Legal
Terms of Service & Refund Policy
The terms that govern our consulting engagements, how fees and payments work, and how refunds and cancellations are handled.
1. Services we provide
Devoted2Education Consulting is a professional consulting firm. We provide grant writing, grant research, project management, nonprofit and organizational development, board and governance setup, strategic planning, and related capacity-building services to schools, nonprofits, churches, faith-based organizations, and businesses.
We sell professional services. We do not sell physical goods, and we do not offer subscriptions or ongoing recurring billing.
2. Engagements and written agreements
Every engagement begins with a conversation and an intake questionnaire, not an invoice. Before any work begins and before any fee is charged, we provide a written services agreement that states the scope of work, the deliverables, the schedule, and the total fee. Work begins only after that agreement is signed.
Where these terms and a signed services agreement differ, the signed services agreement governs that engagement.
3. Fees, invoices, and payment
Our fees are fixed and quoted in advance. Published package prices are listed on our Grant Readiness Services page. Grant writing services are quoted separately for each engagement.
- Deposits. Some engagements require a deposit before work begins, stated in your services agreement. For example, the 501(c)(3) development package requires 50% upfront, with the balance due on completion.
- Invoices. We invoice you directly. Each invoice states the amount due and the payment due date. Unless your agreement says otherwise, invoices are due within 30 days of the invoice date.
- How to pay. Every invoice contains its own secure payment link. Payment is accepted by credit or debit card and by bank transfer (ACH). Card and bank details are entered only on our payment processor's secure page; we never see, handle, or store your card or bank account numbers. See Pay Your Invoice.
- Payment plans. Payment plans are available on request and are set out in your services agreement.
- Currency. All fees are quoted and charged in U.S. dollars (USD).
Our fees are charged for professional services rendered. They are never a percentage of, or contingent upon, any grant award. This is a requirement of professional grant-writing ethics and is not negotiable.
4. Third-party and government fees
Our fees cover our professional services only. They do not include fees payable to third parties or government agencies, including but not limited to state incorporation and filing fees, IRS user fees for a 501(c)(3) application, and domain registration and web hosting charges. Where we build a website for you, domain and hosting are billed at cost.
These amounts are paid to those agencies and providers, not to us. Once such a fee has been submitted to an agency, it is governed by that agency's own refund rules and is outside our control.
5. Refunds and cancellations
Cancelling before work begins
You may cancel an engagement at any time before work begins by giving us written notice at sue.devoted2ed@gmail.com. Any deposit you have paid is refunded to you in full.
Cancelling after work begins
If you cancel after work has begun, you are charged only for the work performed up to the date we receive your written notice. Any amount you have paid beyond that is refunded to you. We will provide a written summary of the work completed so you can see how the amount was determined.
Duplicate, incorrect, or erroneous payments
If you are charged twice for the same invoice, charged the wrong amount, or charged in error, we refund the full incorrect amount. Tell us at sue.devoted2ed@gmail.com and we will issue the refund within 5 business days of confirming the error.
If we cannot complete the work
If we are unable to complete an engagement for any reason on our side, you receive a full refund of all amounts paid for work not delivered.
What is not refundable
- Fees for services already performed and delivered.
- Third-party and government fees that have already been submitted on your behalf, as described in section 4.
- Fees are not refundable on the basis that a grant application was not funded. See section 6.
How refunds are issued
Approved refunds are returned to the original payment method. Card refunds are issued within 5 business days of approval and typically appear on your statement within 5 to 10 business days after that, depending on your bank. Bank transfer (ACH) refunds are issued within 5 business days of approval.
If you believe you have been billed incorrectly, please contact us before disputing the charge with your bank. We would much rather fix it directly, and we can usually do so faster.
6. No guarantee of funding
We prepare strong, complete, and competitive applications. We cannot and do not guarantee that any grant application will be approved, funded, or funded at a particular amount. Funding decisions are made solely by the funder, using criteria and priorities that are theirs alone.
Our fee pays for the professional preparation of your application and related services. It does not purchase an outcome, and it is not refundable on the basis of a funding decision.
7. Your responsibilities
To do our work we depend on you. You agree to provide accurate and complete information, to supply the documents and organizational records we request, to respond to our questions within a reasonable time, and to meet the review and approval deadlines set out in your services agreement.
Where deadlines are set by a funder, delays in providing information may make a submission deadline impossible to meet. We will always tell you as early as we can when that risk arises.
8. Confidentiality
We treat your organizational, financial, and program information as confidential. We do not sell it, and we do not share it with anyone outside our firm except where you direct us to (for example, in a grant application or a filing made on your behalf) or where we are required to by law.
We will not use your name, your organization's name, or your testimonial in our marketing without your written permission. Where you choose to give that permission, it is collected separately through our Referral & Testimonial Agreement.
9. Ownership of deliverables
On full payment of the fees for an engagement, the deliverables we prepare for you — your application narratives, bylaws, strategic plan, budgets, and similar work product — belong to you, to use as you see fit.
We retain ownership of our own underlying templates, frameworks, research methods, and tools, which we reuse across engagements. Nothing in this section transfers those to you.
10. Limitation of liability
To the fullest extent permitted by law, our total liability arising out of or relating to an engagement is limited to the total fees you paid us for that engagement. We are not liable for indirect, incidental, or consequential losses, including lost grant funding, lost revenue, or lost opportunity.
Nothing in these terms limits any liability that cannot be limited under applicable law.
11. Governing law
These terms and any engagement under them are governed by the laws of the State of Mississippi, without regard to its conflict of law rules. Any dispute is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in the State of Mississippi.
12. Changes to these terms
We may update these terms from time to time. The version in force for your engagement is the version published on the date your services agreement is signed, and the date at the top of this page tells you when this version was last updated. Changes are never applied retroactively to an engagement already underway.
13. How to contact us
Devoted2Education Consulting, LLC
Email: sue.devoted2ed@gmail.com
For questions about an invoice, a payment, or a refund, email us at the address above and include your invoice number.