Terms of Service

1. Who does what

GiveTree is a technology provider, not a charity. GiveTree Technologies Inc. builds and operates the donation software — the online forms and the in-person giving kiosks — that the charity you are donating to uses to accept gifts. We are not a charity, not a fundraiser, not a trustee or fiduciary, and not a bank or money services business.

Your gift is made to the charity you are donating to, a charity registered with the Canada Revenue Agency under business number shown on your donation receipt. Where we collect funds, we do so as the charity's limited payment agent for the sole purpose of collecting the donation — your payment obligation is discharged when we receive the funds, and we never take title to your gift.

the charity you are donating to — not GiveTree — is responsible for how donated funds are used, for maintaining its registered status with the CRA, for the accuracy of the official donation receipt it issues, and for complying with charity and fundraising law. We do not verify, endorse, or guarantee any charity, its programs, its solvency, or the outcomes it describes.

We do not provide legal, tax, accounting, or fundraising-compliance advice. Nothing on the platform is such advice.

2. Your donation

When you complete a donation, you authorize us, as agent for the charity you are donating to, to charge your chosen payment method for the total displayed to you before you confirm. Donations are processed in Canadian dollars unless the donation form says otherwise.

A donation is a gift. You receive nothing of value in return, except where the donation form expressly describes something you will receive — an event ticket, a meal, or an item. Under Canadian tax law that is called an advantage, and it reduces the eligible amount of your gift (see section 4).

You confirm that you are the true donor, that the payment method is yours or that you are authorized to use it, and that the funds are lawfully yours to give.

3. Fees and covering them

Processing a donation costs money. Before you confirm, the donation form shows you the donation amount, the processing fee, and the total that will be charged. There are no hidden or added charges beyond the total you see.

Covering the fee is optional and never pre-selected. If you choose to cover it, the amount you add is treated as part of your gift to the charity you are donating to; the charity then pays the processing cost out of the funds it receives. If you choose not to cover it, the fee is deducted from your donation before the balance is disbursed to the charity.

4. Official donation receipts

the charity you are donating to issues your receipt. We generate it on the charity's behalf, in the charity's name, under its registration number shown on your donation receipt, and bearing the signature of an individual the charity has authorized. The charity remains legally responsible for it, and retains control over its funds and its receipting.

What the receipt contains

Official donation receipts must carry the information required by section 3501 of the Income Tax Regulations, including: a statement that it is an official receipt for income tax purposes; the charity's name and address as recorded with the CRA; its registration number; a unique serial number; the place the receipt was issued; the date or year the gift was received and the date the receipt was issued; your full name and address; the amount of the gift; the amount and description of any advantage; the eligible amount; an authorized signature; and the name and website of the Canada Revenue Agency, canada.ca/charities-giving.

Your details must be right

The receipt is built from the information you provide. A receipt with an incorrect donor name or address may not be usable to claim a tax credit, and incorrect receipts expose the charity to CRA penalties. Please check your details before confirming, and tell us promptly if something needs correcting.

When a receipt cannot be issued

• If we cannot identify you. A receipt requires your full name and address. An anonymous donation — including an anonymous tap at a kiosk — cannot be receipted.
• If the advantage you receive exceeds 80% of the value of what you gave. Tax law treats that as no gift at all.
• If the value of an advantage cannot reasonably be determined — for example, certain auction items.
• For lottery or raffle tickets, which are not gifts under Canadian tax law.

A small advantage is ignored: if it is worth no more than the lesser of 10% of your gift and $75, it does not reduce your eligible amount. This does not apply to cash-equivalent items such as gift cards.

Recurring donors

If you give on a recurring schedule, the charity you are donating to may issue a single consolidated receipt covering all of your cash gifts in a calendar year, rather than one per gift. A gift is receipted in the year the charity receives the funds, which may differ from the year you authorized it if a charge settles across the year end.

Replacements and corrections

If a receipt is lost or contains an error, the charity may issue a replacement. The replacement will reference the original receipt's serial number and state that it replaces it; the original is marked cancelled. Do not use both.

5. Recurring donations

If you choose a recurring frequency, you authorize a series of charges to your payment method at that frequency, in the stated amount, until you cancel. Before you confirm, we show you the amount, the frequency, and the date of the first charge, and we send you a confirmation restating them.

Cancelling

You may cancel a recurring donation at any time, using the link in any donation confirmation, by contacting the charity you are donating to at support@givetree.app, or by writing to us at support@givetree.app. Cancellation takes effect before your next scheduled donation, and in any event no more than 30 days after we receive your notice. Cancelling stops future charges; it does not refund gifts already made.

Changes to your recurring gift

We will not change the amount or the date of a recurring donation unless you ask us to. If a change is ever required for another reason, we will give you at least 10 days' written notice before the affected charge, and you may cancel instead.

If you donate by pre-authorized debit from a bank account

Where the charity you are donating to offers donations by pre-authorized debit rather than by card, that arrangement is a Personal Pre-Authorized Debit agreement governed by Payments Canada Rule H1. GiveTree is the third-party service provider collecting the debit on behalf of the charity you are donating to. You are entitled to certain recourse rights — including reimbursement for any debit that is not authorized or is not consistent with your agreement, claimable through your financial institution within 90 days of the debit. Full details, and a sample cancellation form, are available at payments.ca.

6. Refunds and chargebacks

A completed gift is generally final. A donation is not a purchase, and there is no statutory right to return it. Under CRA guidance a registered charity generally cannot simply return a gift.

That said, mistakes happen. Where there is a clear error — a duplicate charge, a mistyped amount, an unauthorized transaction — you may request a refund. The decision belongs to the charity you are donating to, under its own refund policy and CRA obligations; GiveTree can process a refund only on the charity's instruction. Requests should be made within 90 days of the donation. Contact the charity you are donating to at support@givetree.app.

If a receipted donation is refunded, the official receipt is cancelled and must not be used in a tax filing. If you have already filed, you may need to amend your return, and the CRA may reassess the credit. Where the refunded amount exceeds $50 and a receipt was issued, the charity has its own reporting obligation to the CRA. GiveTree is not responsible for the tax consequences to you of a refunded gift.

If you dispute a charge with your bank or card issuer (a chargeback) rather than contacting the charity, the disputed amount is recovered from the charity you are donating to along with any network fee, and any receipt issued for that donation is cancelled. If you believe a charge is wrong, contacting the charity first is usually faster and costs them less.

7. Giving kiosks

At an in-person kiosk you tap, insert, or swipe a card. Your card details are encrypted by the payment terminal and are never held by GiveTree. The screen clears between donors.

To receive a tax receipt from a kiosk donation you must provide your name and address — either on the kiosk or through a follow-up link. If you donate anonymously, the gift still reaches the charity you are donating to, but no receipt can be issued.

8. Accounts and security

Some features — including kiosk sign-in for charity staff — require an account. You are responsible for keeping your credentials confidential and for activity that occurs under your account. Tell us immediately at support@givetree.app if you believe your account or a kiosk has been compromised.

9. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

• use the platform to launder money, move unlawfully obtained funds, or evade sanctions;
• donate with a payment method you are not authorized to use;
• attempt to gain unauthorized access to any account, kiosk, or system, or to probe, scrape, reverse-engineer, or overload the platform;
• misrepresent your identity, or your affiliation with any charity;
• use the platform to solicit for a named individual rather than a charitable program, or to run a raffle, lottery, or game of chance without the required licence.

We may refuse, suspend, or terminate access, and decline or reverse a transaction, where we reasonably believe these rules have been broken.

10. Privacy and messages

How we handle your personal information is set out in our Privacy Policy, which forms part of these terms.

Transactional messages — your receipt, a donation confirmation, a notice that a recurring charge failed — are part of the service you asked for, and we send them regardless of your marketing preferences. Fundraising and marketing messages are separate: you opt in to those, and every one carries an unsubscribe link that we honour promptly.

11. Our platform

GiveTree, its software, design, and marks belong to GiveTree Technologies Inc.. You get a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable right to use the platform to make and manage donations. The charity's name, logo, and campaign content belong to the charity.

12. Disclaimers

The platform is provided "as is" and "as available". We work hard to keep it accurate and running, but we do not warrant that it will be uninterrupted, error-free, or free of every vulnerability, and we do not warrant any fundraising outcome.

We do not warrant the accuracy of anything a charity says about itself or its programs, and we are not responsible for how a charity uses the funds it receives.

13. Limitation of liability

To the extent the law allows, GiveTree is not liable for indirect, incidental, consequential, special, or exemplary damages, or for lost profits or goodwill, arising from your use of the platform.

14. Governing law and disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada that apply there. If you are a consumer, this does not deprive you of the protection of the mandatory law of the province where you live — including, for residents of Quebec, the right to bring proceedings in Quebec.

If something goes wrong, tell us first: write to legal@givetree.app and we will try to resolve it directly, and in good faith, within 30 days. If we cannot, we may propose mediation. Nothing here requires you to arbitrate, prevents you from going to court, or waives your right to participate in a class proceeding.

15. Accessibility

We build the donation forms and kiosk screens to be usable by everyone, targeting WCAG 2.1 Level AA. If any part of the platform creates a barrier for you, tell us at support@givetree.app — we will help you complete your donation another way and fix the barrier. Accessible formats of this document are available on request.

16. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. The "last updated" date above always reflects the current version, and we will give notice of material changes before they take effect. A change never applies retroactively to a donation you have already made.

17. Contact

About these terms or the platform: GiveTree Technologies Inc. — legal@givetree.app.

About privacy: privacy@givetree.app.

About a specific donation, receipt, or refund: contact the charity — the charity you are donating to, the address shown on your donation receipt, support@givetree.app. They hold the donation record and they issued your receipt.