{
  "id": "BRD-060",
  "slug": "brd-060",
  "title": "A 501(c)(3) may not run certain use cases",
  "statement": "A brand holding 501(c)(3) status must not register the Agents & Franchises, Carrier Exempt, Proxy, Social or Sweepstake use cases.",
  "rationale": "These five use cases are commercial mechanics — reselling reach, sweepstakes promotion, proxy messaging — and a charitable exemption is granted on the basis that the organisation is not doing them. The block protects the exemption as much as the channel: a charity that runs a sweepstakes campaign on its exempt status has a problem considerably larger than a rejected registration.",
  "layer": "BRAND",
  "layerSlug": "brand",
  "object": "brand.tax_exempt_status + campaign.use_case",
  "severity": "BLOCKING",
  "detectability": [
    "DETERMINISTIC",
    "EXTERNAL_DATA"
  ],
  "failureClass": "RETRY_FIELD",
  "authorities": [
    "TCR"
  ],
  "applicability": {
    "entityTypes": [
      "NON_PROFIT"
    ]
  },
  "applicabilityText": "Applies when the brand is a non-profit.",
  "universal": false,
  "remediation": "Choose a use case the exemption permits — CHARITY for fundraising and appeals, ACCOUNT_NOTIFICATION for supporter records, CUSTOMER_CARE for enquiries. If the programme really is a sweepstake or an agent network, it belongs on a separate commercial brand rather than on the exempt entity. Done when the use case is one a 501(c)(3) may hold.",
  "example": "tax_exempt_status: 501(c)(3) · use_case: CHARITY — not SWEEPSTAKE",
  "notes": "Decidable from the two declared values, which is why it carries a check even though the catalog grades it EXTERNAL_DATA — the external half is confirming the 501(c)(3) status itself, which is BRD-053. The neighbouring rule XBC-002 asks the opposite question: whether a brand claiming the CHARITY use case actually holds the status.",
  "phase": "approval",
  "automated": true,
  "attestation": {
    "question": "Is the 501(c)(3) status on this brand real and current, and is the use case one an exempt organisation may hold?",
    "howToCheck": [
      "Confirm the exemption in the IRS Tax-Exempt Organization Search.",
      "Check the use case is not Agents & Franchises, Carrier Exempt, Proxy, Social or Sweepstake — those five are commercial mechanics an exemption is granted on the basis of not doing."
    ],
    "failureLooksLike": "A charity runs a sweepstake campaign on its exempt status. The rejected registration is the smallest of its problems."
  },
  "url": "https://ekas.io/rules/10dlc/brand/brd-060/",
  "markdown": "https://ekas.io/rules/10dlc/brand/brd-060.md",
  "registry": "https://ekas.io/rules/10dlc/",
  "updated": "2026-07-25",
  "licence": "CC BY 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
}