How we keep this honest
Our ethics
Paying strangers to document good deeds can go wrong in two ways: kindness done for the photo, and vulnerable people turned into props. We built Kindling to head both off. Here is how.
1No identifiable people, ever
Deeds serve a place, an ecosystem, or a shared resource, never a person. The photo shows the space, the items, or the result, never a face. We never depict anyone vulnerable, and a bystander in the frame means reframe, never post.
2Every deed is vetted
A deed makes the catalog only if it helps a public space or a community, is legal and low-risk, and works as proof with nobody in the shot. We turn away anything that leans on a tear-jerker photo of the person being helped.
3Proof of the task, not the person
Before and after of the place: the cleared park corner, the soaked tree basin, the swept path. Every deed carries its own proof rules, and the no-people rule always comes first.
4A fair wage, not a donation
You're paying a real person a fair wage to do a real good deed, and you get the proof back. It's a service, not a donation, so it isn't tax-deductible, and we never call it charity. That is the whole promise, plainly stated.