Donor Terms of Service

How You Accept These Terms

You accept these Terms by completing a donation or payment through a Sapling Pay payment page. These Terms, and a link to our Privacy Policy, are presented at checkout each time you give. If you do not agree, please do not complete the payment.

1. What Sapling Pay Does

Sapling Pay provides the technology that lets an organization (the “Organization”) accept your donation or payment. Your gift is to the Organization, not to Sapling Pay. Payments are processed by our payment partner, Stripe, Inc. Sapling Pay is not a bank and does not hold your funds; it facilitates the transaction and the transfer of funds to the Organization.

2. Your Payment Authorization

When you submit a payment, you authorize Sapling Pay and Stripe to charge your selected payment method for the amount shown, including any amount you choose or are asked to add to cover processing fees (Section 4). You represent that you are authorized to use the payment method and that the information you provide is accurate.

3. Recurring Donations

If you choose a recurring gift, you authorize Sapling Pay and Stripe to charge your payment method automatically on the schedule you select (for example, monthly) until you cancel. You can cancel a recurring gift at any time using the link in your confirmation or receipt, through any account or management tool provided, or by contacting the Organization or payments@saplingcrm.org. Cancellation stops future charges; it does not reverse charges already made.

4. Processing Fees and Fee Coverage

The Organization may give you the option to add an amount to your gift to help cover payment processing fees, or may ask you to cover those fees as part of completing your payment. Whether fee coverage is offered, and whether it is optional or required, is set by the Organization — not by Sapling Pay. Any amount you add for fee coverage is part of your total charge. The portion treated as your gift versus fee coverage will be reflected in your receipt.

5. Sponsored Fee Coverage and Sponsor Branding

Some Organizations participate in the Sapling Pay Sponsorships program, in which third-party sponsors (“Sponsors”) help cover payment processing fees. If you give through a participating Organization, you may see Sponsor branding during checkout, on the confirmation screen, and in your confirmation or receipt messages. Sponsor participation and fee coverage are not guaranteed and may change at any time. Seeing Sponsor branding does not mean the Organization or Sapling Pay endorses the Sponsor.

6. Sponsor Communications and Your Choices

This Section explains if and how a Sponsor may contact you, and puts you in control.

6.1 On-page and receipt branding

Sponsor branding on the checkout screen, the confirmation screen, and in the confirmation or receipt of your own gift is part of the giving experience and is not marketing you need to opt into.

6.2 Marketing messages are optional and separate

A Sponsor may wish to send you follow-up marketing — such as marketing emails, text messages, or phone calls. We will only send you Sponsor marketing texts or calls if you separately and expressly opt in to receive them. Opting in to Sponsor marketing texts or calls is not required to make your donation, and your gift is never conditioned on it. For any marketing emails, you may opt out at any time using the unsubscribe link in each message.

6.3 These channels may not be active yet

Sapling Pay may introduce Sponsor marketing channels over time. Where and when they are offered, they will be presented with the consent choices described in Section 6.2, and we will not send you Sponsor marketing texts or calls unless you have opted in.

6.4 We handle it — not the Sponsor

All Sponsor outreach is sent by Sapling Pay on the Sponsor’s behalf. We manage the consent and opt-out process and work to keep this outreach compliant with applicable law; any Sponsor marketing emails we send will identify the sender, include a working unsubscribe link, and include a physical mailing address, as required by the CAN-SPAM Act. Your personal data is not shared with any Sponsor unless you choose to engage with that Sponsor directly. We do not give Sponsors your contact information to enable a placement. A Sponsor receives your personal information only if you engage with that Sponsor directly — for example, by clicking through to the Sponsor, replying to a Sponsor message, or otherwise choosing to interact — and then only the information you provide or that is necessary for that interaction. If you do, your relationship with the Sponsor is directly with them and is governed by the Sponsor’s own terms and privacy policy.

6.5 Withdraw anytime

You can withdraw consent or opt out of Sponsor communications at any time using the opt-out in any message or by contacting payments@saplingcrm.org.

7. Refunds

Refund decisions are made by the Organization, not Sapling Pay. If you believe a donation was made in error or want a refund, contact the Organization first. Sapling Pay can facilitate a refund at the Organization’s direction but does not decide refunds.

8. Payment Disputes and Chargebacks

If something looks wrong with a charge, please contact the Organization or payments@saplingcrm.org before disputing the charge with your bank, so we can help resolve it quickly.

9. Tax Receipts

Any tax receipt, acknowledgment, or statement about whether your gift is tax-deductible comes from the Organization. Sapling Pay does not provide tax advice and does not determine the deductibility of your gift.

10. Your Information and Privacy

Information you provide is used to process your payment, deliver receipts, and provide the services described here, and is handled as described in our Privacy Policy at saplingcrm.org/privacy. As explained in Section 6, Sponsors receive your personal information only if you choose to engage with them directly. Payment card details are entered directly into our payment partner’s secure fields and are not stored by Sapling Pay.

11. Your Responsibilities

You agree to provide accurate information, to use the payment pages only for lawful payments, and not to use them fraudulently or on behalf of someone whose payment method you are not authorized to use.

12. Disclaimers

The payment services are provided “as is.” To the fullest extent permitted by law, Sapling Pay disclaims all warranties, express or implied. Sapling Pay is not responsible for the acts or omissions of the Organization, any Sponsor, or the payment partner.

13. Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Sapling Pay’s total liability to you arising from or related to a payment or these Terms will not exceed the amount of the specific transaction at issue. Sapling Pay will not be liable for indirect, incidental, or consequential damages.

14. Dispute Resolution; Arbitration

Please contact us first at payments@saplingcrm.org so we can try to resolve any concern. Any dispute arising from or relating to these Terms or a payment that is not resolved informally will be resolved by binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association in Maricopa County, Arizona, except that either party may bring an individual claim in small claims court. You and Sapling Pay agree that any proceeding will be conducted only on an individual basis and not as a class, consolidated, or representative action. Any dispute must be brought within one (1) year after it arises. These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Arizona.

15. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. The version in effect when you make a payment applies to that payment.

16. Contact

Questions? Contact payments@saplingcrm.org, or write to Sapling Pay, Inc., 2093 Philadelphia Pike, #5742, Claymont, DE 19703.