These Terms of Service (“Terms”) govern your use of veteransbusinesscollective.org, VBC membership, sponsorship, donations, and SMS messaging operated by Veteran Business Collective (“VBC,” “we,” “us”), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EIN 86-2179204) located at 4701 Wrightsville Ave Ste 3-105, Wilmington, NC 28403. By joining VBC, paying dues, donating, or sending us a message, you agree to these Terms.
1. Membership
Membership tiers, eligibility, and pricing are described on /join. Membership begins when payment is processed and is renewed annually unless cancelled. Active-duty military memberships are complimentary for one year and renewable upon re-verification. Gold Star Spouse memberships are complimentary for life.
VBC reserves the right to deny or revoke membership for conduct that violates these Terms, applicable law, or the VBC Code of Conduct.
2. Dues, sponsorships, donations
Membership dues, sponsorship payments, and one-time donations are processed by Stripe and Plaid through PayPal where applicable. All amounts are in U.S. dollars and non-refundable except as required by law or at VBC’s sole discretion. Annual memberships auto-renew on the anniversary of your first payment unless cancelled before the renewal date in /portal/billing.
Donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. VBC will provide a receipt for any donation of $250 or more, and for any donation upon written request.
3. SMS messaging program
VBC operates an SMS text-messaging program. Enrollment requires your express written consent, which you may give in one of three ways:
- Submitting your mobile number and checking the consent box on our text-alerts page at veteransbusinesscollective.org/text-alerts;
- Enabling SMS in your member portal under Profile → Notifications, where text messaging is off by default and must be actively turned on; or
- Giving verbal consent to a VBC chapter leader, which is logged with the date and the consent language read to you.
Simply providing your phone number for another purpose (signup, RSVP, or a contact form) does not enroll you in text messaging. Once enrolled, you will receive recurring automated messages about chapter events, membership renewals, and organization announcements, approximately 2 to 4 messages per month. Message and data rates may apply.
Reply STOP to any message to opt out at any time. Reply HELP for help. SMS opt-in is not a condition of membership or of any purchase; you may decline SMS and use email instead by emailing info@therealvbc.org. Your mobile information is never shared or sold to third parties or affiliates for marketing purposes. See our Privacy Policy for details.
4. Member-portal conduct
VBC operates a private member portal with a directory, chat channels, RSVP, and member profiles. By using the portal you agree to:
- Provide accurate information about yourself and your business
- Respect other members - no harassment, discrimination, threats, or spam soliciting in chat or via direct message
- Not scrape the member directory, export member contact information for outside marketing, or use VBC channels to promote unrelated MLM / multi-level offers
- Honor VBC’s nonpartisan posture - chapter channels are not political forums
- Comply with applicable law in any commercial dealing with another member
VBC may remove content, suspend accounts, or terminate membership for violations. We maintain an append-only audit log of moderation actions.
5. Public directory
By joining VBC at any paid or free tier with business affiliation, you grant VBC a non-exclusive license to display your business name, category, city/state, business description, logo, website link, and public social-media handles in the public directory at /directory. You may edit or remove this content at any time in /portal/profile.
6. Intellectual property
The VBC name, logo, shield mark, and the “Build · Engage · Empower” tagline are property of Veteran Business Collective. Content posted in chapter chat is owned by the posting member; by posting you grant VBC a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to store and display it within the portal to other authorized members.
7. Limitation of liability
VBC services are provided “as is” without warranties of any kind. To the maximum extent permitted by law, VBC, its officers, directors, employees, and volunteers are not liable for indirect, incidental, consequential, or punitive damages arising from your use of VBC services, including referrals or business transactions between members. VBC does not endorse, vet, or guarantee any goods or services offered by individual members.
8. Termination
You may cancel your membership at any time in /portal/billing. VBC may terminate your membership for material breach of these Terms with reasonable notice except in cases requiring immediate action. Upon termination your public directory listing is removed; audit-log and financial records are retained per the Privacy Policy.
9. Governing law
These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of North Carolina without regard to conflict-of-laws principles. Any dispute will be resolved exclusively in the state or federal courts located in New Hanover County, North Carolina.
10. Changes
We may revise these Terms by posting an updated version with a new “Last updated” date. Material changes will be communicated by email to active members at least 30 days before they take effect.
11. Contact
info@therealvbc.org · (901) 219-7911 · 4701 Wrightsville Ave Ste 3-105, Wilmington NC 28403