Pledge Terms and Mark Rules

Version 1.0. Effective Date: the date shown at the top of this page. Operator: Reseated Councils, Inc., a Delaware nonprofit nonstock corporation. Schedule D applies. Order of precedence: Certificate, Bylaws, Program Rules, then these Pledge Terms, then the Terms of Use. Material changes: 30 days’ email notice. Pledgers may withdraw at no cost.

1. Nature of a pledge

1.1 A pledge is a public, unilateral promise by one business about how it treats the small businesses it deals with.

1.2 Each Pledge Standard is a minimum. A Pledged Business may always do better or act sooner.

1.3 Pledged Businesses do not agree with each other on anything, and a pledge creates no obligation toward any other pledger.

2. No exchange of compliance data

2.1 Pledged Businesses must not share with each other their payment terms, fees, prices or compliance data.

2.2 Reseated does not share one pledger’s evidence with another, and publishes only Pledge Status.

2.3 The Participation and Antitrust Code applies to pledgers.

3. Pledge Standards

3.1 The Pledge Standards below are the promises published on reseated.com/programs (as shown on that page on October 29, 2026). Each is a unilateral minimum: a Pledged Business may always act sooner or do better.

3.2 Where a Standard names a period, amount or share, that figure is a ceiling or floor on the business’s own conduct only; it is not a recommended term for any other business.

3.3 Each Standard belongs to the Council shown and may be revised only under the open standards process in the Participation and Antitrust Code section 6.

3.4 Each Pledged Business chooses which Pledge Standards it adopts.

3.5 “Small business” has the meaning in the Program Rules.

4. Statuses

4.1 Self-declared: the business has adopted the Pledge Standard and an officer has attested to compliance. Reseated has not checked it.

4.2 Verified: Reseated has applied the published Verification Method to the business’s evidence, and the business passed, as of the date shown. Reseated does not use this Status for a Pledge Standard until a Verification Method for that standard has been published and applied.

4.3 Withdrawn: the business withdrew, or Reseated removed the pledge. The record shows only the word “Withdrawn” and the date, with no other comment.

4.4 Champion. Champion is a fourth Pledge Status. Reseated shows it only after applying the published, versioned Champion Test, which is the same for every Pledged Business: (a) the business has held the Verified Status on every Pledge Standard it has adopted for 12 consecutive months, and (b) in that period at least one other business took a pledge naming this business as the one that helped it, confirmed by that other business. Champion is reviewed every 12 months and lapses to Verified if either limb is no longer met. Champion is not a rating of the business’s products or overall conduct, and it is not a certification or endorsement. The Champion Test is published at /legal/champion-test, and no business is labelled before it has been applied.

4.5 A business named in a council’s quarterly report as a Champion is named only with that Status and date, in the neutral form in Record Policy section 6.4.

5. Public profile

5.1 A Pledged Business’s profile becomes public only after Reseated approves it.

5.2 The profile shows only the business name, the adopted Pledge Standards, the Pledge Status with its date, the signing officer’s name and title if the business chooses to show them, any link the business provides, and, if the business opts in, its city for the public directory (“find you by promise and by city”).

5.3 The profile stays private until the business approves it, and the business may change or end its pledge at any time (section 8).

6. Badge license

6.1 Reseated grants the Pledged Business a revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable, royalty-free license to show the Badge for its current Pledge Status, following the Mark Rules.

6.2 The Badge is not a certification, guarantee, rating or endorsement of the business or its products. Every display must link to the business’s Reseated profile.

7. Mark Rules

Pledged Businesses must:

• show only their current Pledge Status (Self-declared, Verified or Champion), with its date
• not change the Badge
• not use the Badge on products, or in a way that suggests Reseated approves a product, price or practice beyond the Pledge Standard
• not show “Verified” unless Reseated has granted it
• stop all use within 14 days after withdrawal, removal or a change of Status

8. Withdrawal and removal

8.1 A Pledged Business may withdraw at any time.

8.2 Reseated may remove a pledge or change its Status after written notice of the reasons and at least 14 days to respond, under Record Policy section 6.7.

8.3 Reseated removes Badges from its own pages within 14 days. It may enforce removal of Badges elsewhere.

9. No fees and law

There are no fees for pledging or using the Badge. Terms of Use sections 17, 20 and 21 apply.