Terms & Privacy
One place for Capital Forge League's Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and Nonprofit Legal disclosures. Clear rules for participation, how we handle your data, and how our 501(c)(3) stays separated from any for-profit work.
At a Glance
What Capital Forge League is — and what it is not — before you read the full Terms & Privacy.
What CFL IS
- A Florida 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization
- An educational competition pairing military veterans with elite athletes
- Mentorship, financial literacy, and sports-tech business skills programming
- A community platform for voting, stadium experiences, and Game Day recognition
- Teams own their ventures — CFL takes 0% equity
What CFL is NOT
- Not a broker-dealer
- Not a funding portal
- Not an investment adviser
- Not a securities intermediary
- Not a place to buy or sell securities
Community votes and rankings are educational competition signals — not recommendations, not equity, and not governance rights.
Gifts support CFL's educational mission. They do not purchase equity or entitle donors to returns or board seats.
Mandatory mediation in Hillsborough County, Florida. Florida law governs. Claims must be brought individually within one year.
Terms of Use
A legally binding contract between you and Capital Forge League, Inc. Questions: info@capitalforgeleague.com
Important
These Terms of Use ("Terms") are a legally binding contract between you and Capital Forge League, Inc. ("CFL," "we," "us"). Continued use of the Services after we post updates constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.
Acceptance
By creating an account, applying, competing, voting, donating, mentoring, attending events, or otherwise accessing the Services, you represent that you have read, understood, and agree to these Terms and our Privacy Policy.
Eligibility
You must be 18 years of age or older to use CFL Services. The Services are not directed to children. Accounts may be suspended or terminated if we reasonably believe a user is under 18.
About Capital Forge League
What we do
- Educational competition platform for veteran–athlete teams
- Mentorship and business-development training
- Financial literacy and sports-industry skills programming
- Community voting, stadium experiences, and Game Day recognition
What we do not provide
- Investment advice or recommendations
- Securities offerings or capital-formation services
- Brokerage services or transaction facilitation
- Guarantees of venture success, funding, or employment
User roles & responsibilities
These Terms apply to all participants, including Athletes, Veterans, Mentors, Supporters, Fans, Donors, Coaches, Ambassadors, and Staff. You agree to:
- Provide accurate information in applications, profiles, and traction claims
- Keep login credentials confidential and enable available security features
- Treat other participants with respect and follow CFL's Code of Conduct
- Use the Services only for lawful, educational, and competition-related purposes
- Not misrepresent your relationship with CFL or use CFL marks without permission
Competition rules
Truth & verification
All traction claims (customers, revenue, partnerships, endorsements) must be truthful and verifiable. Fabrication is grounds for yard deduction or removal.
Organic votes
Community votes must be earned organically. Buying votes, bots, scripts, or multi-accounting is prohibited.
Rankings are educational
Yard lines, rankings, and awards reflect educational competition performance — not the quality of any securities offering and not investment advice.
Voting ≠ financial rights
Votes, support, and recognition do not create equity, debt, dividends, liquidation preferences, or governance rights in any venture.
Prohibited conduct
Fraud & misrepresentation
Providing false information; lying about traction, revenue, or customers; fabricating partnerships or endorsements.
Vote manipulation
Buying votes; using bots or scripts; creating multiple accounts to inflate support.
Harassment & abuse
Harassing, threatening, intimidating, using discriminatory language, cyberbullying, or doxxing any person.
Misuse of CFL brand
Claiming CFL "endorses" your fundraising; using CFL rankings as marketing for securities offerings; implying CFL is a broker-dealer or adviser.
Consequences
- Warning (minor first offenses)
- Temporary suspension (7–30 days)
- Yard deduction (5–50 yards)
- Permanent disqualification from a competition cycle
- Permanent ban from CFL Services
Donations & financial transactions
Donations are charitable contributions to a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. They do not purchase equity, do not guarantee financial returns, and do not entitle donors to governance rights.
Refund policy: Donations are generally non-refundable. Payment processors (e.g., Stripe, PayPal) handle card data under their own terms. CFL does not store full credit-card numbers.
Intellectual property & user content
CFL retains all rights in its marks, logos, curriculum, software, and site design. You retain ownership of content you submit (bios, pitches, photos, documents), and you grant CFL a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to host, display, and use that content for operating and promoting the educational competition. You represent you have the rights to grant this license.
Disclaimers (educational clarity)
CFL does not provide investment advice. Competition rankings are not investment recommendations.
Any capital-raising activity outside CFL involves risk of total loss. Past educational performance does not predict future commercial results.
CFL makes no guarantees about any venture's success, funding, employment, NIL outcomes, or stadium selection.
Disclaimers & limitation of liability
CFL SERVICES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE." To the fullest extent permitted by law, CFL disclaims warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, availability, security, and results.
CFL is not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages; lost profits; lost revenue; or lost data, even if advised of the possibility.
Maximum liability: the lesser of $100, or the amount you paid to CFL in the 12 months before the claim.
Dispute resolution
Mandatory mediation
Unresolved disputes proceed to mediation in Hillsborough County, Florida.
Exclusive jurisdiction
Florida courts only. Florida law governs these Terms (conflicts principles excluded).
Class-action waiver: All disputes must be resolved individually. No class or representative actions.
Statute of limitations: You must bring any claim within one (1) year after it accrues.
Terms contact
Legal questions about these Terms: info@capitalforgeleague.com
Privacy Policy
How Capital Forge League collects, uses, shares, and protects personal information. Privacy questions: info@capitalforgeleague.com
Privacy at a glance
- We collect basic info when you apply, compete, vote, or donate
- We use it to run competitions, match teams, and communicate with you
- We never sell your personal information
- You can request access, correction, or deletion (subject to legal retention)
- Donors: we do not publish donor names without permission
- Athletes: competition profiles show name, sport, and bio — not private contact details
- Cookies support basic functionality — not invasive ad tracking
1. Who we are
Capital Forge League ("CFL") is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization based in Tampa, Florida. We pair military veterans with elite athletes to develop sports-tech business skills through competition, mentorship, and community.
What we're not: broker-dealer, funding portal, investment adviser, or securities intermediary.
Privacy contact: info@capitalforgeleague.com · Tampa, FL
2. Information we collect
When you apply
Full name, email, mailing address, date of birth, athletic or military background, venture idea, skills, availability.
When you compete
Team name, project description, traction metrics, photos, milestone documents, public bios.
When you vote or donate
Name, email, account credentials, voting activity, donation amount; payment details processed by third-party processors.
Automatically collected
IP address, browser type, device, pages visited, and cookies necessary for security and analytics.
3. How we use your information
- Operate the competition (match teams, process votes, calculate rankings, award milestones)
- Improve services (analytics, debugging, program effectiveness)
- Comply with legal obligations (subpoenas, tax reporting, nonprofit regulations)
- Communicate (application updates, match notices, newsletters, tax receipts)
- Maintain security and integrity (fraud prevention, Code of Conduct, traction verification)
- Fundraising and donor relations (process gifts, issue receipts, invite to events)
4. How we share your information
Public competition info
Team names, project descriptions, member names/photos/bios, yard-line position, votes, rankings, and milestones may appear on the site.
Not public: email, mailing address, DOB, detailed military or athletic records.
Service providers
Payment processors (Stripe/PayPal), email tools (e.g., Mailchimp), hosting, and analytics (Google Analytics). Providers are contractually required to protect your data.
Legal compliance
Subpoenas, court orders, tax reporting, nonprofit regulations, and fraud prevention as required by law.
What we never do
- Sell personal information
- Share or rent donor lists
- Trade emails for marketing lists
- Share athlete private contact info with recruiters
- Provide contact lists for securities solicitation
5. Your privacy rights
Access
Request a copy of your personal data. Email info@ with subject Data Access Request. Response within 30 days.
Correction
Update your profile directly or email with subject Correction Request.
Deletion
Email with subject Deletion Request. Some records (e.g., IRS donor records) are retained as required by law — typically 7 years for donations.
Opt out of marketing
Unsubscribe from marketing emails. You cannot opt out of essential notices (application status, tax receipts, security alerts).
California (CCPA)
Right to Know, Delete, Opt Out of Sale (we do not sell data), and Non-Discrimination.
Europe (GDPR)
Where applicable: data portability and the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority.
6. Data security & retention
Technical
SSL/TLS, encrypted storage where appropriate, secure password hashing, firewalls, security audits, MFA for admin accounts.
Organizational
Access controls, staff training, confidentiality agreements, backups, and an incident-response plan.
Payments
No full credit-card storage. PCI-compliant processors; tokenization for recurring donations.
Retention
Active participants: duration + 2 years · Donor records: 7 years (IRS) · Applications: 1 year · Email: 2 years · Analytics: ~26 months.
7. Cookies
We use essential cookies (login/security), optional analytics cookies (e.g., Google Analytics), and optional preference cookies.
We do not use advertising cookies, third-party tracking pixels, social-media tracking pixels, or retargeting cookies for CFL marketing.
Opt out of Google Analytics: tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout
8. Children's privacy
CFL is not intended for individuals under 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 18. If we learn we have collected such information, we will delete it. Contact info@capitalforgeleague.com.
9. Changes to this policy
Material changes receive notice (including email where appropriate) with at least 30 days' lead time when feasible. Minor updates are reflected in the "Last updated" date. Continued use after the effective date constitutes acceptance.
Nonprofit / Legal
CFL's 501(c)(3) scope, conflict-of-interest safeguards, and how educational programming stays operationally separate from any for-profit work.
CFL nonprofit compliance
Capital Forge League is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization. Our programs center on education, competition, mentorship, and community development — not capital formation and not securities offerings.
Educational scope
What we operate
- Veteran–athlete educational competitions
- Curriculum, coaching, and mentor pathways
- Stadium experiences and Game Day recognition
- Donor-funded programming infrastructure
What we do not operate
- Securities offerings or capital portals
- Broker-dealer or funding-portal activity
- Investment-advisory services
- Transaction facilitation for offerings
Conflict of interest & dual roles
Mark Jones is Founder of Capital Forge League (501(c)(3)) and also leads separate for-profit work, including Sprowtt, Inc. Those for-profit activities are not part of CFL's nonprofit operations.
This dual role is governed by:
- Independent board oversight at Capital Forge League
- Technology licensing at fair market value (FMV) where applicable
- A formal conflict-of-interest policy (including disclosures aligned with IRS Form 1023 practice)
- Complete operational and legal separation between the nonprofit and any for-profit entities
CFL does not receive commissions or success-based compensation from third-party capital platforms. CFL's mission ends at education, competition, and community — not capital formation.
Governance questions: info@capitalforgeleague.com
Donations — authorized states
Capital Forge League is a national nonprofit. Charitable solicitation registration varies by state. For the current list of states where CFL is authorized to solicit donations, contact info@capitalforgeleague.com or visit our Donate page.
Compliance questions
Educational programs & nonprofit status
Questions about curriculum, workforce development, or 501(c)(3) status.
Separation commitment
CFL does not conduct, host, or process securities offerings. Any capital formation for ventures that leave CFL's educational pathway occurs independently of CFL and outside these Terms.
Contact
Email only — no phone. Email info@capitalforgeleague.com for privacy, legal, governance, security, or general questions. Put the topic in the subject line so we can route it. No phone.
Privacy questions
Policy questions, cookies, and general privacy concerns.
Data rights (30 days)
Subjects: Access · Deletion · Correction · Opt-Out. We respond within 30 days.
Security / breach
Report suspected compromise. Change your password immediately and enable 2FA.
Legal / Terms
Terms of Use, disputes, authorized-states donations questions.
Governance / COI
Board oversight, conflict-of-interest, and nonprofit separation questions.
Capital Forge League is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization. CFL is not a broker-dealer, funding portal, or investment adviser. Competitions, rankings, and public votes are for educational purposes and do not constitute investment advice or securities recommendations. CFL does not conduct, host, or process securities offerings.