Code of conduct.

01Our pledge

We want DigitalFeather to be a place where anyone can learn, build and help, without being harassed or pushed out.

That holds no matter your age, body size, visible or invisible disability, ethnicity, sex characteristics, gender identity or expression, level of experience, education, income, nationality, appearance, race, caste, color, religion, or sexual identity and orientation.

We act in ways that keep this a welcoming, diverse, healthy group, for volunteers and for the groups we work with.

02Who and where this applies

This code applies to everyone taking part in DigitalFeather: volunteers, project leads, organizers, and the people from partner groups we work with.

• Online: our Google Chat space, video meetings, email, shared files, code, and any account a group gives us access to.
• In person: meetups, work sessions and visits to a group's space.
• In public: any time you speak for DigitalFeather or use its name, including on social media.

It also covers behavior outside these spaces when it puts someone in our community or a partner group at risk.

03What we expect

• Be respectful. Disagree about ideas, never attack the person.
• Welcome beginners. Every question is fair. Explain things without talking down.
• Give and take feedback well. Be specific and kind, and accept feedback gracefully.
• Own your mistakes. Say so, apologize to the people affected, and learn from it.
• Do what you say you'll do. If you can't, tell your build team early so someone can step in.
• Follow the group's lead. It's their site and their mission. Build what was agreed, and check before changing the plan.
• Stay reachable. Answer your team and your group in a reasonable time, and say when you'll be away.
• Think of the whole group. Do what's best for the project and the people it serves, not just what's fun to build.

04What's not okay

• Harassment of any kind, including unwelcome sexual attention or advances, and sexual language or images.
• Discrimination, slurs and insults, including jokes and comments aimed at any of the traits in our pledge.
• Threats or violence, or encouraging anyone to harm themselves or others.
• Doxxing: sharing someone's private details, like a home address, personal phone, personal email or photos, without their clear permission.
• Stalking or intimidation, including unwanted following, messaging, photos or recordings.
• Trolling and disruption, like derailing meetings, spamming chats or deliberately starting fights.
• Retaliation against anyone who reports a problem or helps with a report.
• Helping or encouraging any of the above.

05Protecting a group's information and access

Groups trust us with their accounts and their members' information. That trust is the whole job.

• Use access only for the project. Never use a group's accounts, data or files for anything else.
• Take only the access you need, and only the way the group's owner sets it up. Never paste passwords into chat or email.
• Don't copy private data out. Member lists, donor details and private files stay in the group's own accounts. If you need a copy for the work, delete it when the work is done.
• Don't change ownership or admin settings without the group's OK.
• Report problems right away. If you think a password leaked, an account was hacked, or data went somewhere it shouldn't, tell your build team and email support@digitalfeather.org the same day.
• Hand everything back. At handoff, return access and remove your own logins.

06Honest work

• Use only what you have the right to use. Your own work, licensed or open-source work (following its license), or public-domain material. Credit it when the license asks.
• No plagiarism. Don't copy another site's design, words or code and pass it off as new.
• Say when AI helped. AI tools are fine. Tell your build team when AI wrote or made a meaningful part of your work, and review and test everything it produces.
• Keep private data out of AI tools. Never paste a group's logins, member details or private files into an AI tool unless the group has said yes.
• No fake content. No made-up reviews, testimonials, numbers or photos presented as real on a group's site.

07Money, gifts and conflicts of interest

• Our work is free. Never ask a group for payment, tips or donations to you.
• No side deals. Don't sell a group extra services, hosting or products while working on a DigitalFeather project.
• No hidden earnings. Don't steer a group to a product or company that pays you, like an affiliate link, without telling the group and your build team.
• Gifts: a thank-you note or a snack at a meeting is fine. Turn down money, gift cards and anything of real value.
• Say when there's a conflict. If you work for, are related to, or compete with a group, tell your build team before you join its project.
• Hired later? If a group wants to pay you for other work, tell us first, and keep it fully separate from DigitalFeather.

08Staying nonpartisan

DigitalFeather doesn't do political or campaign work. Don't use a group's site or our channels to promote your own politics, religion, products or causes.

09Meetups and in-person work

• The same rules apply in person as online.
• Follow the venue's rules, including a group's rules for its own space.
• Ask before you photograph or record anyone.
• Don't show up impaired by alcohol or drugs to a work session or a meeting with a group.
• Stay safe. Meet groups at their place of business or in a public place, and bring a teammate when you can.

10Kids and teens

Volunteers must be 18 or older. Some groups we help serve kids and teens, so we take extra care.

• Go through the adults. Work with the group's adult contact. Don't message a minor directly.
• Never be alone one-on-one with a minor, in person or online, as part of DigitalFeather work.
• No kids' names or photos go on a site unless the group confirms in writing that it has permission from a parent or guardian.

11Partner groups

We ask the same respect of the groups we help and their members. If someone from a partner group harasses or threatens a volunteer, we may pause or end the project.

12How to report a problem

If something here was broken, or you're not sure, tell us. You can report something that happened to you or something you saw.

• Email support@digitalfeather.org or hello@digitalfeather.org with "Code of conduct" in the subject.
• Include what happened, when and where, who was involved, and any screenshots or links.
• If anyone is in immediate danger, call 911 first.

You don't need proof to report, and you won't get in trouble for a report made in good faith.

13How we handle reports

• We reply as soon as we can, usually within a few days, to confirm we got your report.
• We keep it private. Only the people handling the report see it. We share details only when needed to keep someone safe or when the law requires it.
• We hear everyone out before we decide, and we're fair to everyone involved.
• We protect reporters. Retaliating against someone who reports is a violation of this code.
• We tell you the outcome when we can.
• We act fast to protect a group. If a report involves a group's data or access, we may remove someone's access right away while we look into it, and we'll tell the group what it needs to know.

14What happens next

What we do depends on what happened, how serious it was, and whether it has happened before.

1. Correction. A private note explaining what went wrong. We may ask for an apology.
2. Warning. A formal warning with clear consequences if it continues. We may ask you to stay out of contact with the people involved for a while.
3. Removal from a project, or a break. You step away from a project, or from DigitalFeather, for a set time.
4. Permanent removal. You can no longer take part in DigitalFeather.

Serious harm, like threats, harassment, or misusing a group's data or access, can go straight to removal. If something may be a crime, we may report it to the police.

15Appeals

If you think we got a decision wrong, email hello@digitalfeather.org within 30 days with "Appeal" in the subject and tell us why. When we can, someone who wasn't part of the first decision reviews it. We'll tell you what we decide.

16Changes and credits

We may update this code as we grow. The date at the top shows the latest version.

Parts of this code are adapted from the Contributor Covenant, version 2.1, used under CC BY 4.0. We reworded it and added our own sections. Our steps for what happens next draw on the Contributor Covenant's enforcement guidelines, which were inspired by Mozilla's.