Last updated: July 28, 2026. All times are Eastern Time.
These rules govern the campaign. Paid voting will begin only when EFF activates the official payment period. Any material update will be posted here before it takes effect.
1. Sponsor and charitable purpose
“EFF, Buy My Back-to-School!” is sponsored and administered by Esther Funds Foundation, Inc. (“EFF”), a Florida nonprofit corporation and tax-exempt 501(c)(3) public charity, EIN 93-4917509. The campaign supports EFF’s Fall Student Success Fund and its charitable work helping students persist in college.
2. Schedule
- Applications open: July 27, 2026 at 8:00 PM EDT
- Applications close: July 31, 2026 at 7:59 PM EDT
- Anticipated voting open: July 27, 2026 at 8:00 PM EDT
- Anticipated voting close: August 10, 2026 at 7:59 PM EDT
- Anticipated winner announcement: August 11, 2026
- Anticipated award distribution: August 14, 2026
Voting will not begin merely because an anticipated date arrives. EFF must affirmatively enable voting after all launch conditions are satisfied. EFF may adjust dates for legal, payment-processor, security, technical or operational reasons and will post material changes on this website.
3. Student eligibility
- The applicant must be accepted to or enrolled at an accredited U.S. college or university for Fall 2026.
- The applicant must submit accurate, verifiable enrollment or acceptance documentation and remain eligible through final verification.
- An applicant under 18 must have parent or legal-guardian consent.
- Each student may submit one application and maintain one campaign profile.
- EFF directors, officers, paid staff, campaign administrators and members of their immediate households are not eligible to win.
- The campaign is void where prohibited by law.
No application fee, donation or purchase is required for a student to apply or remain eligible.
4. Application, verification and publication
Submission and publication do not guarantee eligibility or an award. EFF may request clarification or additional proof. Enrollment files and private contact information are used for verification and are not displayed publicly. A student’s selected public profile information and headshot publish automatically after every required field, document and publication consent is submitted. EFF may unpublish unsafe, fraudulent or ineligible content and completes final eligibility verification before confirming a winner.
5. Campaign divisions
The initial divisions are “EFF, Buy My School Supplies!” and “EFF, Buy My Dorm Items!” Divisions organize student needs; they do not create separate winners. This campaign has one official winner across all eligible profiles.
6. Official website payments only
Supporters may obtain paid votes only at backtoschool.estherfundsfoundation.org through the checkout attached to an eligible published profile. Cash, checks, direct messages, Cash App, Venmo, Zelle, gift cards, transfers to a student, third-party fundraisers and payments collected on any other website do not create campaign votes. Contestants may not collect or hold vote payments on EFF’s behalf.
7. Contributions and vote calculation
Every whole U.S. dollar in a successfully completed, verified contribution through the official profile checkout equals one campaign vote for that profile. A browser redirect, screenshot, authorization hold, abandoned checkout or supporter promise does not count. EFF’s payment-provider confirmation and internal audit record control the official count.
Contributions are made to EFF’s Fall Student Success Fund, remain under EFF’s exclusive charitable control and are not gifts earmarked for a contestant. A profile’s displayed vote total is not a personal balance and is not owned by or payable to that student.
8. Refunds, disputes and reversals
Charitable contributions are generally final. EFF may review duplicate, unauthorized, fraudulent or legally required refund requests. Votes connected to refunded, disputed, reversed, unauthorized, fraudulent or otherwise uncollectible funds are reduced or removed. If disputed funds are later restored, eligible votes may be restored. Final results use verified net payments after reconciliation.
9. Prohibited conduct
Prohibited conduct includes bots or automated voting; stolen or unauthorized payment methods; card testing; false identities or documents; duplicate profiles; impersonating EFF; off-site vote sales; paying people to vote and later dispute the charge; vote manipulation; threats, harassment or coercion; payment splitting to evade review; interfering with the website; or misrepresenting that profile contributions belong to the student. EFF may hold suspicious votes, request verification, remove invalid votes, unpublish a profile or disqualify a participant after documenting the reason.
10. Leaderboard and audit
The public leaderboard is informational and may lag while payments, refunds, fraud reviews or disputes are processed. EFF may freeze or hide final-hour totals equally for all profiles. EFF’s reconciled payment and audit records—not a screenshot or cached public page—control the official result.
11. One winner and tie-breaking
After voting closes, EFF will verify eligibility and payment integrity. The eligible profile with the highest verified net vote total is the anticipated winner. If two or more eligible profiles finish with the same verified net vote total, the tied profile that first reached that final verified total, according to EFF’s payment timestamps, wins. No random drawing is used. EFF will not announce a winner until verification and any documented fraud review are complete.
12. Fundraising-dependent award
EFF Back-to-School Scholarship or Support Award: Award amount and final form of support will be published by Esther Funds Foundation before winner confirmation.
Current fixed value: None—this award is fundraising-dependent.
The award is not a fixed amount. After voting closes, EFF will calculate an Available Award Pool from verified net campaign proceeds after refunds, disputes, reversals, payment-processing fees, fraud losses and reasonable direct campaign-administration costs. The winner's maximum award is the lesser of the Available Award Pool or the winner's verified eligible need. EFF does not promise that a fixed percentage of gross contributions will become the award. EFF will document the calculation and publish the final maximum award before the winner chooses an award method.
There is no guaranteed minimum award. The winner may choose one—not both—of the following methods, up to the final maximum award:
- Amazon wishlist purchase. The winner submits a wishlist of eligible school supplies or dorm essentials. EFF reviews the list and purchases approved items directly.
- Scholarship award. EFF pays the approved award through a documented EFF-approved method, such as directly to the accredited institution or an eligible education vendor.
EFF will not provide unrestricted cash, cash equivalents or gift cards. Ineligible items include alcohol, tobacco or vaping products, weapons, illegal items, luxury goods, recurring subscriptions, personal debt and items unrelated to the verified educational need. EFF may substitute a comparable payment or purchasing method when necessary for documentation, availability, safety or charitable-compliance reasons.
If verified net proceeds exceed the winner’s eligible need, the excess remains under EFF’s charitable control in the Fall Student Success Fund. Non-winning profiles do not receive or become entitled to the contributions associated with their vote totals.
13. Winner verification and acceptance
The anticipated winner must promptly respond to EFF, reconfirm eligibility, provide requested award documentation and accept the applicable award terms. If the anticipated winner is ineligible, does not respond within five business days after documented notice, declines the award or cannot complete verification, EFF may name the next-highest eligible profile after the same audit process.
14. Taxes and donor receipts
Donors receive a payment receipt. A contribution may be deductible only to the extent allowed by law; individual circumstances vary, and EFF does not provide personal tax advice. Any tax obligation associated with an award is the winner’s responsibility.
15. Privacy and publicity
EFF may use an applicant’s student-selected profile information, submitted headshot and campaign materials according to the applicant’s consent. EFF does not publish dates of birth, private email addresses, phone numbers, home addresses, student identifiers or enrollment documents. See the Privacy Notice.
16. Suspension, correction or cancellation
EFF may pause, correct or cancel the campaign when reasonably necessary because of law, payment-processor direction, fraud, security, safety, force majeure or a material technical failure. EFF will document material decisions, preserve valid records when feasible and will not use this provision to knowingly misrepresent verified results.
17. Limitation of liability
To the extent permitted by law, EFF is not responsible for outages, lost or delayed transmissions, payment-provider failures, unauthorized third-party conduct, incorrect information supplied by an applicant or events outside EFF’s reasonable control. Nothing in these rules waives rights that cannot legally be waived.
18. Governing law and questions
Florida law governs these rules without regard to conflict-of-law principles, subject to applicable federal law. Questions may be sent to nationals@estherfundsinc.org. Never email Social Security numbers, passwords, verification codes, tax returns or full financial-account details.