Formal program terms coming soon. This page outlines the program at a high level. Fuller terms covering eligibility criteria and cohort selection are under counsel review and will be published here. The badge term set out under “Founding badge term” below is settled and is the term we will honor.

What it is

The Founding Vendor Program (“FVP”) is a limited-cohort early-supporter program for vendors who join United Vows during the launch window. Founding Vendors receive a permanent badge on their profile and a separate, time-limited commission override on top of their standard tier rate. The two benefits have different durations: the badge is permanent for the life of the account, the commission override runs for 3 years and then ends.

Locked positioning (subject to formal terms)

Cohort size: up to 20 spots per vendor category, per city.
Enrollment window: the program accepts new members for up to 5 years from the program's launch date, or until the per-category-per-city cap is reached, whichever comes first. Spots are filled first-come-first-served. This is how long the program stays open to newcomers. It is not the length of the badge, which is set out under “Founding badge term” below.
Commission benefit (time-limited, 3 years): a 1-percentage-point reduction off the standard platform fee for vendors at the VERIFIED and ESTABLISHED tiers, for the first 3 years after enrollment. At the end of the 3 years the reduction stops and the standard tier rate resumes. ELITE tier vendors receive the permanent badge but are not eligible for the commission reduction (their tier rate is already the platform's most favorable). The commission benefit is not permanent and is not renewable.
Permanent Founding badge: displayed on the vendor's profile for the lifetime of the account, even after the commission window expires. See “Founding badge term” below for the full condition.
Browse spotlight while unsold: the featured spotlight on the vendor browse page rotates through Founding Vendors in a city whenever no paid sponsor holds that slot. It is a labeled placement, not a ranking change, and it is not guaranteed for any given day.
$100 sponsorship credit: a one-time credit issued on approval, redeemable toward a first Sponsored placement within the first year. It expires unused after that.
Founding Partner directory: a listing at unitedvows.com/founding-partners for as long as the account is active. The listing is removed when the account is delisted, deleted, removed, or cancelled, on the same terms as the badge.
Eligibility: active vendor account in good standing, a Google Business Profile rating of 4.3+ stars with at least 1 review, and passing our standard Trust & Safety review.

Founding badge term

This section states the full term of the Founding Vendor badge. Where any other United Vows page, email, or marketing material describes the badge differently, this section governs.

Duration: the badge is permanent for the life of the vendor account. It is not granted for a fixed number of years. It is not renewable, because there is nothing to renew, and it does not depend on re-qualification or on a periodic review approving it again.
Two ways to lose it, and they are not the same: the badge comes off either because the account ends, or because the account falls below the Founding Vendor maintenance standards while it is still open. The first is permanent. The second is not. The two bullets below set out each one.
Forfeiture on exit (permanent): the badge is lost for good if the account is delisted, deleted, removed, or cancelled. This applies however the account ends, whether the vendor chose it (closing or cancelling the account, requesting removal) or United Vows did (delisting or removal under the Terms of Service or the Acceptable Use Policy).
Suspension on a standards failure (reversible): if the account stays open but falls below the maintenance standards, the badge, the directory listing and the commission reduction come off after a 30-day grace period and a further 30 days of probation. A seventh check, the account's Conflict Resolution Index, runs separately on its own clock: it is checked daily and carries no grace period or probation of its own, so a drop below 75 takes the badge off on that day's check. Neither kind of loss is permanent. Restoration requires both at once — all six maintenance standards met and a Conflict Resolution Index of 75 or higher — and it lands on the clock the loss came off: a badge lost on the index is restored at the first daily check that finds the account at 75 or higher, and a badge lost on the six standards is restored at the first monthly review that finds the account passing all six. There is no application, no fee, no waiting period and no admin approval in that path. The commission reduction resumes for whatever remains of its original 3-year run; the suspension does not extend it.
Recreating an account does not restore it: if the account ends and a new account is later created with the same business name, owner, email, phone, address, or any other matching account information, the new account does not carry the Founding Vendor badge. It starts as a standard vendor account.
No reinstatement after an exit: once the account has ended, the badge is lost permanently. There is no waiting period after which it returns, no appeal that restores it, and no path by which a later application, re-listing, or return to the platform brings it back. A vendor whose badge is lost may still use United Vows as a standard vendor with full access to every non-Founding feature. An account that ends after a standards suspension ends the same way: the exit governs, and the suspension stops being reversible.
The commission benefit is separate: the 3-year commission reduction described above ends on its own schedule. Its expiry does not affect the badge, and the badge's permanence does not extend the reduction.

What is NOT in the program

No search-ranking boost. Founding Vendors appear in matching and organic search results exactly the same way as non-Founding Vendors. The browse spotlight and the Founding Partner directory are separate, labeled surfaces; they do not move a vendor up the organic results.
No exclusivity guarantees. A Founding Vendor's category + city slot does not block other vendors from joining the platform in the same category or city outside the FVP.
No transferability. The Founding Vendor benefit attaches to the vendor account; it does not transfer to a successor business or buyer of the business.

Revocation

Founding Vendor status (badge + commission override) may be revoked for material breach of the Terms of Service, fraudulent activity, or repeated violations of the Acceptable Use Policy. Revocation follows the same notice-and-cure process described in the AUP for any account enforcement action.

Revocation on those grounds is permanent, on the terms set out under “Founding badge term” above. Once Founding Vendor status is revoked that way there is no reapplication that restores it and no waiting period after which it returns. If the account itself stays open, it continues as a standard vendor account with full access to every non-Founding feature.

A badge that came off because the account fell below the maintenance standards or below the Conflict Resolution Index minimum has not been revoked on those grounds and is not covered by this section. It is the reversible case set out under “Founding badge term” above, and it is restored on recovery.

Questions

Email support@unitedvows.com. The full program terms will be published at this URL before enrollment opens; subscribe to updates by signing up for a vendor account.