Terms and Conditions

MyGivingCircle Terms and Conditions and Acceptable Use Policy (AUP)

between My Giving Circle Pty Ltd (“MyGivingCircle” or “My Giving Circle” or “MyGivingCircle.org” “we” or “us”)

and

the user of this website (“you” or “User”)

1. Introduction

1.1 MyGivingCircle (the “Website“) and its associated services are operated by My Giving Circle Pty Ltd (ABN 33 612 538 940) (“MyGivingCircle” or “we” or “us“). These terms (“Terms of Service“) govern your use of the Website and its associated services.

1.2 The Website is an online platform where people can vote and donate and choose to support organisations such as a Charity or Not-for-Profit (“Providing Organisation“)

1.3 Please read these Terms and Conditions carefully. If you do not wish to be bound by these Terms of Service, you should not continue to use or access the Website or its associated services.

1.4 You acknowledge and agree that you have read and understood these Terms of Service and you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service each time you use the Website.

1.5 If you are accessing the Website in a professional capacity on behalf of an organisation, you agree to these Terms of Service both personally and on behalf of the organisation as its authorised representative. If you are not authorised to accept these Terms and Conditions on behalf of the organisation, you may not use the site on behalf of the organisation

1.6 These Terms and Conditions may change or be updated from time to time. We will post updates to the Terms and Conditions on the Website should this occur. You must check for updates whenever you access the Website. The latest version of these Terms and Conditions will govern any usage by you of the Website and its associated services from the date we post the revised version on the Website.

2. Terms for Individuals

Donating to a Providing Organisation

2.1 You can donate to any Providing Organisation that has elected to collect donations via the MyGivingCircle platform. Please note you make your Donation to the Providing Organisation directly via the MyGivingCircle platform. The role of MyGivingCircle – unless expressly stated otherwise – is to act as a platform to connect individuals with the Providing Organisation. Donations can be made via Stripe or other payment methods as may be available from time to time, including payroll deductions where agreed. All Donations are processed under the terms of your agreement with the payment provider and the Providing Organisation. Transaction fees may be applied by the relevant payment provider.

2.2 In most instances Donations are subject to a minimum donation amount. Donations will be processed in the currency which is indicated on the Giving Circle and payment pages, or if not specified, the base currency of AUD. If a donation is made in a different currency, conversion fees may apply, and may be charged to you by your financial institution. Depending on the type of Providing Organisation you may have a choice of making a one-off donation or a monthly (recurring) donation.

2.3 In the case of payments not being processed the payment provider will normally attempt to complete the transaction as per their own Terms and Conditions. In such case as the payment is still unable to be processed, the Providing Organisation may contact the individual to arrange alternative payment.

Holding and Release of Funds

2.4 Depending on the arrangements agreed with the Providing Organisation your payments may be deposited directly into the Providing Organisations bank account at the time of your donation less our Service Fee.

Changes to and cancellations of Donations

2.5 Any donations already made and processed cannot be refunded unless under exceptional circumstances and at the discretion of the Providing Organisation. Any donations not yet processed (whether they are the initial donation or any recurring donations) can be modified or cancelled via the MyGivingCircle dashboard.

2.6 A Providing Organisation may cancel or refund a Donation at any time at their discretion and for any reason.

2.7 If you disagree with how a Providing Organisation is using your Donation, you should raise this directly with the Providing Organisation

MyGivingCircle Fees + Transaction Costs

2.8 MyGivingCircle collects a fee to support the operation and developing of the site and associated services. This amount is between 0% - 6.5% + GST (where applicable) of the gross amount donated and may vary from time to time. This amount is deducted from the donation amount and is not an extra charge imposed on the individual.

2.9 In most instances the payment provider will levy a fee for processing the transaction and you should refer to their website for specific information on their transaction fees. This amount is deducted from the donation amount is not an extra charge imposed on the individual

2.10 If a Providing Organisation chooses to refund all or part of a donation, the MyGivingCircle service fee and/or payment provider transaction fees are, under normal circumstances, not refundable.

2.11 From time to time Providing Organisations may contract MyGivingCircle.org to provide other services for which a fee is charged, however these fees are paid by the Providing Organisation out of their general operating budgets.

Tax deductions and receipts

2.11 When you make a donation, you will receive an order confirmation from us for the amount of your donation. In some cases donations made may be tax deductible, but in other cases the donation may not be tax deductible. Where donations are tax deductible, you will receive a receipt from the Providing Organisation which should be used for claiming tax deductions on your donation. It is your responsibility to contact the Providing Organisation directly if such receipt is not forthcoming.

2.12 It is your responsibility to confirm whether a Providing Organisation has deductible gift recipient (DGR) status or the relevant status in your jurisdiction allowing you to claim a tax deduction.

2.13 In exchange for being allowed to use our platform and associated services, you agree that we will not be liable for any unpaid tax, interest, fines, penalties or any other claims against you in relation to the tax deductibility of your donation. You also agree to indemnify us against any claim made against us in relation to the tax deductibility of your donation.

3. Terms for Providing Organisations, Charities and Not for Profits

3.1 By registering your Charity or Not-for-Profit Organisation and setting up donations you are authorising MyGivingCircle to facilitate donations made to your organisation through our platform, which will be remitted to you minus platform and credit card fees as outlined elsewhere in these Terms and Conditions. You acknowledge that MyGivingCircle.org is a platform to facilitate your fundraising efforts and is not contracted to fundraise on your behalf. Not withstanding the aforementioned, for the avoidance of doubt you may choose to issue us with an Authority to Fundraise or similar authority at your discretion.

3.1.1 By registering your Charity or Not-for-Profit Organisation you confirm that you comply with the fundraising laws of the jurisdiction(s) under which you operate and have any necessary authorities to fundraise, taking into account the ability of people in multiple jurisdictions to access our website.

3.1.1.1 Should you wish to limit the collection of donations to certain jurisdictions you must email us at [email protected] outlining your request. Your listing in these circumstances is at the sole discretion of MyGivingCircle and you acknowledge that we will restrict donations on a best efforts basis – taking into account the global nature of the internet – and agree not to hold MyGivingCircle liable if any donations are collected outside jurisdictions for which you have authority to fundraise.

3.1.2 All registrations are reviewed and vetted by MyGivingCircle. Any Providing Organisation registering with MyGivingCircle must provide full details of their organisation as requested by MyGivingCircle

3.2 The acceptance of a Providing Organisation is at our sole discretion. The providing organisation must meet certain qualifying criteria in order to be considered, including by not limited to:

(a) name, email address, phone number and name of organisation;

(b) include a description of the organisation and what charitable or not-for-profit areas it specialises in, including links to any material that supports such assertions.

(d) comply with the fundraising laws of the jurisdiction under which they operate.

(e) provide any other proof requested to confirm their ability, suitability and authority to deliver the good causes as described.

3.3 When you register your organisation and/or add a good cause provided by your organisation to our site, you represent and warrant that you are authorised to agree to these Terms of Service on behalf of said organisation.

3.5 If you are a Providing Organisation, you must:

(a) refrain from taking any action in reliance on receiving Donations until they have been remitted to you and you have the right and the ability to withdraw or spend these Donations;

(b) correctly calculate and remit all taxes (including GST), levies or similar, if any, which are applicable to Donations made to you;

(c) comply with, and hold and use any information you hold about individuals in accordance with, the terms of the MyGivingCircle Privacy Policy, the Privacy Act 1988 and the Spam Act 2003 and any equivalent laws in your juristiction.

(d) comply continuously with all laws, legislation, rules, regulations and industry standards applicable to your organisation

Charge Backs, Refunds and Disputed Transactions

3.6 You acknowledge and agree that in some circumstances (such as fraud or error), MyGivingCircle and/or its payment providers may be required to reverse a Payment made via the Website (“charge back”). You agree to indemnify MyGivingCircle for all losses, costs and expenses it incurs as a result of a charge back associated with your Good Cause (including all fees charged by our payment providers associated with that charge back)(“Charge Back Amount”).

Fees & Charges

3.7 You acknowledge and agree that MyGivingCircle will charge the Providing Organisation a platform fee of up to 6.5% of the gross amount of funds raised plus GST where applicable, or such other fee as has been agreed between both parties. Where appropriate these funds will be deducted ‘at source’ prior or concurrently with the funds being remitted to the Providing Organisation.

3.7.1 MyGivingCircle.org may provide – with your authority – additional services that may incur additional operating expenses for which you will be charged. These may include, but not be limited to, advertising fees, consulting, copy-writing, PR and other services designed to enhance the success of your fundraising. You warrant that any such costs incurred will be paid by your organisation.

3.8 The platform fee may change from time to time and this will be clearly communicated via the website. Platform fees will not change retrospectively without express permission.

3.9 You acknowledge and agree that all credit card and processing fees charged by payment providers such as Stripe will be deducted ‘at source’ from the Gross Amount raised. MyGivingCircle will endeavour to secure the lowest transaction fees possible, however you acknowledge that MyGivingCircle has no direct control over these charges.

4. Terms for All Users

Use of the Website

4.1 You must register with MyGivingCircle and create an account in order to join or make a donation or to use certain other aspects of the Website. You can register by completing our registration form on the Website or one may automatically be created for you when using certain functions of the Website.

4.2 You must be 18 years or older to register with MyGivingCircle and to use the Website and its associated service.

4.3 You must provide accurate, complete, and current information when you register with us and must keep this up to date. Failure to do so constitutes a breach of these Terms and Conditions and, in serious cases, may result in immediate termination of your account.

4.4 You must give your real name on the Website. You must not use any name or term that:

a) is the name of another person, with the intent to impersonate that person;

b) is subject to any rights of another person, without appropriate authorisation; or

c) is otherwise offensive, vulgar, or obscene.

4.5 It is your responsibility to ensure the safety and security of your User account. You must not tell anyone the password to your account or allow any other person to access it. You must take care not to leave your password and User account details where someone else could find them.

4.6 You are responsible for all activity that occurs under your User account. You must immediately notify MyGivingCircle of any unauthorised use of your account or password, or other known account-related security breach.

4.7 MyGivingCircle reserves in its sole discretion the right, at any time and without notice:

(a) cancel, reject, or suspend a Providing Organisation or User account;

(b) cancel or reverse a Donation made; and

(d) for non-compliance with these Terms and Conditions, and in cases where MyGivingCircle suspects fraud or error, or for any other good reason.

4.8 Making a Donation does not entitle an individual to any interest in, or benefit from, the Providing Organisation

Your relationship with the Payment Provider

4.9 To accept or provide donations, you will in most instances be required to create an account with the Payment Provider, such as Stripe. Your account with the payment provider will be subject to the Terms and Conditions of the relevant Payment Provider

Tax-Deductible Giving

4.10 Donations and Contributions made via MyGivingCircle may or may not be tax deductible for taxation purposes.

4.11 It is your sole responsibility to determine the taxation consequences, if any, of making or receiving a Donation. If you wish to make or receive tax deductible Donations via the Website, it is your responsibility to check whether the relevant Providing Organisation has Deductible Gift Recipient (“DGR”) status or equivalent for their local juristiction.

4.12 MyGivingCircle does not represent, warrant or guarantee that:

(a) any Donations made via the Website will be deductible for income tax purposes; or

(b) receiving Donations made via the Website will not affect or compromise a providing organisations status as, or eligibility to become, a DGR.

4.13 The issuance of tax receipts is the sole responsibility of the Providing Organisation. MyGivingCircle does not assume any responsibility for a failure to provide tax receipts by a Providing Organisation.

Content Licence and Intellectual Property

4.14 You may submit Content to us for inclusion on MyGivingCircle or publication as a comment on the Website. You agree that we may publish and communicate to the public any such Content. By submitting Content to us, you grant us a perpetual, royalty-free, non-exclusive, irrevocable, worldwide and transferable licence to:

(a) display, reproduce, modify, add to, use, copy, publish, transmit, index, crawl, communicate and adapt such Content for any purpose and in any manner anywhere in the world, including (without limitation) on and in relation to the Website and its associated services, or any other services or products; and

(b) permit any other person, company or organisation to do any of the things referred to in (a) (“Licence“).

For the avoidance of doubt, the Licence will survive the termination of these Terms and Conditions.

4.15 You unconditionally and irrevocably agree to:

(a) consent to any act or omission that would otherwise infringe your moral rights in the Content; and

(b) waive all or your moral rights in the Content to the extent permitted by law.

You further agree to ensure that all other persons involved in the development of Content which you submit to us provide the above consents and waivers to the extent that they own moral rights in the Content.

If the above consents or waivers do not operate as an immediate consent in relation to, or a waiver of, these rights, you agree to give and you procure all other relevant persons to give, a written consent and waiver at any time at our request.

4.16 You agree to do everything necessary (including, without limitation, on request, executing any document) to give MyGivingCircle the full benefit of the Licence.

4.17 All intellectual property rights comprised in or relating to the Website (including our logo and site design) and the name MyGivingCircle.org or derivations thereof (“IP“) belong to MyGivingCircle or our licensors. Your use of any IP owned by third parties may be subject to a third party’s terms and conditions of use. Nothing in these Terms of Service (or otherwise on the Website) constitutes a transfer or licence of any IP to you. You must not use any such IP without our express consent and, if applicable, the licensor of such IP. Use of third party IP without permission may be an infringement of IP rights and is a serious breach of these Terms of Service, entitling MyGivingCircle to terminate your User account immediately (without affecting any other rights we may have).

4.18 Except to the extent that applicable laws (including the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth)) prevent MyGivingCircle restraining you from doing so, you must not decompile, disassemble, or otherwise attempt to derive any source code or underlying algorithms of any part of the Website, nor copy, transfer, rent, lease, distribute (including, without limitation, communicating to the public), modify, translate, or otherwise create derivative works of any part of the Website.

Your Conduct, Representations and warranties

4.19 You personally represent and warrant to MyGivingCircle that:

(a) you are least 18 years of age

4.20 You represent and warrant to MyGivingCircle, personally and on behalf of any organisation on who’s behalf you use our site:

(a) you have the legal capacity and authority to agree to these Terms and Conditions and grant the Licence

4.21 You agree that you will not take any action or submit Content or create a page on the Website that:

(a) infringes any intellectual property right (including trade secrets), moral right, obligation of confidence, or otherwise breaches the rights of any other person or entity;

(b) breaches applicable laws, regulations or relevant industry codes, or is otherwise unlawful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, obscene, tortious, offensive, or invasive of another’s privacy;

(c) constitutes unsolicited or unauthorised advertising or promotional material (“spam”), chain letters, surveys, raffles, lotteries, contests, or pyramid schemes;

(d) disrupts, damages, limits, modifies, obtains unauthorised access to or otherwise interfere with the proper function of any security measures, software, hardware, or telecommunications equipment or information of MyGivingCircle or any third party (including submitting Content which contains software viruses, computer codes, files, or programs that are intended to have such an effect);

(e) is false, misleading, deceptive, or inaccurate, including by misrepresenting your identity or affiliation with any other person or organisation;

(f) imposes or may impose (as determined by us) an unreasonably large load on our or its third-party service providers’ technology infrastructure;

(g) uses manual or automated software, devices, or other processes to “crawl” or “spider” any page of the Website; or

Indemnities

4.22 You agree to indemnify MyGivingCircle, its affiliates, and each of its and its affiliates’ employees, officers, contractors, directors, suppliers, and representatives from and against all losses, liabilities, claims, damage and expenses (including legal costs and expenses on a full indemnity basis) and penalties incurred or suffered by them that arise from or relate to:

(a) your use or misuse of, or wrongful access to, the Website,

(b) any act of fraud, breach of applicable law or wilful misconduct by you or on your behalf; and

(c) the publication or use of Content submitted by you or any third party using your account, including, without limitation, claims brought by any third party relating to defamation, negligent misstatement, injurious falsehood, contempt of court, right to privacy, copyright infringement, trade mark infringement, other intellectual property infringement, disclosure of confidential information, passing off, and misleading or deceptive conduct.

4.23 MyGivingCircle reserves the right to assume the exclusive defence and control of any matter subject to indemnification by you, in which event you must assist and cooperate with us in asserting any available defences.

4.24 The indemnities above survive termination of these Terms and Conditions

Disclaimers and Limitation of Liability

4.25 If you are a consumer, you have certain rights under consumer protection legislation (“Consumer Rights“), which cannot be excluded or limited by us. Your Consumer Rights may include statutory guarantees or other non-excludable protections. Nothing in these Terms and Conditions is intended to exclude, restrict or modify your Consumer Rights. However, to the extent that it is permitted by law to do so, and except as contained in your Consumer Rights:

(a) MyGivingCircle excludes all representations, warranties, guarantees, terms and conditions, whether express or implied (and including, without limitation, those implied by statute, custom, law or otherwise), except as expressly set out in these Terms and Conditions; and

(b) Your use of the Website (including, without limitation, all material obtained from or linked to the Website) is at your sole risk.

4.26 If your Consumer Rights prevent us from excluding any of the representations, warranties, guarantees or other obligations referred to in relation to the services offered on the Website, to the extent to which MyGivingCircle is entitled to do so and despite any other provision in these Terms and Conditions, MyGivingCircle limits its liability in respect of any claim relating from those non-excludable representations, warranties, guarantees or other obligations to, at our option:

(a) the supply of the affected services again; or

(b) the payment of the cost of having the affected services supplied again.

4.27 MyGivingCircle introduces individuals to Providing Organisations via the Website, but it is an individuals responsibility to investigate independently and satisfy him or herself as to the identity of the Providing Organisation and their ability to deliver any Good Causes. We does not represent, warrant or guarantee:

(a) the identity, contact details or bona fides of the Providing Organisation, or the accuracy of any statements made on chariy pages;

(b) the feasibility, suitability, appropriateness or success of a good cause

(d) the Providing Organisations capacity or willingness to deliver the good cause

(e) that the full amount of Donations collected or pledged on the Website will be received in full and without deduction by a Providing Organisation in all circumstances (for example, Donations may be reversed where a fraudulent transaction is proven, or may not be collected if a donor does not have sufficient funds available or has had their credit or debit card cancelled at the time payment collection is attempted).

4.28 To the fullest extent permitted by law MyGivingCircle excludes all liability to you for any damages or loss suffered by you (including, without limitation, loss of profits, economic loss, loss of data or for direct, indirect, consequential or incidental loss) and however caused (including, without limitation, damage or loss arising in contract, tort (including, without limitation, negligence), statute or otherwise) in connection with:

(a) your use of, or reliance on, the Website (or any information contained on or linked to the Website) and/or its continued availability;

(b) any dealing you have with any charity, not-for-profit, entity, organisation or individual who uses the Website;

4.29 Neither you nor MyGivingCirce will be liable for any delay in performing or failure to perform any of our obligations under these Terms and Conditions if that delay or failure is due to an Intervening Event. A party affected by an Intervening Event will be temporarily excused from performing its obligations for the resulting period of delay, provided that the delaying party promptly notifies the other party in writing of the reasons for the delay or failure to perform those obligations.

Privacy

4.30 Please see our Privacy Policy

Third Party Sites

4.31 The Website may contain links to third party websites, and third party websites and resources may contain links to the Website. The inclusion on another website of any link to the Website does not imply endorsement by, or affiliation with MyGivingCircle. When accessing third party websites, you do so at your own risk.

Termination

4.32 We may terminate your access to the Website and/or your User account immediately (or at a later time), without cause or prior notice.

4.33 If you wish to terminate your User account, or report any violations of our Terms and Conditions, including any infringement of IP, you may do so by following the instructions on the Website or by contacting us at [email protected]

4.34 Upon or at any time after termination of your User Account for any reason, MyGivingCircle will delete your Content except to the extent that we are required to retain it by law, or you consent for MyGivingCircle to retain or use it. It is your responsibility to ensure that you have stored your Content elsewhere prior to cancelling or terminating your User account. MyGivingCircle has no obligation to provide you with a copy of your Content and may remove and discard any data at any time from the date your User account is terminated.

Changes to the Website and these Terms of Service

4.35 MyGivingCircle reserves the right to modify, suspend or discontinue all or any part of the Website and its associated services at any time with or without notice. We do not guarantee that any content, including your Content, will be available through the Website at all or specific times.

Governing Law

4.36 These Terms of Service are governed by the laws of New South Wales and the parties submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of New South Wales.

5. ‘Grants for your Favourite Charities’ initiatives

5.1 MyGivingCircle runs a number of cause and/or country based Grants Rounds that commit to giving Grants to charities participating in the Giving Circle, provided either by MyGivingCircle or a supporting partner.

5.2 These Terms and Condition should be read in conjunction with any specific rules relating to a specific Cause or country based Grants Round which will be found under the FAQ section..

5.3 Unless stated otherwise, we will distribute the Grants to the Charities with the most votes at the closing date shown on the Giving Circle. Unless stated otherwise, all closing dates and times are based on Sydney (AEST or AEDT), Australia time.

5.4. We reserve the right to change the amount, number of Charities receiving monies and the criteria for selecting the winners at our own discretion. In the normal course of business any changes will be communicated on the website and are designed to be advantageous for participating charities (e.g. increasing the total monies to be distributed, total number of charities receiving monies etc)

5.5 To be eligible, a Charity or not-for-profit must be registered with MyGivingCircle.

5.6 Unless stated otherwise, each nomination by a person = 1 vote, and any donation = 1 vote for every dollar (or local currency equivalent) donated or x5 the first months’ donation for regular giving.

5.7 An individual may vote once per week, and make a donation at any time

5.8 We reserve the right to adjust the total number of votes up or down for any Charity both while the Grants Round is open, and once it is closed and prior to the distribution of monies

5.9 We reserve the right to remove votes that we believe at our sole discretion to be fraudulent

5.10. The decision on who to award the monies to and in what proportions is at the sole discretion of MyGivingCircle and no correspondence will be entered into.

5.11. In instances where votes or prizes are awarded based on monthly giving, if more than 10% of a Charities donors cancel their regular giving within 6 months it can effect grant eligibility at MyGivingCircle’s sole discretion.

5.12. When grants are based on categories (eg Animals, Medical or country-based) it is the responsibility of the participating charity to ensure they have ticked the correct categories in their profile and are appearing in the correct category. MyGivingCircle reserves the right to fix a charities profile to ensure they appear in the correct category.

5.13 Any grants distributed other than based on total votes will be skill-based and at the discretion of MyGivingCircle with any relevant Terms and Conditions shown in the FAQ of the relevant Giving Circle

5.14 In most instances it is not permitted for charities to donate to themselves via the MyGivingCircle platform. Exceptions are on a case-by-case basis - for example a charity may raise or collect money from people offline or who are not comfortable donating online - and process that money via our platform where that was the express intent of the offline donor. Any donations that in our discretion do not meet that criteria and are solely for the purpose of adding votes to a charities total are not eligible for votes, or as a commission-free donation and may be reversed or refunded at MyGivingCircles discretion. Charities that regularly breach this rule may be removed from the platform

6. Donor Matching

6.1 At various times MyGivingCircle may offer donor matching which may or may not be supported by a 3rd party company.

6.2 The nature and criteria of any donor matching will be clearly displayed on the relevant Giving Circle.

6.3 Donor matching is administered by, and is at the sole discretion of MyGivingCircle.

6.4 MyGivingCircle reserves the right to refuse to donor match any donations which they believe to be fraudulent.

6.5 In relation to Donor Matching a first month donation when a user commits to regular giving, this is made on the basis that the donor remains as a regular giver for a minimum of 6 months. In the event that a donor cancels their regular giving within 6 months, MyGivingCircle reserves the right to deduct the donor match amount from any future donations remitted to the Charity.

6.6 If a donation is not matched the only recourse available is a refund of the donation, and subject to the amount not already being remitted to the charity or the charity agreeing to refund the money.

7. PayPal Giving Fund

7.1 MyGivingCircle has partnered with PayPal Giving Fund to help donors support their favourite charities online.

7.2 An eligible charity must choose to receive donations from PayPal Giving Fund for this option to be available.

7.3 When donating to support an eligible charity that has opted to receive donated funds from PPGF the following information below applies:

7.4 Note that any Grants made by MyGivingCircle, where PPGF is the supporting partner, will be made to PPGF and distributed to nominated charities in accordance with PPGF’s terms.

Australia

You're donating to PayPal Giving Fund (PPGF), a registered charity (ABN 65 106 950 945), subject to its terms. PPGF grants funds, minus processing fees of [1.1% + AUD $0.30]and MyGivingCircle fee between 0-6.5% + GST to recommended charities, typically within 45 days (90 days if the charity has not enrolled). In the rare event PPGF can’t fund your chosen charity, it will (whenever possible) ask you to recommend another charity, and if you don’t respond, it will reassign the funds to a similar charity.