Legal
Legal, plainly
Four documents live here: the privacy policy, the website terms, the client terms, and the AI use policy. If something needs clarification, the contact block at the end of each one will get you to the right place.
Privacy policy
Who We Are
PILLAR Creative LLC ("PILLAR," "we," "us," or "our") is a creative, communications, and marketing agency based in Arlington, Virginia, at work across the country and around the world. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and protect information when you visit our website at pillarcreative.com. Visits that begin at pillargroup.co are redirected here.
Information We Collect
Information you provide directly
When you use our contact form, subscribe to PILLAR Notes, submit a contractor application, or register for the Co-Op program, you may provide information such as your name, email address, phone number, organization name, and details about your work or inquiry. We only collect what you choose to share with us.
Scheduling
When you book a call through our website, you are directed to Calendly, a third-party scheduling platform. Information you provide through Calendly is governed by Calendly's Privacy Policy. We receive your name, email, and any information you include when booking.
Newsletter
When you subscribe to PILLAR Notes, our email about the work, we collect your email address through Mailchimp and use it to send that email, one most weeks. Every email includes an unsubscribe link, and you can leave whenever you want. Mailchimp's handling of your address is governed by Mailchimp's privacy policy.
Analytics
We use Google Analytics to understand how visitors use our website. This collects anonymized data such as pages visited, time spent on site, referring sources, and general geographic region. Google Analytics uses cookies to collect this information. No personally identifiable information is collected through analytics. You can learn more about how Google uses data at Google's Privacy & Terms page.
How We Use Your Information
We use the information we collect to:
- Respond to inquiries and requests submitted through our contact form
- Schedule and prepare for meetings
- Send PILLAR Notes to people who subscribe
- Review contractor applications and Co-Op registrations
- Understand how our website is used so we can improve it
- Communicate with you about projects, services, or your application
We do not sell, rent, or share your personal information with third parties for marketing purposes.
Cookies
Our website uses cookies. The digital kind. We cannot help you with the other kind. Google Analytics uses cookies to collect anonymized usage data. You can control or disable cookies through your browser settings. Disabling cookies will not affect your ability to use our website.
Third-Party Services
Our website uses the following third-party services that may collect information:
- Squarespace (website hosting and contact forms)
- Google Analytics (website analytics)
- Calendly (scheduling)
- Mailchimp (newsletter delivery)
- Monday.com (contractor applications)
- Google Fonts (web typography)
Each of these services has its own privacy policy governing how it handles your data.
Data Security
We take reasonable measures to protect the information you provide to us. Our website is served over HTTPS and hosted on Squarespace's secure infrastructure. However, no method of transmission over the internet is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
Your Rights
You may request access to, correction of, or deletion of any personal information we hold about you. To make a request, contact us at hello@pillarcreative.com. We will respond within a reasonable timeframe.
Children's Privacy
Our website is not directed to individuals under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.
Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated revision date. Your continued use of the website after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.
Contact
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, contact us at: PILLAR Creative LLC hello@pillarcreative.com
Terms of service
Agreement to Terms
By accessing or using the PILLAR Creative LLC ("PILLAR," "we," "us," or "our") website at pillarcreative.com, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service. Visits that begin at pillargroup.co are redirected here. If you do not agree to these terms, please do not use our website.
Use of This Website
This website is provided for informational purposes about PILLAR's services, contractor network, and referral program. You agree to use this website only for lawful purposes and in a manner that does not infringe upon or restrict anyone else's use of the site.
Intellectual Property
All content on this website, including text, design, graphics, logos, images, and code, is the property of PILLAR Creative LLC and is protected by applicable intellectual property laws. You may not reproduce, distribute, modify, or create derivative works from any content on this site without our prior written permission.
Client Work and Case Studies
Case studies, portfolio examples, and client work displayed on this website are shown with permission. They represent work completed for specific clients under specific agreements and should not be taken as a guarantee of identical results for other engagements.
No Professional Advice
The content on this website is for general informational purposes only. Nothing on this site constitutes professional advice in communications, marketing, legal, financial, or any other field. For advice specific to your situation, please contact us directly or consult an appropriate professional.
Third-Party Links
Our website contains links to third-party websites and services, including Calendly, Google Drive, and social media platforms. We are not responsible for the content, privacy practices, or terms of service of these external sites.
Contractor Applications and Co-Op Registration
Submitting a contractor application or Co-Op registration through our website does not create a contractual relationship with PILLAR. Any contractor engagement or Co-Op membership is subject to a separate written agreement between you and PILLAR Creative LLC.
Accuracy of Information
We make reasonable efforts to keep the information on this website accurate and current. However, we do not warrant that all content is complete, accurate, or up to date. Service descriptions, program details, and other information may change without notice.
Limitation of Liability
PILLAR Creative LLC shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, or punitive damages arising from your use of or inability to use this website. This website is provided "as is" without warranties of any kind, either express or implied.
Governing Law
These Terms of Service are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, without regard to its conflict of law provisions. Any disputes arising from these terms or your use of the website shall be resolved in the courts located in Arlington County, Virginia.
Changes to These Terms
We may update these Terms of Service from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated revision date. Your continued use of the website after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated terms.
Contact
If you have questions about these Terms of Service, contact us at: PILLAR Creative LLC hello@pillarcreative.com
Client terms
How These Terms Fit
These client terms apply when you hire PILLAR Creative LLC under a signed PILLAR Services Agreement, or under a client-specific agreement that points to this page. They hold the standing details behind every engagement: how we handle your data, how we keep it secure, the tools we use, and the insurance we carry. The signed agreement and its Statement of Work hold the specifics of the work, the fees, and the schedule. If anything here ever disagrees with a signed agreement or a Statement of Work, the signed document wins.
This is version 1 of these terms, dated September 1, 2026. The version in effect on the day you sign applies for the life of that agreement. We may update this page for new engagements, and we will note the date and version here when we do. If a change would materially affect a current client, we will send notice.
Your Data
Everything you give us, and everything we reach through your accounts, stays yours: donor and supporter records, subscriber lists, giving data, analytics, and the logins you share with us. We use it only to do the work in your Statement of Work, and only as much of it as the work needs. We do not sell it, and we do not use it for PILLAR's own marketing.
For the purposes of data protection law, you are the controller of the personal data you share with us, and PILLAR is your processor, working on your instructions. We will help you respond to a request from someone whose data we hold, such as a request to see, correct, or delete it, and we may charge for that help when it takes real effort.
When the work ends, or sooner if you ask in writing, we return or delete the data we hold for you, allowing for routine backups and any records the law requires us to keep.
Security
We keep reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards around your information: access limited to the people working on your engagement, authentication on the accounts that hold it, and encryption in transit wherever it is available. PILLAR team members and contractors who touch your data are bound by confidentiality terms at least as protective as the ones in your agreement.
If we learn that someone reached your data through us without authorization, we will tell you without delay, and in any case within 72 hours of learning it, and we will work with you to understand what happened and contain it.
Tools and Platforms
Our work runs through everyday tools: cloud storage, collaboration and project software, email platforms, design tools, and analytics. Some of them will hold your data while we work. We require each of those tools, and each contractor we bring in, to protect your data at least as well as we have promised to here, and we stay responsible for them.
Platforms you use, such as an email service, a website host, or an ad account, stay in your name and under your account. Their terms and their prices are theirs, not ours. If one of them breaks, changes price, or shuts down, we will help you adjust, and if that takes real extra effort we will agree it as a change first. If we buy a tool or a subscription on your behalf with your approval, we bill it at cost.
Some deliverables include things we license rather than make, such as stock images, fonts, plug-ins, or open-source code. We will tell you what those are and what their licenses require, and you follow those licenses after delivery.
AI in Client Work
Our AI use policy is part of these terms and applies to your engagement as written, including the written opt-out and the copyright disclosure it describes.
Accessibility
We follow accepted accessibility practice in the work we make, such as WCAG 2.1 AA where it applies, and we treat that as part of doing the work well. We do not promise strict conformance to a particular standard unless your Statement of Work says so.
Legal Compliance
The laws that govern your programs, your fundraising appeals, and your email list are yours to meet: consumer protection, solicitation disclosures, charitable registration, and email rules such as CAN-SPAM. We will flag apparent problems when we see them, but we are not your lawyers, and we do not do legal review or make compliance determinations.
Insurance
PILLAR carries commercial general liability, professional liability (errors and omissions), media liability, and cyber liability insurance. We will provide a certificate of insurance on request.
Our Team
PILLAR staffs each engagement from its own team of principals, employees, and contractors, and we stay responsible for the work and for the people who do it. They are bound to the same confidentiality and ownership terms as your agreement. PILLAR works with many clients, and you are free to work with other providers. Nothing here is exclusive.
Delays Outside Anyone's Control
Neither of us is responsible for delay caused by events outside our reasonable control, such as natural disasters, public health emergencies, government action, or internet and utility outages. Payment for work already done is not excused. The side affected tells the other promptly and gets back to work as soon as it reasonably can.
A Few Standard Points
Written notice between us can be sent by email to the addresses in the signed agreement, and it counts when it is received. Neither of us hands the agreement to someone else without the other's written consent, except as part of a merger or a sale of the business, where the new owner takes on the obligations. If a court finds one part of these terms unenforceable, the rest still stands. Choosing not to enforce a term once does not waive it. Virginia law governs, and the state and federal courts in Arlington County, Virginia, are the venue, as the signed agreement says.
Contact
Questions about these terms, or a request for the version that applies to your agreement, can go to: PILLAR Creative LLC hello@pillarcreative.com
AI use policy
Our Approach
PILLAR uses artificial intelligence tools as part of our creative and communications workflow. AI is a tool in our process, not a replacement for the experienced people who drive it. Every deliverable PILLAR produces is shaped, reviewed, and refined by experienced professionals before it reaches a client. AI never produces a final deliverable on its own.
How We Use AI
PILLAR uses AI tools to assist in drafting and editing text. This includes early-stage copywriting, content structuring, research synthesis, and editorial review. Think of it the way you would think about a fast, capable copy editor on a first pass: useful for momentum, but not a substitute for judgment, voice, or strategy.
What We Do Not Use AI For
PILLAR does not use AI to generate imagery, photography, illustrations, or visual design. All visual creative produced by PILLAR is made by people. This is a firm policy, not a preference.
Client Data and Confidentiality
PILLAR does not input client confidential information into public AI models. We use AI tools that are configured so that client data is not used to train public models. Protecting the confidentiality of client information is a baseline commitment, and our tool selection reflects that.
Engagement-Specific Policies
Specific AI policies for individual engagements may be documented in the applicable statement of work or client agreement. Where an engagement-specific policy exists, it takes precedence over this general policy. If a client requires additional restrictions or disclosures related to AI use, PILLAR will honor those requirements and document them in writing. If those restrictions change the time or effort the work takes, we will talk that through with the client before adjusting the plan.
Transparency
PILLAR will disclose to clients any AI-related limitations on the copyrightability of deliverables. If you have questions about how AI was used on a specific piece of work, we will answer them directly.
Contact
If you have questions about this policy, contact us at: PILLAR Creative LLC hello@pillarcreative.com
You read the whole thing.
Almost nobody does. If you want proof you were here, write to hello@pillarcreative.com with the subject line "I read the legal page" and Eddie will write back with the West Wing episode you should watch first. That is the whole prize.
Reviewed for tone by Waffles Kaufholz.