Terms of Use

Effective date: October 19, 2026

These Terms of Use (the “Terms”) govern your use of brightleaf.giving (the “Site”), the client dashboard, the BrightLeaf Giving mobile app, and the related tools and services we provide (together, the “Services”). The Services are operated by BrightLeaf Giving (“BrightLeaf,” “we,” “us”). By using the Services, you agree to these Terms. If you are using the Services for an organization or a program, you agree to them on its behalf and confirm that you are authorized to do so. If you do not agree, please do not use the Services.

Our Privacy Policy explains how we handle personal information and is part of these Terms.

1. What BrightLeaf does

BrightLeaf Giving is a for-profit platform company. We are not a charity, we do not receive donations, and we do not issue tax receipts. We provide the technology, administration, and support for fiscal sponsorship programs, such as Community Support Funds (CSFs), Social Impact Campaigns (SICs), and Education Opportunity Funds (EOFs), that are sponsored by independent 501(c)(3) organizations, currently Rekonect (CSFs and SICs) and Yeshiva Giving Fund (EOFs) (each a “Fiscal Sponsor”).

The Fiscal Sponsor is the legal recipient of donations made to a sponsored program, owns and controls those funds, and makes the final decision on approving programs and on every grant, disbursement, and scholarship. If you run a program, your program agreement or application terms with the Fiscal Sponsor and with us also apply. If those terms conflict with these Terms, the program terms control for that program.

2. Who can use the Services

You must be at least 18 years old and able to enter into a binding agreement to create an account, apply for a program, or make a payment. You may not use the Services if you are barred from doing so under US law, including US sanctions laws.

3. Your account

  • Give us accurate, current, and complete information, and keep it up to date.
  • Keep your password and login details confidential. You are responsible for activity under your account, including activity by any additional account managers you add.
  • Tell us right away at info@brightleaf.giving if you think someone has accessed your account without permission.

4. Programs, donations, and disbursements

  • Approval. Submitting an application does not guarantee approval. The Fiscal Sponsor and BrightLeaf may approve, decline, pause, or close a program, including for compliance, risk, or inactivity reasons.
  • Donations. Donations made through the Services are gifts to the Fiscal Sponsor for the program you choose. Whether a donation is tax-deductible depends on the law and on your own circumstances, and the Fiscal Sponsor issues any tax receipt. Refund and cancellation requests are handled under the Fiscal Sponsor’s policies.
  • Use of funds. Program funds may be used only for the program’s approved charitable purpose and under the Fiscal Sponsor’s policies. Grant, disbursement, and scholarship requests are subject to review, required documentation, identity and sanctions screening, and approval, and may be declined or delayed.
  • Accurate fundraising. If you run or fundraise for a program, your program page, messages, and appeals must be truthful and must not misstate how funds will be used, who controls them, or whether gifts are tax-deductible.

5. Fees and payments

  • Platform fees for sponsored programs are set out in your program terms and on the Site when you apply. Fees for other paid services, such as consultations and nonprofit formation, are shown before you pay.
  • Payments are processed by third-party providers, currently Crowded Finance (donations, program accounts and cards, and disbursements) and Accept.blue (payments for our paid services). Your use of those providers is also subject to their own terms.
  • Unless a service description says otherwise, fees for services we have already performed are not refundable.
  • We may change our fees going forward. We will tell affected account holders before a change takes effect.

6. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

  • use the Services for anything illegal, fraudulent, or misleading, or to raise money for a purpose other than the one you described;
  • impersonate anyone, or misrepresent your connection to a person, organization, or cause;
  • upload content that infringes someone else’s rights, or that is defamatory, hateful, harassing, or obscene;
  • upload information about another person without the right to share it;
  • try to access accounts, programs, or data that are not yours, or to probe, scan, or test the security of the Services;
  • interfere with the Services, introduce malicious code, or overload our systems;
  • scrape, copy, or harvest data from the Services by automated means, except with our written permission; or
  • use the Services to send spam or unsolicited messages.

You are responsible for complying with the laws that apply to your fundraising, including any charitable solicitation rules.

7. Your content

You keep ownership of the text, images, and files you submit (“Your Content”). You give BrightLeaf and the relevant Fiscal Sponsor a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to host, store, copy, display, adapt, and share Your Content as needed to provide the Services, to run and promote your program (for example, on its program page and in our marketing about the program), and to meet legal obligations. This license ends when Your Content is removed from the Services, except for copies we must keep for legal or record-keeping reasons and content that was already shared publicly.

You confirm that you have the rights to Your Content, including permission from any people shown in images you upload. We may remove or decline to publish content that we believe breaks these Terms or creates risk for donors, programs, or the Fiscal Sponsor.

8. AI-assisted tools

Some features use artificial intelligence, such as program description and image drafts, fundraising message tools, and the BLG Assistant. AI output can be inaccurate or incomplete. Review it before you use or publish it; you are responsible for anything you publish or send. AI output is not legal, tax, or financial advice, and it does not decide whether an application, grant, or scholarship is approved.

9. Information on the Site is not professional advice

Our guides, comparisons, calculators, quizzes, and other resources are general information. They are not legal, tax, accounting, or financial advice. Tax results depend on your own circumstances; talk to a qualified professional before relying on them.

10. Third-party services

The Services connect to and link to services run by others, including the Fiscal Sponsors, payment and banking providers, and other websites. We do not control them and are not responsible for their content, terms, or practices.

11. Our intellectual property

The Services, including the Site, software, designs, text, graphics, and the BrightLeaf name and logos, belong to BrightLeaf or our licensors and are protected by law. The platform is built and licensed to us by our affiliate, BrightLeaf Digital. You may use the Services only as these Terms allow, and you may not copy, modify, distribute, or reverse engineer them except where the law allows it. If you send us feedback or suggestions, we may use them without any obligation to you.

12. Suspension and termination

You may stop using the Services at any time, and you may ask us to close your account. Closing an account does not end a program’s obligations to its Fiscal Sponsor, and remaining program funds are handled under the Fiscal Sponsor’s policies. We may suspend or end your access to the Services, or to a particular program, if you break these Terms, if we are required to by law or by a Fiscal Sponsor, or if we reasonably believe it is needed to protect donors, programs, or the Services. Sections 7 (the license for content already shared), 9, 11, and 13 through 17 continue after termination.

13. Disclaimers

We work hard to keep the Services accurate, secure, and available, but we provide them “as is” and “as available.” To the extent the law allows, we disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. We do not guarantee that the Services will be uninterrupted or error-free, or that any program will reach a fundraising goal.

14. Limitation of liability

To the extent the law allows, BrightLeaf and its affiliates, officers, employees, and contractors will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, revenue, data, or donations, arising from your use of the Services. Our total liability for any claim relating to the Services is limited to the greater of the fees you paid to BrightLeaf in the 12 months before the claim arose, or $100. Some jurisdictions do not allow these limits, so they may not all apply to you.

15. Indemnification

You agree to defend and indemnify BrightLeaf and its affiliates, officers, employees, and contractors against claims, losses, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) that arise from Your Content, your fundraising, your use of program funds, or your breach of these Terms or the law.

16. Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. Before filing a claim, you agree to contact us at info@brightleaf.giving and try to resolve the dispute informally for at least 30 days. Any dispute that is not resolved will be brought only in the state or federal courts located in Delaware, and you and BrightLeaf consent to their jurisdiction.

17. General terms

  • Changes. We may update these Terms from time to time. We will post the new version on this page and change the effective date above, and we will tell account holders about significant changes by email or through the dashboard. If you keep using the Services after a change takes effect, you accept the updated Terms.
  • Electronic communications. You agree that we may send notices, receipts, and other communications to you electronically, by email or through the Services.
  • Entire agreement. These Terms, the Privacy Policy, and any program or service terms you agree to are the whole agreement between you and BrightLeaf about the Services.
  • Severability and waiver. If part of these Terms is found unenforceable, the rest stays in effect. Not enforcing a right is not a waiver of it.
  • Assignment. You may not transfer your rights under these Terms without our consent. We may transfer ours as part of a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets.

18. Contact us

BrightLeaf Giving, 500 Westover Dr #10898, Sanford, NC 27330. Email info@brightleaf.giving or call (888) 302-4467.