Ownership, funding transparency and business structure
Consumer Rescue is owned and operated by consumer advocate and journalist Michelle Couch-Friedman.
The site is primarily self-funded, with additional support from display advertising, reader contributions, volunteer editors, and Michelle’s freelance journalism projects.
Everything on the Consumer Rescue site is free for our readers — including our direct consumer mediation service and executive customer-facing contact finder.
We are committed to maintaining full editorial independence in all published content. No advertiser, sponsor, or affiliate partner has any influence over our investigations, case selections, or outcomes.
Who we are and how we’re structured
At times, readers and even search engines have mistakenly described Consumer Rescue as a nonprofit. Because we help people at no cost, it’s an understandable assumption — but it isn’t correct. I have never applied for nonprofit status for Consumer Rescue, and I do not intend to do so.
Consumer Rescue is my passion and my creation. While nonprofits serve an important purpose, they are governed by boards and regulations. If Consumer Rescue became a nonprofit, I would no longer own or fully control the organization I’ve built and dedicated myself to running. I would lose the ability to personally guide its mission, voice, and growth. Independence allows me to keep steering this organization in the direction I know best serves the consumers who need our help.
From my years of leading a nonprofit, I also know that structure requires extensive IRS compliance, detailed reporting, and ongoing oversight. Those responsibilities are entirely appropriate for nonprofits, but they demand significant time and energy. For me, remaining independent is the best way to ensure that my full attention goes to consumer advocacy and journalism — not administrative requirements and tasks.
At Consumer Rescue, we are committed to the highest standards of accuracy and transparency. Integrity comes from accountability to readers, not a tax status. Our corrections page, advertiser disclosure, and open communication with readers reflect our commitment without needing nonprofit status.
Michelle Couch-Friedman, Founder and CEO of ConsumerRescue.org
Advertising
The display ads you see on the site are served through the Mediavine Ad Network. (Learn about internet cookies and how cookies are used here.) These ads are designed to be relevant to our audience’s interests and as unobtrusive as possible. Each ad is clearly marked as an advertisement.
Please only click on an ad if you’re genuinely interested in the product or service being promoted.
While we work to personalize ads based on reader interests, occasionally a vendor may bypass our filters and display an ad that we — or our readers — find objectionable. If you spot one, please email publisher Michelle Couch-Friedman so we can review and consider removing it.
If you represent a company interested in advertising on the Consumer Rescue site or newsletter, please contact Michelle for more information.
Affiliate Relationships
From time to time, we may link to products or services from affiliate companies. If you click on one of these links and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission — at no extra cost to you.
We carefully select affiliate products based on personal experience or confidence in their quality. We will never promote anything that doesn’t align with our mission or values.
Note: The vast majority of the articles you read on Consumer Rescue include no affiliate links.
However, if an article does have an affiliate link, it will always be disclosed on the page where it appears.
Whether or not a company is an affiliate or advertiser has no influence whatsoever on our reporting, case evaluations, or consumer advocacy.
Privacy
You can read our Privacy Policy for more details about how we handle user data.
