Legal, privacy, donation, and submission terms.

Privacy Policy

The Foundation may collect information that visitors voluntarily submit through contact forms, donation inquiries, paper submissions, attorney or researcher interest forms, volunteer forms, newsletter signups, or related communications. This may include name, email address, phone number, location, role, affiliation, submitted materials, conflict disclosures, professional information, and message content.

Donation information may be processed by third-party donation platforms or payment processors. The Foundation does not store full payment-card numbers on this website. Submission materials may be stored in secure form platforms, cloud storage, review dashboards, or internal records systems selected by the Foundation.

The Foundation may use information to respond to inquiries, review submissions, administer programs, process donations, send receipts, communicate about events or opportunities, maintain records, comply with law, protect the Foundation, and improve public education and charitable programming.

The Foundation may use privacy-conscious analytics, spam protection, security tools, email services, payment processors, form processors, and cloud storage providers. Visitors should review the privacy practices of any linked third-party platforms.

The Foundation retains information only as long as reasonably needed for charitable, operational, legal, compliance, archival, or governance purposes. The Foundation uses reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational safeguards, but no website or electronic system can guarantee absolute security.

This website is not intended for children under 13. The Foundation does not knowingly collect information from children under 13 through this website.

Terms of Use

By using this website, visitors agree to use it only for lawful purposes and in a manner that does not interfere with the Foundation's charitable operations, website security, intellectual property, form systems, review processes, or rights of others.

Website content is provided for general educational and charitable purposes. It may not be copied, republished, or used in a misleading way without written permission, except as permitted by law. Foundation names, marks, page designs, and original content are protected to the extent allowed by applicable law.

Visitors may not submit unlawful, defamatory, infringing, malicious, deceptive, confidential, privileged, sealed, nonpublic, or unauthorized material through public forms. The Foundation may decline, remove, archive, or ignore submissions that violate these terms or create legal, ethical, security, privacy, or compliance concerns.

The Foundation may change website content, forms, policies, programs, and terms at any time. Continued use of the website after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated terms.

Legal Disclaimer

This website provides general educational and charitable information. It does not provide legal advice, tax advice, financial advice, or professional services. Use of this website, submission of forms, or communication with the Foundation does not create an attorney-client relationship, donor relationship, employment relationship, fiduciary relationship, consulting relationship, representation agreement, or confidential relationship.

The Foundation does not request confidential, privileged, sealed, or sensitive legal information through public forms. Anyone with a legal matter should consult qualified counsel in the relevant jurisdiction.

The Foundation is not a law firm unless properly authorized by law, and it does not provide individual legal representation unless done through qualified counsel or approved legal programs with a separate written agreement.

Submission Terms

Authors retain copyright in their submitted work unless a separate written publication or assignment agreement states otherwise. By submitting work, authors grant the Foundation permission to receive, store, internally review, route to reviewers, evaluate, and communicate about the submission for charitable, educational, research, archival, and public-interest purposes.

If a submission is selected for publication, public programming, working-group use, or broader distribution, the Foundation obtains separate written permission before publication. Submission does not guarantee publication, compensation, employment, representation, fellowship placement, committee appointment, attorney engagement, or participation in Foundation programs.

Submissions must be original or submitted with proper rights and permissions. Authors should disclose prior publication, pending review elsewhere, conflicts of interest, relevant employment, use of artificial intelligence tools, use of third-party materials, and any known confidentiality or privilege concerns.

Do not submit confidential, privileged, sealed, nonpublic, trade-secret, client, restricted, or sensitive legal information unless the Foundation separately authorizes that process in writing and appropriate protections are in place.

Donation Disclosure

Donations support the charitable, educational, research, public-interest, archival, scholarship, and community programs of the Foundation. Donations to the Foundation may be tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. Donors should consult their tax adviser.

No goods or services are provided in exchange for a contribution unless expressly stated. For any contribution involving goods, services, event admission, premiums, or other donor benefits, the Foundation provides required quid pro quo disclosures and written acknowledgments consistent with applicable law.

The Foundation may decline, return, restrict, or place administrative review on any proposed gift that is inconsistent with its charitable purposes, creates undue burden, creates unresolved legal or ethical concerns, presents private-benefit risk, or cannot be administered responsibly.

Donation Receipts and Acknowledgments

The Foundation provides written receipts or acknowledgments for charitable contributions through its approved donation processor, accounting system, or authorized Foundation representative. Receipts identify the Foundation, the contribution date, the amount of cash received or a description of noncash property received, and whether the Foundation provided any goods or services in exchange for the contribution.

For contributions where no goods or services are provided, the Foundation's acknowledgment states that no goods or services were provided in exchange for the contribution. Donors claiming a deduction for a single contribution of $250 or more are responsible for obtaining and keeping a contemporaneous written acknowledgment.

For quid pro quo contributions exceeding $75, where a donor makes a payment partly as a contribution and partly in exchange for goods or services, the Foundation provides a written disclosure statement with a good-faith estimate of the value of the goods or services and the portion of the payment that may be treated as a charitable contribution.

The Foundation does not provide tax, legal, valuation, or financial advice. Donors are responsible for maintaining records required for their own tax reporting and should consult their tax adviser regarding deductibility.

Public Disclosure and Inspection Documents

The Foundation makes public-inspection documents available as required by federal tax-exempt organization disclosure rules. These documents may include the Foundation's exemption application materials, IRS recognition or determination records, and annual information returns for years in which a return is required and available.

Public copies may be requested by contacting admin@crjcfoundation.org. The Foundation may also publish copies of its IRS determination or recognition letter, annual information returns, annual reports, and governance documents on this website as they become finalized and approved for public release.

Donor names and addresses disclosed on schedules that are not required for public disclosure will be redacted or withheld where allowed by law. The Foundation does not post Social Security numbers, bank information, protected personal information, or confidential submission materials.

Gift Acceptance Policy

The Foundation accepts charitable gifts that support its exempt purposes and can be administered consistently with applicable law, donor intent, and responsible stewardship. Routine gifts may include cash, checks, electronic donations, donor-advised fund grants, corporate matching gifts, and other gifts accepted through approved Foundation channels.

Noncash, restricted, unusual, corporate, in-kind, securities, real estate, intellectual-property, cryptocurrency, closely held business interest, or other complex gifts require review before acceptance. The Foundation may request additional documentation, written restrictions, valuation information, conflict review, board or officer approval, or advice from qualified professionals before accepting a complex gift.

The Foundation may decline any gift that is unlawful, inconsistent with the Foundation's mission, too restrictive to administer, likely to create private benefit or private inurement, subject to unresolved ownership questions, financially burdensome, reputationally harmful, or otherwise inconsistent with responsible charitable administration.

Restricted Gift Policy

The Foundation accepts donor restrictions only when they are consistent with its charitable purposes, legally permissible, administratively practical, and accepted in writing by an authorized Foundation representative. A restricted gift is used for the charitable purpose, program, project, or time period stated in the written restriction.

The Foundation tracks accepted restrictions in its internal records and uses restricted funds only for the approved charitable purpose. If a restriction becomes impossible, impracticable, unlawful, inconsistent with the Foundation's exempt purposes, or no longer capable of responsible administration, the Foundation may seek donor modification, legal modification where available, or another lawful resolution.

Donor preferences, designations, or campaign selections are treated as restrictions only when accepted by the Foundation in writing as restricted gifts.

Donor Privacy Policy

The Foundation respects donor privacy and uses donor information to process donations, issue receipts, maintain required records, communicate with donors, administer programs, comply with law, and support responsible charitable operations.

The Foundation does not sell, rent, trade, or share donor lists for commercial marketing. Donor information may be shared with donation processors, accounting providers, legal or tax advisers, auditors, cloud-storage or database providers, and other service providers only as reasonably needed for Foundation operations, compliance, security, or stewardship.

Donors may request anonymity in public donor recognition. The Foundation honors anonymity requests to the extent legally and administratively possible, while maintaining internal records required for accounting, compliance, governance, and legal purposes.

Donation Refund Policy

Charitable contributions are generally final once processed. The Foundation reviews refund requests case by case and may approve a refund for duplicate transactions, processing errors, unauthorized transactions, mistaken amount entries, or other circumstances where a refund is legally permissible and administratively appropriate.

Refund requests should be made promptly and must include the donor's name, donation date, donation amount, payment method or processor reference if available, and the reason for the request. Processor fees, bank fees, and third-party charges may not be refundable unless required by law or covered by the applicable processor.

Restricted gifts, donor-advised fund grants, event-related payments, matching gifts, and noncash gifts may require additional review before any refund, return, reclassification, or correction can be made.

Conflict of Interest Policy

Directors, officers, committee members, key volunteers, employees, contractors, and other covered persons must disclose actual, potential, or apparent conflicts of interest involving Foundation decisions, transactions, grants, contracts, employment, compensation, related entities, donors, vendors, family members, or personal financial interests.

A person with a conflict may provide factual information when requested but may not improperly influence, vote on, approve, or control a Foundation decision in which the person has a conflicting interest. The Foundation may require recusal, independent review, competitive bids, board approval, written documentation, or other safeguards before approving a transaction involving a conflict.

Conflict disclosures and related decisions are documented in Foundation records. Transactions involving insiders or related parties must serve a legitimate charitable purpose, be fair and reasonable to the Foundation, and avoid private inurement or impermissible private benefit.

Financial Controls Policy

The Foundation uses financial controls designed to protect charitable assets, support accurate records, and ensure funds are used for exempt purposes. Controls may include role-based access, separation of authorization and recordkeeping where practical, board or officer oversight, bank reconciliation, expense documentation, receipt retention, budget review, and written approval for material expenditures.

Foundation funds may be spent only for authorized charitable, educational, research, public-interest, administrative, compliance, fundraising, or community purposes consistent with the Foundation's tax-exempt status. Personal use of Foundation funds, unsupported reimbursements, undisclosed conflicts, and unauthorized transactions are prohibited.

The Foundation maintains books and records sufficient to support financial reporting, donor acknowledgments, restricted gift tracking, tax filings, and governance oversight.

Anti-Private-Benefit and Anti-Inurement Policy

The Foundation's assets, income, programs, and opportunities are used to advance charitable and educational purposes, not to enrich private individuals, insiders, board members, officers, donors, founders, related entities, or other private interests.

No part of the Foundation's net earnings may inure to the benefit of a private shareholder or individual. The Foundation may pay reasonable compensation, reimburse approved expenses, purchase goods or services, or enter into lawful agreements only when the transaction serves a legitimate Foundation purpose, is properly documented, and is reviewed for conflicts of interest and fairness.

Potential conflicts, related-party transactions, restricted grants, shared-cost arrangements, and transactions involving insiders or related entities require disclosure and review under the Foundation's governance procedures before approval.

Document Retention Policy

The Foundation maintains records needed for governance, tax compliance, accounting, donor stewardship, program administration, legal compliance, public disclosure, and institutional memory. Records are retained for periods appropriate to their legal, operational, financial, historical, or archival value.

Permanent or long-term records may include formation documents, bylaws, IRS recognition records, board minutes, conflict disclosures, annual filings, financial statements, major contracts, restricted gift records, insurance records, and final program reports. Routine correspondence, draft materials, duplicate files, and administrative records may be retained for shorter periods under an approved retention schedule.

If litigation, investigation, audit, subpoena, government inquiry, or credible legal claim is reasonably anticipated, relevant records must be preserved and ordinary destruction must be suspended until the matter is resolved or counsel authorizes resumption of the retention schedule.

Whistleblower and Compliance Contact Policy

The Foundation encourages good-faith reporting of suspected financial misconduct, conflicts of interest, misuse of charitable assets, retaliation, unlawful activity, harassment, discrimination, data-security concerns, document destruction, or violations of Foundation policies.

Reports may be sent to admin@crjcfoundation.org for routing to the appropriate officer or the Board. Reports should include enough detail to permit review, but reporters should not submit confidential client information, privileged legal material, or sensitive personal data unless a secure channel has been arranged.

The Foundation prohibits retaliation against any person who makes a good-faith report, participates in a review, or refuses to participate in improper conduct. Reports are reviewed with appropriate confidentiality, independence, and documentation based on the nature of the concern.

Related-Entity Cost-Sharing Policy

If the Foundation shares personnel, vendors, office resources, technology, programs, events, or administrative support with a related entity, including any separately organized advocacy or social-welfare entity, costs must be allocated using a reasonable, documented method consistent with the Foundation's tax-exempt purposes.

Foundation charitable assets may not subsidize noncharitable activity, political campaign intervention, impermissible lobbying, private benefit, or expenses properly belonging to another entity. Shared arrangements require written documentation, conflict review where applicable, and records showing the basis for any allocation or reimbursement.

Related-entity work must preserve separate records, funds, bank accounts, donation pages, governance approvals, and compliance boundaries unless counsel approves a different lawful structure.

Charitable Solicitation Disclosure

The Foundation conducts charitable-solicitation compliance review before launching targeted or nationwide public fundraising campaigns. Where registration, exemption filing, renewal, disclosure, or reporting is required by a state or jurisdiction, the Foundation will register, file an applicable exemption, include required notices, or limit solicitation activity until compliance steps are complete.

State charitable-solicitation registration, where applicable, does not imply endorsement, approval, verification, or recommendation by any government agency. Donors may contact the Foundation at admin@crjcfoundation.org to request current charitable-solicitation registration or exemption information.

Donation platforms, fiscal intermediaries, donor-advised fund sponsors, or payment processors may provide their own disclosures, receipts, and compliance notices. Donors should review the terms and disclosures of any third-party platform used to make a contribution.

Nonpartisan 501(c)(3) Statement

The Foundation is organized for charitable, educational, research, public-interest, and community purposes. It does not participate or intervene in any political campaign on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for public office. Any lobbying activity must remain within limits applicable to section 501(c)(3) organizations.

The Foundation's research, education, litigation-related support, public programming, and community work are intended to be nonpartisan, evidence-based, and consistent with charitable purposes.

Independence and Cochran Name Disclaimer

The Foundation is inspired by the public civil-rights legacy of Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr. Unless otherwise stated in writing, the Foundation is an independent charitable organization and is not affiliated with, sponsored by, endorsed by, or legally connected to The Cochran Firm, the Estate of Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr., or any institution bearing his name.