Any individual who signs up with SmartRaise.com becomes a member and enters willingly into this agreement.  Members include both “supporters” (also called “contributors”), who register with the intent of benefiting specific groups, and “groups” (also called “causes” or “benefactors”) who are members that represent a specific real-life cause and are responsible for managing and maintaining that cause’s presence on the SmartRaise.com site.

SmartRaise.com reserves the right to refuse or revoke any group or supporter membership for violation of the terms herein.  In the event of a revocation of a group account, any funds in that group account’s balance will be transferred to a “default” cause of SmartRaise’s choosing.  Such default causes may include causes administered by SmartRaise, such as the SmartRaise Scholarship Fund.

The member understands that SmartRaise.com provides supporters with access to online merchants (also called “partner stores”).  In most cases, a percentage of the money members spend on merchandise (tax and shipping excluded) at these partner stores is awarded to the member’s specified benefactor.  (Supporters specify a benefactor at signup, and may change that benefactor at any time via the member center at SmartRaise.com.)  This percentage is specified on a per-store basis on the SmartRaise.com site and is subject to change without notice. This percentage is in direct proportion to an affiliate referral fee paid to SmartRaise LLC by the merchant. In the envent that a merchant, for any reason, compensates SmartRaise at a rate lower than the expected rate, the reward provided to the benefactor will be decreased proportionately.   Earned funds may take as many as 15 days to be reflected in the benefactor’s account, although SmartRaise will make an effort to reflect earned funds as quickly as possible. 

The member understands that he or she must be logged into his or her account and click a link to a partner store’s site on the SmartRaise.com site immediately before shopping in order to earn any funds for his or her cause.  Shoppers who are not logged in can not be identified and any funds they generate may not be allocated to any cause.  SmartRaise is in no way responsible for the correct allocation of funds generated by site users who fail to log into their accounts or visit the SmartRaise site prior to shopping. In the event that the SmartRaise website or service is unavailable for any reason, no reward-generating purchases can be made during that time. Purchases made through other channels, including directly through the retailer, can not be retroactively rewarded.

If a contributor would prefer to personally collect the rewards he or she generates instead of having them be allocated to a cause, he or she may do so by notifying SmartRaise via the contact form at the SmartRaise.com website. However, past purchases may not be re-allocated to different causes, including one's self.

The member understands that the percentage of sales received by SmartRaise from the partner store is larger than the percentage passed on to the shopper’s cause and that SmartRaise retains the balance in exchange for providing the SmartRaise service.

In extreme cases, SmartRaise.com or a partner store may limit the amount a member may earn during any given time period.  Affected members will be notified individually via e-mail should any such occurrence take place.

Member understands that funds allocated to groups as a result of supporter transactions are first placed into a “pending” account balance from which funds may not be requested by the group.  Funds may remain in the “pending” balance for as many as 90 days while SmartRaise awaits payment from the partner store.   This is a waiting period during which the funds could potentially be reclaimed by the partner store that awarded them.  In the event that a transaction is found to be fraudulent or is reverted due to the return of merchandise, a credit card “chargeback”, or any other reason that causes the commission paid by the partner store to be retracted, the corresponding earnings will be removed from the group’s pending account balance.  Once transactions have been verified, they will be transferred to an “available” balance that may be viewed in the group’s member center.  Members may request payment from their available balance once that balance exceeds a minimum threshold specified in the member center.  This threshold is subject to change without notice but will not exceed $50.  SmartRaise will make an effort to mail requested payments as soon as possible.  In cases where payment of “available funds” is not requested within 18 months of availability, SmartRaise reserves the right to reclaim these funds from the group that has not requested them and reallocate them to a default cause of its choosing.

Member understands that the purpose of SmartRaise.com is to deliver legitimate transactions to its partner stores.  Any action by the member that undermines that purpose may disqualify the member and cause revocation of his or her account.  Upon revocation, all of a member’s earnings may be reallocated to a default cause.  Account revocation takes place at the sole discretion of SmartRaise.com and may occur if the member attempts to (1) disrupt the services provided by the SmartRaise.com website in any way; (2) violate or circumvent the terms and conditions of this Agreement; (3) use automated means to collect data, create registrations or generate transactions; (4) register on behalf of another person; (5) provide false or unverifiable information to SmartRaise.com; (6) sign up multiple times except in the case of enrolling as both a group and a supporter; or (7) damage the quality of the community in any way (including, but not limited to, displaying inappropriate language or photos, promoting a cause or message that could be considered offensive to any person or group, or attempting to hinder the ability of other members to effectively promote their groups or use the site in any way).  SmartRaise.com may not give notice in such an instance.

SmartRaise.com makes no representations as to its success or failure in the endeavors or supporters, groups, or partner stores who participate in the SmartRaise.com site. 

A SmartRaise.com Supporter member must be at least 13 years old.  A SmartRaise Group member must be at least 18 years old.

Any taxes on the funds allocated to a group are the responsibility of the group.  When required by law, the IRS will be notified of funds allocated to groups.

SmartRaise.com will not disclose any member’s personal contact information to any third party without the member´s explicit permission, except as may be required by law or action of a court of competent jurisdiction or in the course of an investment in or acquisition of part or all of the stock and/or assets of SmartRaise. .  Group members understand that information or photos provided in the “group profile” section of their user account will be viewable by the public on the group-specific web page within the SmartRaise site.  Groups have the right to change or remove this information at any time via the group user control panel within the SmartRaise site.  Member understands that his or her display name (which may be set to “anonymous” if desired) may be displayed on their benefactor’s SmartRaise homepage as one of the group’s “top supporters” if such is the case and that the Group will be aware of the amount earned by the supporter with that Display Name.  A more complete explanation of our privacy policy is accessible on our privacy policy page.

These terms and conditions may change upon thirty days notice to the member.  This agreement is cancelable upon 30 days notice by either party.  Notice to members may be made by posting information on the SmartRaise.com Web site or via e-mail.  Members may give notice to SmartRaise.com by e-mailing via the "Contact Us" form on this website.  Cancellation of this agreement shall result in revocation of the member’s account.