tied to a child at the campus in Omoro District. The price of the shirt covers manufacturing, shipping, and a contribution to that child’s tuition and campus programs.
We’re a small team. Orders are typically shipped within 2 to 3 weeks, but during campaign launches or around holidays it can take longer. We’ll email you a tracking number when your order ships.
If your shirt arrives damaged, wrong, or doesn’t arrive at all, email kevin@beanumber.org within 30 days and we’ll make it right. Because each order directly funds a child’s tuition, we generally don’t accept returns for buyer’s remorse, but we’ll work with you on anything reasonable.
Sponsorship and recurring donations
When you sponsor a child, you authorize Be A Number to charge your payment method the selected amount each month. Your sponsorship continues until you cancel it.
You can cancel any time, for any reason, by emailing kevin@beanumber.org or by using the cancellation link in the sponsor portal. Cancellation takes effect immediately and will stop future charges. We don’t prorate or refund the current month’s payment unless there’s a billing error on our end.
If a charge fails (expired card, closed account, etc.) we’ll email you and retry once or twice before pausing the sponsorship. We won’t send your file to collections or report anything to a credit bureau.
Tax receipts and deductibility
Be A Number is a 501(c)(3) public charity (EIN: 93-1948872). Charitable contributions to us are generally tax-deductible in the United States to the extent allowed by law. The portion of a shirt purchase that exceeds the fair market value of the shirt itself is treated as a charitable contribution; the receipt we email you will make that breakdown explicit.
We are not your tax advisor. For your specific situation, please consult a qualified tax professional. Tax treatment outside the United States varies by country and we make no representation about deductibility there.
Protecting the children you sponsor
This section matters. The children you see in the sponsor portal are real kids at a school in Northern Uganda. Their families and guardians have allowed YDO to share their photo, first name, and grade level with sponsors so that sponsorship is personal. That consent is specifically for sponsors, not for the public internet.
As a condition of your sponsor account, you agree NOT to:
Post photos of the children on social media, blogs, newsletters, church bulletins, fundraising appeals, or anywhere else publicly accessible. Share their first names, last names, grade levels, village names, or any other identifying information with anyone outside your immediate household. Use the photos or information in any AI training dataset, generative model, or other automated system. Screenshot and share the sponsor portal with anyone, including on private group chats or shared drives accessible to people who aren’t the sponsor. Visit the campus, contact the children directly, or attempt to establish contact outside the channels coordinated through Be A Number and YDO.
If you want to share about your sponsorship publicly, please do. Share the campus, the school, the programs, or a photo of your numbered shirt. Just don’t share photos or identifying details of the specific child you sponsor.
We take this seriously. If we see a sponsor publishing child photos or identifying information, we’ll ask you to remove them. If it’s not resolved promptly, we will terminate the sponsorship. In egregious cases, or where we believe a child’s safety is at risk, we will report to appropriate authorities.
Acceptable use of the site
Don’t use beanumber.org to do anything illegal, abusive, or damaging. Specifically, don’t try to break into the site, probe for vulnerabilities without permission, scrape content at scale, submit fraudulent payment information, impersonate another person, or interfere with anyone else’s use of the site.
If you’re a security researcher who has found a vulnerability, please email kevin@beanumber.org with the details. We’ll respond, we’ll fix the issue, and we’ll credit you if you’d like.
Intellectual property
The text, photos, artwork, logos, and source code on this site are owned by Be A Number, International or our partners, and are protected by copyright and trademark law. You may read, print, and share individual pages for personal, non-commercial use and in keeping with the child privacy section above.
The “Be A Number” name, the logo, and the numbered-shirt concept are ours. Please don’t use them to imply endorsement or to fundraise on our behalf without written permission.
Disclaimers
The site and our services are provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. We do our honest best to keep the site up, accurate, and secure, but we don’t guarantee that it will always be available, error-free, or suitable for any particular purpose.
To the maximum extent permitted by law, we disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.
Limitation of liability
To the maximum extent permitted by law, Be A Number and its officers, directors, employees, and volunteers will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising out of or related to your use of the site or our services.
Our total aggregate liability to you for any claim arising from these terms or your use of the site is limited to the amount you paid to Be A Number in the 12 months preceding the event that gave rise to the claim.
Indemnification
You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Be A Number and its officers, directors, employees, and volunteers from any claim, loss, or expense (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising from your violation of these terms, your violation of the rights of a child or family in our program, or your misuse of the site.
Termination
We may suspend or terminate your account or your sponsorship if you materially violate these terms, especially the child privacy section. In most cases we’ll reach out first, explain what we’re seeing, and give you a chance to fix it. You can terminate your account or sponsorship at any time by emailing us.
Changes to these terms
We may update these terms from time to time. The “Last updated” date at the top shows when. If we make a change that materially affects your rights or obligations, we’ll email active sponsors and donors at least 30 days before it takes effect. Continued use of the site after an update means you accept the updated terms.
Governing law and disputes
These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Michigan, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. Any dispute arising from these terms or your use of the site will be resolved exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Calhoun County, Michigan, and you consent to personal jurisdiction there.
Before filing anything formal, please email us. The great majority of issues get resolved with one honest conversation.
Contact us
Questions about these terms, an order, a sponsorship, or anything else: kevin@beanumber.org. Mail: Be A Number, International, 8475 18 1/2 Mile Road, Marshall, MI 49068.