Updated November 21, 2017
Group Gyft
Terms of Use
Updated April 10, 2018
Group Gyft provides a platform for individuals, educational institutions, non-profit organizations, and businesses to establish private, invitation-based crowdfunding campaigns to facilitate common-cause, common-interest aggregations of funds. Group Gyft, LLC (“Group Gyft”) maintains the website / web application (the “Site” or “”Group Gyft Site”) at www.groupgyft.com as a service to its visitors (“Visitors”), fund-raising campaign hosts (“Hosts”), contributors (“Contributors”), and nonprofits (Visitors, Hosts, Contributors are collectively “Users”) who create campaigns (“Campaigns”) using Group Gyft services (“Services”) and who receive the contributions.
Please review the following Terms of Use carefully. By using the Group Gyft Site, you agree to follow and be bound by the terms, conditions, and requirements outlined in this Terms of Use agreement (the “Terms of Use”) regarding access to and use of the Group Gyft Site and any use by User of the Services. By accessing the Sites, the User agrees to these Terms of Use. If a User does not agree with any part of the following Terms of Use, User agrees to discontinue use of the Site.
1. Registration, Accounts, Passwords and Use .
The Services or Group Gyft Site may require registration. Should a User choose to register for such Services, User agrees to provide accurate and current information as required by the relevant registration process, and to promptly update such information as necessary to ensure that it is kept accurate and complete. Further, User agrees to notify Group Gyft of any unauthorized use of User’s password or account. Group Gyft is intended for use by individuals 18 years of age or older. If you are under 18, you may use the Site only with involvement of a parent or guardian who agrees to be bound by these Terms of Use.
2. Intellectual Property Ownership.
The Group Gyft name, logo, website and workflow (it’s “Intellectual Property” or “IP”) is the property of Group Gyft. Group Gyft’s IP is protected by copyright, trademark and other intellectual property laws. Unless otherwise set forth in these Terms of Use or with written permission granted in writing by Group Gyft, none of the content or data found in the Group Gyft Site may be copied, reproduced, republished, sold, transferred, modified or distributed in any way without the prior written consent of Group Gyft, its licensors and/or its third party providers and distributors. Trademarks, logos, images and service marks displayed on the Group Gyft Site are the property of either Group Gyft or other third parties. Users agree not to display or use any Group Gyft or third party marks without prior written consent of Group Gyft or the appropriate third party licensor.
3. Privacy.
For information on how User information is collected, used and disclosed by Group Gyft, please consult the Privacy Policy.
4. Modifications to Terms of Use.
From time to time Group Gyft may revise or modify these Terms of Use by posting the revised Terms of Use through a link on the Group Gyft Site. Users will be bound by the revised Terms of Use for all subsequent uses of this Service after such modifications have been made. If User does not agree to any of the Terms of Use set forth herein, User may not use this Service.
5. User Content.
The Group Gyft platform facilitates private, invitation-based crowdfunding campaigns. The work flow allows (and in some cases requires) Users/Hosts to provide certain personal information related to the Host’s profile, as well as information related to a Campaign being hosted, including photos, descriptive information about a Campaign’s purpose, fund raising goals, comments (collectively “User Content”) to the Site. Users/Hosts agree and acknowledge that a consequence of using this service is that this User Content will be published with a hosted Campaign and will be viewable by potential Contributors. User understands that all of the User Content and the consequences of such posting User Content is User’s sole responsibility and is subject to the Terms of Use and the Group Gyft Privacy Policy.
Group Gyft may, but does not always, review Campaigns hosted on the Group Gyft site. If Group Gyft becomes aware of objectionable or illegal uses of the private crowdfunding tools on its site, Group Gyft, in its sole discretion, may block or may remove from the Sites, without notice, any User Content that violates this Terms of Use or is otherwise objectionable. However, failure to block or remove any User Content is not an endorsement, warranty, representation, or guarantee regarding such User Content. Illegal use of the site will be reported to appropriate authorities immediately. Nevertheless, User understands that by using the Group Gyft Site, User may be exposed to User Content that may be offensive or objectionable to User.
User represents and warrants that the User Content does not infringe the copyright, trademark, publicity/privacy right or other intellectual property or proprietary right of any third party.
By posting, uploading or otherwise distributing the User Content on the Group Gyft Site, User hereby grants (and represent and warrant that User has all necessary rights to grant) to Group Gyft a perpetual, sublicenseable, transferable, world-wide, non-exclusive, royalty free, license to all User’s rights in the User Content (including moral rights) for all purposes, including but not limited to use, copy, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, edit, translate, create derivative works from, transmit, distribute, display, perform, or derive revenue or other remuneration from such User Content and incorporate such User Content into other works in any form, media or technology.
By providing User Content to the Group Gyft Site, User hereby permits Group Gyft to identify User as the provider of such User Content in any form, media and technology.
User agrees that Group Gyft has no liability or responsibility for the storage or deletion of any User Content that User submits or posts through the Site.
6. Rules and Conduct.
Group Gyft does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of any information, ideas, or opinions posted by Users/Hosts and is not liable for any claims, damages or losses resulting from such information, ideas or opinions. When posting any information, materials or content User agrees that User will not:
• Harass, defame, intimidate or threaten another user;
• Interfere with another user’s rights to privacy;
• Post any material that is defamatory (i.e., disparaging to the reputation of an individual or business);
• Post any material that is obscene, offensive or indecent;
• Post any trademarks, logos, copyrighted material or other intellectual property without the authorization of the owner;
• Operate, conduct, or promote, directly or indirectly, raffles, lotteries or other similar gaming activities, whether for charitable purposes or otherwise;
• Post any materials that may damage the operation of a computer (such as a virus, worm or Trojan horse);
User must at all times use the Sites and the Service in a responsible and legal manner. In particular (but not exclusively) User must not do any of the following: misrepresent User’s identity or User’s affiliation with any other person or organization; send junk email or spam to people who do not wish to receive mail from User; delete or falsify any attributions, trademarks or designations of source from any website content; or interfere with or disrupt the service or services or networks connected to the Service or Sites; collect or store personal data about other users including email addresses without consent. User agrees that User will comply with all applicable local, state and federal laws, statutes and regulations regarding use of the Sites and Services.
7. Dealing with Third Parties.
The Group Gyft Site may provide links to third-party websites or services and may link User automatically to sponsors’ or third party’s websites or services. One specific, important partner of Group Gyft, is Stripe, an independent payment processing company. Users will be directed to Stripe for the purpose of establishing payment accounts hosted by Stripe. Group Gyft provides this and other such links solely for the convenience of Users. Group Gyft does not review or endorse, and are not responsible for, any content, advertising, products, services or other materials on or available from such websites or services. User assumes full responsibility for User’s use of third-party websites or services.
8. Disclaimer concerning tax deductible nature of donations.
From time-to-time, 501(c)3 qualified non-profit organizations with use the Group Gyft platform for fundraising purposes. In these circumstances, Group Gyft is merely providing the platform and service to aggregate funds on behalf of this Host, and is making no representation about the authenticity of the organization or the non-profit status of the organization. Group Gyft makes no representation as to whether all or any portion of your donations, including, if any to these Hosts are tax deductible. Group Gyft will have no liability for any claim by any federal, state, local or any other tax authority with respect to the characterization on any applicable tax return of any donation by you, any Group Gyft user or any Charity. You should verify the legitimacy of the tax deductibility of contributions to any campaigns representing tax deductibility with the hot and consult your tax advisor as to the amount of your donation that is tax deductible.
9. Indemnification.
Users are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of their passwords and accounts and for any and all activities that occur under their account. User agrees to indemnify, defend and hold harmless Group Gyft, its parents, affiliates and subsidiary companies, shareholders, officers, directors, employees, consultants and agents from any and all third party claims, liability, damages and/or costs (including, but not limited to, attorneys’ fees) arising from User’s use of the Services, the violation by User of the Terms of Use or the infringement by User of any intellectual property or other right of any person or entity. User agrees to immediately notify Group Gyft of any unauthorized use of User’s account or any other breach of security that becomes known to User.
10. No International Use.
The Group Gyft website is controlled and operated from within the United States and is currently intended for use by Hosts and Contributors within the United States. Any attempted use for hosting campaign and any contributions to campaign that originate outside of the United States are prohibited and are subject to immediate cancellation / removal by Group Gyft without notification and without liability. In the future, Group Gyft will consider expansion beyond the United States. Currently, those who attempt to access the Group Gyft Site from non-U.S. locations are in violation of these Terms of Use and do so at their own risk and are responsible for compliance with and/or breach of applicable laws.
11. Termination.
Group Gyft reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to immediately, with or without notice, suspend or terminate any User’s registration and/or User’s access to all or a portion of the Group Gyft Site and/or remove any registration information or User Content from the Group Gyft Site, for any reason. Upon termination or expiration of the Terms of Use, User’s obligations and Group Gyft’s rights and disclaimers survive, but User’s right to use the Group Gyft Site immediately ceases.
12. Payment Processing; Personal Financial Information; Fees.
Group Gyft uses Stripe, a nationally recognized transaction processing company to facilitate your private crowdfunding campaigns and the safe and secure processing of contributions. When you use the Group Gyft site to aggregate funds in a campaign as a Host, you will be required to provide certain personal information to establish an account with Stripe. That information may include, but is not limited to (i) part or all of your Social Security Number (your “SSN”); (ii) your bank account or debit card information where you will accept deposit of the contributed funds (net of Stripe fees and any Group Gyft platform fees). This sensitive information is provided directly to Stripe and is not accessed or stored by Group Gyft at any time. Stripe will use the information to validate your identity, establish a “connected” merchant account with Stripe to receive funds into your bank account directly or through a debit card, prevent fraudulent accounts from being established, and to manage the flow of funds for the Host. Stripe is not affiliated with Group Gyft and will not share your personal information or financial/banking information with Group Gyft. When you make a contribution through Stripe as a Contributor, or aggregate contributed funds as a Host, Group Gyft does not collect or store your credit card, debit card, or bank account information. All contributions processed through Stripe will be governed by Stripe’s User Agreement and Stripe’s Privacy Notice.
When you use Group Gyft as a Host, you agree that (i) your contributions will be processed through Stripe and (ii) Stripe will remit funds to the debit card or financial account identified and owned by you. You further agree that you will aggregate funds in a campaign only for legal, ethical, and moral purposes and that you will not mislead your Contributors in any way as to the purpose of your Campaign and the intended use of the collected funds. The Host retains all legal liability for the legitimacy of and Campaign he/she hosts on Group Gyft and for the proper and legal use of collected funds.
The Group Gyft web application will contact Contributors on your behalf for the purpose of inviting them to review your campaign, to remind unresponsive potential Contributors of the Campaign from time-to-time, and to send confirmation emails related to the Campaign. As a Host, you will also be able to send emails directly to your invitees from your user dashboard on the Group Gyft platform. You agree and acknowledge this activity on your behalf, acknowledge that this activity does not create any agency relationship between you and Group Gyft, and release Group Gyft from any liability related to the content, purpose, or execution of your Campaign.
Rules for All Contributions
For all contributions made on or through the Site, Users agree that: (i) they will not use an invalid or unauthorized credit or debit card or other payment method; (ii) designated contribution amounts will be reduced by Stripe processing fees and Group Gyft platform fees before the net amount is remitted to the campaign Host and (iii) and all funded contributions are final and non-refundable. From a timing standpoint, it is important to recognize that amounts authorized by Contributors will be validated / approved for funding via Stripe at the time of the authorization, but the funding will occur at the specified end of the Campaign or when the Host manually ends the campaign and requests funding to commence.
Fees for Contributions
There are two fees associated with Campaigns on Group Gyft. Stripe charges a Transaction Processing Fee for the services it provides – user identification and validation, fraud detection and prevention, and the control of money flows to the Host and to Group Gyft.
Group Gyft charges a Platform Fee to compensate Group Gyft for the services provided on its Site, including the use of the platform to establish private crowdfunding campaigns and the management of experiences of Hosts and Contributors. Transaction Fees also cover Group Gyft’s costs associated with maintaining and hosting the Site.
Stripe’s Transaction Processing Fees and Group Gyft’s Platform Fees are explained on Fees section on the Site’s FAQ page, which is incorporated by reference into these Terms of Use. By using the Site and our Services, you agree to Stripe’s Transaction Fees and Group Gyft’s Platform Fees.
13. Exclusion of Warranty.
THE SITES, SERVICES, AND THE CONTENTS THEREIN AND/OR THE CONTENT PROVIDED BY GROUP GYFT ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE”, AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE DISCLAIMED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, QUIET ENJOYMENT, NON-INFRINGEMENT AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
14. Limitation of Liability.
YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU ARE USING THE SITE AND THE SERVICES AT YOUR OWN RISK. THE SITE, THE SITE INFORMATION AND THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED “AS IS,” AND TO THE FULL EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, GROUP GYFT, ITS AFFILIATES AND SUBSIDIARIES, IF ANY, AND ITS THIRD PARTY SERVICE PROVIDERS, SUPPLIERS AND VENDORS HEREBY EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS AND IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY WARRANTIES OF ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS OR RELIABILITY, TITLE, NONINFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR ANY OTHER WARRANTY, CONDITION, GUARANTEE OR REPRESENTATION, WHETHER ORAL, IN WRITING OR IN ELECTRONIC FORM. GROUP GYFT, ITS AFFILIATES AND SUBSIDIARIES, IF ANY, AND ITS THIRD PARTY SERVICE PROVIDERS, SUPPLIERS, AND VENDORS DO NOT REPRESENT OR WARRANT THAT ACCESS TO THE SITE, THE SITE INFORMATION OR THE SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR THAT THERE WILL BE NO FAILURES, ERRORS OR OMISSIONS, OR LOSS OR SECURITY BREACH OF TRANSMITTED INFORMATION, OR THAT NO VIRUSES WILL BE TRANSMITTED THROUGH ACCESS TO OR USE OF SITE, SERVICES OR SITE INFORMATION.
GROUP GYFT, ITS AFFILIATES AND ITS SUBSIDIARIES, IF ANY, AND ITS THIRD PARTY SERVICE PROVIDERS, SUPPLIERS, AND VENDORS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTIES FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THESE TERMS, THE PROVISION OF SERVICES HEREUNDER, THE SALE OR PURCHASE OF ANY PRODUCTS, MERCHANDISE AND/OR SERVICES ORDERED THROUGH SITE, YOUR ACCESS TO OR INABILITY TO ACCESS THE SITE OR ITS SERVICES OR THE SITE INFORMATION, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION FOR VIRUSES ALLEGED TO HAVE BEEN OBTAINED FROM THE SERVICES, YOUR USE OF OR RELIANCE ON THE SERVICES, THE SITE INFORMATION OR MATERIALS AVAILABLE THROUGH THIRD PARTY SITES LINKED TO SITE, REGARDLESS OF THE TYPE OF CLAIM OR THE NATURE OF THE CAUSE OF ACTION, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE EXCLUSIONS OR LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. YOU MAY ALSO HAVE OTHER RIGHTS THAT VARY FROM STATE TO STATE.
YOU HEREBY AGREE TO RELEASE GROUP GYFT, ITS AFFILIATES AND SUBSIDIARIES, IF ANY, AND THIRD-PARTY SERVICE PROVIDERS, SUPPLIERS AND VENDORS AND EACH OF THEIR RESPECTIVE DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AND AGENTS FROM ANY AND ALL CLAIMS, DEMANDS AND DAMAGES (ACTUAL AND CONSEQUENTIAL) OF EVERY KIND AND NATURE, KNOWN AND UNKNOWN, SUSPECTED AND UNSUSPECTED, DISCLOSED AND UNDISCLOSED (COLLECTIVELY, “CLAIMS”), ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH YOUR USE OF THIS SITE AND ITS SERVICES OR THE SITE INFORMATION.
15. General Provisions.
These Terms of Use will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Virginia, without reference to its conflicts of laws rules. Any provision of these Terms of Use that is held to be invalid or unenforceable will be deleted and replaced by a valid and enforceable provision that achieves, as far as possible, the same objectives as the severed provision was intended to achieve. The remaining provisions of these Terms of Use shall continue in full force and effect. Except to the limited extent set forth herein, neither these Terms of Use, nor any terms contained herein, shall be construed as creating or constituting a partnership, joint venture or agency relationship between the parties. User may not assign, sublicense or otherwise transfer any right or obligation set forth herein without Group Gyft’s prior written consent. Any purported assignment in violation of the preceding sentence is void and of no effect. These Terms of Use are binding upon the parties’ respective successors and permitted assigns. No failure of Group Gyft to exercise or enforce any of its rights hereunder will act as a waiver of such rights. Except as otherwise expressly provided herein, all remedies provided for herein shall be cumulative and in addition to and not in lieu of any other remedies available to either party at law, in equity or otherwise.