Terms and conditions

UNITED PATRONS PLATFORM TERMS OF USE

Effective date: 1.1.2025

Welcome to the United Patrons platform. Please read these Terms of Use (hereinafter referred to as the “Terms” or “Agreement”) carefully.

By creating an account or otherwise accessing or using the Platform (as defined below), you acknowledge that you have read, understood and unconditionally agree to be bound by this legally binding Agreement between you (the “User”, “You”) and UNITED PATRONS, The Ontario Corporation Number (OCN): 1001025182, Business number (BN) 708235551TZ0001, a Canadian non-profit organization located at Woodbine Steeles Corporate Centre, 7030 Woodbine Avenue, Markham ON, Canada (the “Organization”, “United Patrons” or “we”).

Some localized versions of the Platform may be managed by local partner organizations. For the Czech Republic, this partner is the Patroni Česka Foundation, ID: 23301660, with registered office at: Křižíkova 661, 256 01 Benešov. All local partners are contractually obligated to adhere to the same principles and conditions as this Agreement.

This Agreement governs your entire use of the Platform and Services. If you do not agree to these Terms, you may not use the Platform or Services.

These Terms are the master agreement that legally incorporates by reference and forms an integral part of the Agreement with you, the following documents:

  • Privacy Policy

  • Rules for free fundraising and provision of rewards (hereinafter referred to as the “Fundraiser Agreement”)

  • Community Code of Ethics

  • Grant and project implementation agreement.

By agreeing to these Terms and Conditions, you confirm that you have read and agree to all of the above documents.

1. Definition of key terms

For the purposes of this Agreement and all related documents, the following terms have the following meanings:

Platform: The United Patrons ecosystem, including the website at www.unitedpatrons.org, mobile applications, and all related services and technologies provided by the Organization.

Organization (United Patrons): UNITED PATRONS, a Canadian non-profit organization, Ontario Corporation Number (OCN): 1001025182, located at Woodbine Steeles Corporate Centre, 7030 Woodbine Avenue, Markham ON, Canada.

For the Czech Republic, this partner is the Patroni Česka Foundation, ID: 23301660, with registered office at: Křižíkova 661, 256 01 Benešov.

User: Any natural or legal person who accesses or uses the Platform.

Patron: A user who makes a Donation to support the Project.

Maker of the spark: A user who submits a Project proposal for funding. This term unifies and replaces previously used terms such as “Spark Patron”, “Project Leader”, “Leader” or “Creator”. A Project Proposal for Funding is an application for a grant and its award cannot be legally enforced.

Project: A specific grant application designed by the Creator and presented on the Platform for the purpose of obtaining funding from the Patron community.

But: A voluntary financial contribution provided by a Patron to an Organization with a recommendation to support a specific Project. A donation is not a purchase and does not create a right to consideration.

Remuneration: A non-guaranteed item, service, or experience offered by a Creator or platform operator to Patrons as a thank you for their Gift. The provision of a Reward is not guaranteed and is not tied to the value of the gift, but to the bonus credit that the Patron earns for activity within the platform community.

Fundraiser: Any User who participates in the Bonus Credits Program by performing promotional activities such as sharing or referring new Users, including donations.

Bonus Credit (XP):An internal unit of the Platform used to reward Fundraisers for their activities. Credits can be exchanged for Rewards or cashed out under certain conditions.

2. Scope of services and nature of the Platform

The United Patrons Platform is a tool for facilitating financing for socially beneficial projects and for building a community that supports these projects. Users acknowledge and agree that the Platform is not an e-commerce store, investment platform, bank, broker, financial institution or financial advisory provider.

All information provided through the Platform is for general information purposes only and is not intended as professional advice. The Organization does not provide legal, financial, tax or other professional advice.

The Organization reserves the right to modify, suspend or permanently discontinue any part of the Services or the Platform as a whole at any time and for any reason, with or without notice. You agree that the Organization shall not be liable to you or any third party for any consequences of such modification, suspension or termination.

3. User accounts

3.1 Registration and data accuracy

To access certain features of the Platform, you must create a user account. You agree that all information provided upon registration and during your use of the Platform is and will remain accurate, current and complete. You are responsible for regularly updating your information. Providing false, inaccurate or incomplete information constitutes a breach of this Agreement and may result in immediate suspension or permanent termination of your account.

3.2 Age restrictions

The Platform is not intended for persons under the age of 16. By creating an account, you represent and warrant that you are at least 16 years of age. If you are a minor in your jurisdiction (usually a person under the age of 18 or 19), you may use the Platform only with the demonstrable consent and supervision of a parent or legal guardian who agrees to these Terms and assumes full responsibility for you.

3.3 Account security

You are solely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password and for all activities that occur under your account. You agree not to share your password with any third party. You must immediately notify the Organization of any unauthorized use of your account. The Organization will not be liable for any loss or damage incurred as a result of your failure to maintain the security of your account.

3.4 Account suspension and termination

The Organization reserves the right, in its sole and absolute discretion, to suspend or permanently terminate your account and access to the Platform for any reason, but in particular in the event of a breach of these Terms or any document referred to therein. Such decision may be made without prior notice. You agree that the Organization shall not be liable to you or any third party for the suspension or termination of your account. Termination of your account shall not terminate any provisions of this Agreement that are intended to survive by their nature (e.g., intellectual property, indemnification, limitation of liability, and dispute resolution provisions).

4. Project Lifecycle: Relationships and Responsibilities

This section defines the key legal relationships and responsibilities between Patrons, Creators and the Organization. This model is designed to ensure transparency, risk management and protection for all stakeholders.

4.1 Relationship between the Patron and the Organization

By making a Donation on the Platform, you are entering into a donation agreement directly with the Organization. Your Donation is legally provided to the Organization with your non-binding recommendation to be used in support of a specific Project of your choice. The Organization assumes full responsibility for the management of the entrusted funds and undertakes to make every effort to ensure that the funds are used in accordance with your recommendation. This model protects the Patron, as the Organization is the contractual partner responsible for overseeing the finances.

4.2 Relationship between the Organization and the Creator

After successful financing of the Project, the Organization concludes a separate “Grant and Project Implementation Agreement” with the Creator. This agreement regulates in detail the conditions for the provision of funds (grant), the schedule, the Creator’s obligations and the mechanisms for supervision and reporting. These Terms and Conditions set out the basic framework of the Creator’s obligations towards the Organization and the community.

4.3 Creator's Responsibilities

As a Creator, you undertake to the Organization and all Patrons who have supported your Project to do the following:

  • Use of funds:Use all funds received exclusively for the purposes and in accordance with the budget as described in your Project.

  • Maximum effort:To exert a high standard of effort to complete the Project and deliver all promised Rewards to Patrons.

  • Honest communication:Communicate regularly, truthfully and transparently with Patrons and the Organization about the progress of the Project, including any delays, issues or changes to the plan. Material misrepresentation is considered a material breach of this Agreement.

4.4 Patron's Statements and Risks

Before providing a Gift, you must actively confirm that you understand and agree to the following:

  • Supporting the creative process:You are not purchasing a product or service, but supporting the creative process with full awareness of the risk that the Project may not be successfully completed.

  • No warranty:Completion of the Project and delivery of Rewards is not guaranteed. Unforeseen circumstances may arise that make completion impossible.

  • Estimated dates:All timelines and delivery dates provided in the Project are estimates only and are subject to change.

  • Creator's Responsibility:The primary responsibility for the implementation of the Project and the delivery of the Rewards lies with the Creator in a contractual relationship with the Organization.

4.5 Roles and rights of the Organization

The Organization acts as the administrator and supervisor of Projects funded through the Platform.

  • Donation Recipient:The United Patrons organization is the direct and sole recipient of all Donations provided by Patrons.

  • Surveillance:The Organization is responsible for overseeing the fulfillment of the Creator's contractual obligations.

  • Intervention rights:In the event that the Creator seriously breaches their obligations (e.g. misuses funds, fails to communicate, fails to implement the Project), the Organization reserves the right to suspend further grant funding, transfer the implementation of the Project to another entity, or, in extreme cases, if this is not possible, use the remaining funds for another Project with a similar purpose.

  • Guarantee for donors:In cases of proven fraud or intentional misuse of funds by the Creator, the Organization provides protection to Patrons through a “Donor Guarantee” of up to $100 per Donation. The terms of this guarantee are specified in a separate document.

5. Financial conditions

5.1 Providing Gifts and Gratuities

The platform allows two types of financial contributions:

  • Donations for Projects:Financial contributions intended to support specific Projects.

  • Voluntary Tips:Financial contributions that you can voluntarily provide beyond the scope of the Donation to the Project. These contributions are intended directly to support the operating costs of the Organization and the development of the Platform, including bonus programs and activities for Patrons.

This distinction is essential for transparency and proper accounting within a nonprofit organization.

All donations are provided to the non-profit organization United Patrons, which awards them through Grants for individual projects. Providing a donation for a specific Project by a Patron is only an expression of the will of the community on how the funds should be spent. The organization undertakes to make maximum efforts to implement the project in cooperation with the Creator. In the event that the Grant is not fulfilled, the funds are provided to a project in the same category, in order to fulfill the will of the donor and the wishes of the community on what type of Projects the funds should be allocated to.

5.2 Fee structure

Radical transparency of cost structureAs part of the operation of our non-profit organization, we have decided to strictly and fundamentally separate the costs necessary for the operation of the organization, including the operation of the platform and the provision of grants for individual projects. At the same time, we have committed to keeping our operating costs to the minimum possible amount necessary to maintain operations, which is a maximum of ten percent of the donations provided by Patrons.

To ensure the sustainability of the Platform, reward the community, and cover necessary costs, an internal deduction of 10% is deducted from each Donation provided to the Project, which is divided as follows:

  • 5 %is invested in a Bonus Credits fund, which rewards active Fundraisers for their promotional activities. This ensures continuity of the entire process and Patron engagement.

  • 3 %cover the costs of licenses, Platform administration, hosting and technological development.

  • 2 %cover transaction fees of payment processors and administrative costs associated with the financial settlement of the Project.

90% of the total amount collected is allocated to individual grants for the implementation of Projects.

5.3 Payment processors

We use third-party services such as Stripe, Inc. and PayPal, Inc. to process payments. By using the Platform to provide or receive funds, you agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of these payment processors. The Organization is not responsible for their services, acts or omissions.

5.4 No refunds

All Gifts and gratuities are final and non-refundable, except in situations covered by the “Donor Guarantee” or where the Organization, in its sole discretion, decides to return the Gift.

5.5 Tax obligations

You are solely responsible for determining, reporting and paying all applicable taxes (e.g. income tax, VAT) arising from your activities on the Platform, whether providing Donations, accepting grants for Projects or paying out Bonus Credits. The Organization does not provide tax advice and bears no responsibility for your tax obligations arising from the jurisdiction under which you fall.

6. Intellectual Property and User Content

6.1 Organizational Ownership

All content, software, trademarks, logos and other materials created by the Organization and available on the Platform (excluding User Content) are the exclusive property of the Organization or its licensors and are protected by intellectual property laws.

6.2 User Content

You retain all ownership rights to the content you create and upload to the Platform, such as Project descriptions, images, videos, comments and other materials (hereinafter referred to as “User Content”).

6.3 Organization License

By uploading User Content to the Platform, you grant the Organization and its affiliates a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, transferable and fully sublicensable license to use, reproduce, distribute, display, modify, create derivative works from and otherwise exploit such User Content in connection with the operation, promotion and marketing of the Platform and its Projects in all media. This license is necessary for the functioning of the Platform.

6.4 User Declaration

You represent and warrant that:

  • You own all User Content that you post or have all necessary rights, licenses and consents to post it and grant the license described in Section 6.3.

  • Your User Content does not infringe the copyrights, trademarks, privacy rights or any other rights of third parties.

6.5 Reporting copyright infringement

We respect the intellectual property of others. If you believe that your User Content has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please contact us at info(@)unitedpatrons.org with a detailed description of the claimed infringement.

7. Exclusion of warranties, limitation of liability and indemnity

7.1 Exclusion of warranties

The Platform and all Services are provided “as is” and “as available” without any warranties of any kind, either express or implied. The Organization expressly disclaims all warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, and any warranties arising from usage of trade. The Organization does not warrant that the Platform will operate uninterrupted, error-free, secure, or that it will meet your requirements.

As a non-profit organization, we are committed to making reasonable efforts, within our policy of minimal operating costs, to ensure that all of the organization's applications are maximally functional and provide you with an effective and pleasant environment for supporting the community and individual projects.

7.2 Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, in no event shall the Organization, its directors, employees, partners or agents be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, including, but not limited to, lost profits, loss of data, goodwill or other intangible losses, arising out of your access to or use of the Platform.

In no event will the Organization's total aggregate liability for all claims related to the use of the Platform exceed the lesser of one hundred United States dollars ($100.00 USD) or the total amount of Donations you have made through the Platform in the twelve (12) months prior to the claim arising.

7.3 Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless the Organization, its affiliates, directors, employees and agents from and against all claims, damages, liabilities, losses, costs and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or in connection with:

  • Your use of or access to the Platform;

  • Your breach of any provision of this Agreement;

  • Your User Content;

  • Your violation of any law or the rights of a third party.

8. Dispute Resolution and Governing Law

8.1 Governing law and jurisdiction

This Agreement and any dispute arising out of or relating to it shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Province of Ontario and the applicable federal laws of Canada, without regard to principles of conflict of laws. You agree that all disputes not subject to arbitration shall be brought exclusively in the courts of Toronto, Ontario, and you hereby submit to the personal jurisdiction of such courts.

8.2 Binding Arbitration (for Users in the US and Canada)

If you are a resident of the United States or Canada, you agree that any dispute between you and the Organization will be resolved by binding, individual arbitration, and you waive the right to a jury trial and the right to participate in any class action or representative proceeding. The detailed rules for arbitration will be specified in a separate addendum to these Terms.

8.3 Online Dispute Resolution in the EU (for Users in the EEA)

If you are a consumer residing in the European Economic Area (EEA), you have the right to use the European Commission's Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) platform. This platform is available at:https://consumer-redress.ec.europa.eu/index_csThe organization is not obligated to and does not currently participate in alternative dispute resolution procedures before consumer arbitration bodies.

9. Final provisions

9.1 Entire Agreement

These Terms, together with all documents referenced herein, constitute the entire and exclusive agreement between you and the Organization with respect to your use of the Platform and supersede all prior oral or written communications.

9.2 Separability

If any provision of this Agreement is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable, that provision will be limited or eliminated to the minimum extent necessary so that the remaining provisions of this Agreement will remain in full force and effect.

9.3 Governing language

The official and legally binding version of this Agreement and all related documents is the English language version. All translations are provided for your convenience only and have no legal effect. In the event of any conflict between the English version and any translation, the English version shall prevail.

9.4 Changes to the Terms

The Organization reserves the right to modify these Terms at any time. We will provide you with reasonable notice of any material changes (e.g., by email or a visible notice on the Platform). The date of the last revision will be indicated at the top of these Terms. Your continued use of the Platform after the effective date of the changes constitutes your agreement to the modified Terms. If you do not agree to the new Terms, you must stop using the Platform.

9.5 Contact details

For any questions or legal communications, please contact us at the following address:

UNITED PATRONS

Woodbine Steeles Corporate Centre

7030 Woodbine Avenue

Markham, ON, Canada

Email: info(@)unitedpatrons.org


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