Nonprofit Board Survey Tool

User Agreement

This User Agreement ("Agreement") governs your access to and use of the nonprofitboardsurvey.berkeley.edu website and services (collectively, the "Service"). By accessing or using the Service, you agree to be bound by the terms and conditions set forth herein. If you do not agree to all the terms and conditions of this Agreement, you may not access or use the Service.

1. Acceptance of Terms

By creating an account, accessing, or using the Service, you represent that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by this Agreement, including any future modifications. We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to change or modify portions of this Agreement at any time. If we do this, we will post the changes on this page and will indicate at the top of this page the date these terms were last revised. Your continued use of the Service after any such changes constitutes your acceptance of the new User Agreement.

2. Description of Service

The Service provides a platform for selected users to administer surveys to nonprofit board of directors and generate reports based on the survey data. The Service is designed to facilitate internal assessment and governance improvement for nonprofit organizations. The resulting data may also be used to support further research aimed at improving nonprofit governance.

3. User Accounts

  • Account Creation: To access certain features of the Service, you must register for an account. You agree to provide accurate, current, and complete information during the registration process and to update such information to keep it accurate, current, and complete.
  • Account Security: You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account password and are solely responsible for all activities that occur under your account. You agree to notify the CSSL program administrator immediately of any unauthorized use of your account or any other breach of security. We will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from your failure to comply with this section.
  • Eligibility: You must be at least 18 years of age to use the Service. By using the Service, you represent and warrant that you meet this age requirement.

4. Intellectual Property Rights

  • Service Content: All content, features, and functionality on the Service, including but not limited to text, graphics, logos, icons, images, audio clips, digital downloads, data compilations, and the design, selection, and arrangement thereof (excluding User Content, as defined below), are the exclusive property of nonprofitboardsurvey.berkeley.edu or its licensors and are protected by United States and international copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, and other intellectual property or proprietary rights laws.
  • Survey and Report Protection: The design, structure, questions, and methodology of the surveys provided through the Service, as well as the format, presentation, and analytical methods of the generated reports, constitute proprietary intellectual property of nonprofitboardsurvey.berkeley.edu . You are expressly prohibited from reproducing, duplicating, copying, selling, reselling, modifying or exploiting any portion of the Service, including the surveys or reports, for any commercial purpose without the express written permission of nonprofitboardsurvey.berkeley.edu. This includes, but is not limited to, distributing, publishing, or otherwise making available the survey questions or report templates outside of your authorized use within the Service.
  • Limited License: Subject to your compliance with this Agreement, we grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable license to access and use the Service solely for your internal organizational purposes as intended by the Service.

5. User Content

  • Definition: "User Content" means any data, information, text, graphics, photos, or other materials that you upload, post, or otherwise transmit through the Service, including survey responses from your board members.
  • Ownership of User Content: You retain all rights in and to your User Content. By submitting User Content, you grant a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, fully paid, sublicensable, and transferable license to use the resulting data on an anonymized basis to support research into nonprofit governance practices.

6. Data Privacy and Security

  • Confidentiality of Board Data: We understand the sensitive nature of the data collected from your nonprofit board of directors. CSSL and @berkeley.edu is committed to protecting the confidentiality and security of all board-related data. We will implement reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your User Content from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure.
  • Data Segregation: Data from different nonprofit boards will be logically separated within our systems to prevent unauthorized access.
  • No Sharing With Third Parties: We will not share your specific board survey data or reports with any third parties, except as required by law or with your explicit consent. Aggregated, anonymized data that does not identify any individual board or organization may be used for statistical analysis, research, or service improvement.
  • Data Retention: We will retain your User Content for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you services. We will retain and use your information as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements.
  • Your Responsibility: You are responsible for ensuring that you have obtained all necessary consents from your board members for the collection and processing of their data through the Service.

7. Prohibited Uses

You agree not to use the Service to:

  • In any way that violates any applicable federal, state, local, or international law or regulation.
  • For the purpose of exploiting, harming, or attempting to exploit or harm minors in any way.
  • To transmit, or procure the sending of, any advertising or promotional material without our prior written consent, including any "junk mail," "chain letter," "spam," or any other similar solicitation.
  • To impersonate or attempt to impersonate nonprofitboardsurvey.berkeley.edu, anonprofitboardsurvey.berkeley.edu employee, another user, or any other person or entity.
  • To engage in any other conduct that restricts or inhibits anyone's use of the Service, or which, as determined by us, may harm nonprofitboardsurvey.berkeley.edu or users of the Service or expose them to liability.

Additionally, you agree not to:

  • Use the Service in any manner that could disable, overburden, damage, or impair the site or interfere with any other party's use of the Service.
  • Use any robot, spider, or other automatic device, process, or means to access the Service for any purpose, including monitoring or copying any of the material on the Service.
  • Use any manual process to monitor or copy any of the material on the Service or for any other unauthorized purpose without our prior written consent.
  • Use any device, software, or routine that interferes with the proper working of the Service.
  • Introduce any viruses, Trojan horses, worms, logic bombs, or other material that is malicious or technologically harmful.
  • Attempt to gain unauthorized access to, interfere with, damage, or disrupt any parts of the Service, the server on which the Service is stored, or any server, computer, or database connected to the Service.
  • Attack the Service via a denial-of- service attack or a distributed denial-of-service attack.
  • Otherwise attempt to interfere with the proper working of the Service.

8. Disclaimer of Warranties

The Service is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis, without any warranties of any kind, either express or implied. Neither nonprofitboardsurvey.berkeley.edu nor any person associated with CSSL makes any warranty or representation with respect to the completeness, security, reliability, quality, accuracy, or availability of the Service.

9. Limitation of Liability

In no event will CSSL or nonprofitboardsurvey.berkeley.edu, its affiliates, or their licensors, service providers, employees, agents, officers, or directors be liable for damages of any kind, under any legal theory, arising out of or in connection with your use, or inability to use, the Service, any websites linked to it, any content on the Service or such other websites, including any direct, indirect, special, incidental, consequential, or punitive damages, including but not limited to, personal injury, pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of revenue, loss of profits, loss of business or anticipated savings, loss of use, loss of goodwill, loss of data, and whether caused by tort (including negligence), breach of contract, or otherwise, even if foreseeable.

10. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless CSSL and nonprofitboardsurvey.berkeley.edu its affiliates, licensors, and service providers, and its and their respective officers, directors, employees, contractors, agents, licensors, suppliers, successors, and assigns from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, judgments, awards, losses, costs, expenses, or fees (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or relating to your violation of this Agreement or your use of the Service, including, but not limited to, your User Content, any use of the Service's content, services, and products other than as expressly authorized in this Agreement, or your use of any information obtained from the Service.

11. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

All matters relating to the Service and this Agreement and any dispute or claim arising therefrom or related thereto (in each case, including non-contractual disputes or claims), shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the internal laws of the State of California without giving effect to any choice or conflict of law provision or rule.

Any legal suit, action, or proceeding arising out of, or related to, these Terms of Use or the Service shall be instituted exclusively in the federal courts of the United States or the courts of the State of California, in each case located in the City of Berkeley and Alameda County although we retain the right to bring any suit, action, or proceeding against you for breach of these Terms of Use in your country of residence or any other relevant country. You waive any and all objections to the exercise of jurisdiction over you by such courts and to venue in such courts.

12. Entire Agreement

This Agreement constitutes the sole and entire agreement between you and nonprofitboardsurvey.berkeley.edu regarding the Service and supersedes all prior and contemporaneous understandings, agreements, representations, and warranties, both written and oral, regarding the Service.

13. Contact Information

If you have any questions about this Agreement, please contact us at krutikamenon@berkeley.edu.

Last Updated: July 1, 2025