Support Policy

2. What a contribution does—and does not—provide

A contribution supports the project. It does not create an investment, loan, partnership, employment relationship, ownership interest, equity, voting right, profit share, financial return or right to direct project decisions.

No membership tiers or supporter benefits are currently offered. One-time and monthly support are voluntary and do not purchase goods or services.

3. Intended uses of funds

• Cloudflare hosting, domains, monitoring and availability.
• Traffic and other live-data services, subject to provider terms.
• Software development, testing, accessibility and mobile improvements.
• Security reviews, backups, incident response and reliability work.
• Design, research, documentation and community outreach.
• Legal, tax, accounting, insurance and administrative expenses.
• Expansion to additional coastal cities, counties and states.

Needs can change. Funds may be reasonably reallocated among project-related categories to preserve, operate, improve or expand Island Shield.

4. Goals, features and timelines are not guarantees

Support goals, budgets, city lists, feature lists, mockups, roadmaps and target dates are good-faith estimates based on information available at the time. Software, data licensing, legal requirements, provider access, costs and emergency-management needs can change. A contribution does not guarantee that a particular feature, city or launch date will be completed.

5. Payment processing and fees

Payments are processed by the external platform identified on the payment page. Its transaction fees, identity checks, payout schedule, chargeback rules, terms and privacy practices apply. Island Shield receives the net amount after applicable processor or platform fees.

6. Refunds

Contributions are generally final and non-refundable, except where required by law or the payment platform’s rules. Unauthorized, duplicate or mistaken transactions should be reported promptly through the payment platform and the available Island Shield contact method. Offering a refund does not create a continuing obligation to refund other contributions.

7. Transparency and records

Island Shield should maintain reasonable records of funds received and project-related spending. Public updates may summarize progress and broad categories of use, but may omit security-sensitive, confidential, personal, contractual or legally protected information. Public support totals may be manually updated and may not be real-time.

8. Taxes

Support proceeds may have tax consequences depending on the facts and circumstances. Island Shield may receive tax forms from payment processors and may use part of the funds for taxes, accounting or professional advice. Supporters are responsible for their own tax treatment.

9. No emergency priority or preferential access

Supporters do not receive preferential emergency information, route calculations, shelter access or faster service. The public dashboard is intended to remain equally available without payment, subject to technical capacity and these terms.

10. Support-page integrity

Support-page statements should accurately describe who receives the funds, what the funds are intended to support, applicable fees, whether contributions are tax-deductible, whether benefits are offered, and known risks. Material changes should be communicated through the Ko-fi page or Island Shield when practical.

11. Contact

Questions about support, duplicate payments or payment records may be emailed to . Payment-specific requests may also need to be submitted through Ko-fi.