September 2020 Accelerator Terms + Conditions

Accelerator Overview

• The Accelerator experience includes four free training webinars (Aug. 31 - Sept. 3), submitting your GlobalGiving project page (by Sept. 4 deadline), and fundraising in an online crowdfunding campaign (Sept. 14 - 30).
• To participate, you must submit a project on GlobalGiving by Friday, Sept. 4. You cannot fundraise on GlobalGiving unless you submit a project, and the GlobalGiving Team approves it.
• Upon submission of your project, the GlobalGiving Team will review your project and get back to you in one-three business days.
• Your approved project will go live (be visible on the GlobalGiving website and able to accept donations) when the campaign starts on Monday, Sept. 14, 09:00:00 E.T. Please refer to the “Important Dates” section.
• To graduate from the Accelerator and become a permanent GlobalGiving partner, your organization must raise at least $5,000 from 40 unique donors during the crowdfunding campaign.
• Leaderboards: During the campaign, you can track your fundraising totals and prize progress on the leaderboards.
  • The Main Leaderboard will capture all fundraising activity from the start to finish of the campaign.
  • The Bonus Day Leaderboard will only capture fundraising activity during the 24-hour Bonus Day.
• The Accelerator is best-suited for organizations with supporters who can donate online. Please read the “Donation Methods + Eligibility” section to learn more about eligible and ineligible donation methods.
• During the online crowdfunding campaign, GlobalGiving deducts a fee from each donation to your project. Please see the “Tax-Efficient Giving, Fees, & Vetting” section to learn more.
• Projects that do not raise at least $5,000 from at least 40 unique donors during the fundraising time frame will be retired (no longer visible on GlobalGiving or able to receive donations) after Wednesday, Sept. 30, 23:59:59 E.T.
• GlobalGiving will invite organizations that don’t succeed in the Sept. 2020 Accelerator to participate in the 2020 Giving Season Accelerator so long as they have valid due diligence through January 2021.

Important Dates

You can find all of the important dates (and much more!) on the Accelerator Hub page, your go-to resource during this experience.

• Sept. 4: Project submission deadline
• Sept. 10: Optional deadline to lower your fee
• Sept. 14, 09:00:00 E.T.: Crowdfunding campaign begins!
• Sept. 23: Deadline to receive checks + wire transfers
• Sept. 23, 00:00:00 ET - 23:59:59 ET: 24-hour Bonus Day
• Sept. 30, 23:59:59 E.T.: Crowdfunding campaign ends
• Late October: GlobalGiving disburses funds raised during the Accelerator. Please see the “Disbursements” section for more details.

24-hour Bonus Day Terms + Conditions

• From 00:00:00 E.T. - 23:59:59 E.T. on Wednesday, Sept. 23, all Accelerator participants will compete for a share of GlobalGiving’s $20,000 Incentive Fund and two $1,000 bonus prizes.
• Only ONLINE DONATIONS up to $5,000 per donor per project will count towards earning a portion of the Incentive Fund.
• Throughout the day, your portion of the Incentive Fund will be displayed and fluctuate on the Bonus Day Leaderboard. The leaderboard will recalculate every 3 minutes.
• The Bonus Day Leaderboard will lock at 23:59:59 E.T., and you can check how much you have won in incentive funds in the column labeled “Matching.”
• $20,000 Incentive Fund: Will be distributed to participants proportionally based on final fundraising totals during the day. At the end of Bonus Day, the project that brings in the most dollars will win the most significant slice of the Incentive Fund, and every project that activates donors will earn something. Your final share of the Incentive Fund will not be determined until Bonus Day ends on Sept. 23, 23:59:59 E.T.
• Each participants’ portion of the Incentive Fund is determined as follows: [Total Project Donations on Bonus Day] ÷ [Total Donations To All Projects on Bonus Day] * [$20,000] ≈ Your portion of the Incentive Fund
• GlobalGiving will indicate in your donation manager, which donations count towards your total raised on Bonus Day based on the time of the donation, the method of payment, and the unique donor criteria.
• There will be two Bonus Day Cash Prizes.
  • Most Funds Raised: $1,000
  • Most Unique Donors: $1,000
• Checks and wire transfers will not count on Bonus Day. GlobalGiving must receive all checks and wire transfers by Sept. 23. Please see the “Donation Methods + Eligibility” section for more details.
• Prize money (incentive funds and bonus prizes) does not count towards the $5,000 and 40 donor thresholds.
• Recurring Donations: On Bonus Day, any new, unique recurring donors secured will count as two individual donors towards the Most Unique Donor prize as well as towards the project’s overall donor count in the Accelerator. Additionally, new recurring donations up to $200 per donor per project will have their initial donation matched at 100% after the fourth donation. See the “Monthly Giving Offers!” section for complete details.
• GlobalGiving reserves the right to make final decisions on all matters concerning the allocation of cash prizes.
• Please note that all donations are final. GlobalGiving cannot change the time, date, or status of a donation after processing takes place.
• Information on tax-efficient giving, fees, exchange rates, disbursements, disqualification, unique donors, and vetting applies to the Accelerator Bonus Day.
• Only organizations participating in GlobalGiving’s Sept. 2020 Accelerator are eligible to participate on Bonus Day.

Overall Prizes

• At the end of the Accelerator, GlobalGiving awards cash prizes to projects in the following categories:
  • Most Funds Raised: $3,000, $1,500, 500
  • Most Unique Donors: $2,000, $1,000, $500
  • Most Recurring Donors: $1,000, 500, 250
• Promotional prizes: Awarded to all projects that meet the corresponding thresholds at the end of the Accelerator:
  • Email Promotion: All projects that raise at least $7,500 from 50 unique donors during the Accelerator will feature in an exclusive email promotion following the end of the Accelerator.
  • Homepage Time: Projects that raise at least $10,000 from 60 unique donors during the Accelerator will earn a spot on GlobalGiving’s homepage for a full day in 2020/2021.

Monthly Giving Offers

• Monthly Donors Count Twice: To encourage donors to set up recurring donations in support of your project, each active, unique recurring donor to your project counts twice towards your goal of 40 unique donors and donor bonus prizes. (For example: If an organization gets three unique recurring donors, those three donors will count as six towards the Accelerator graduate goal of 40.) If a donor cancels the recurring donation before the end of the Accelerator, the unique donor will only count once.
• Recurring Donation Match: During the Sept. 2020 Accelerator, new recurring donations up to $200 per donor per project will have their initial donation matched at 100% after the fourth donation. (Example: Your organization gets one $50 monthly donor during the Sept. 2020 Accelerator. After their Dec. 2020 payment, GlobalGiving will match the initial donation at 100% with $50.) If the donor cancels the recurring donation before the third automatic payment, the match will not be applied. Recurring donations made by project leaders or staff of the recipient project or organization are not eligible for matching.
• GlobalGiving will cancel all recurring donations to projects of organizations that do not become GlobalGiving partners after the Sept. 2020 Accelerator.

Donation Methods + Eligibility

• Eligible Donations Methods: Debit card, credit card, PayPal, Apple Pay, checks, wire transfer, individually purchased GlobalGiving gift cards, and mobile donations through M-Changa.
• Ineligible Payment Methods: Cash, text-to-give donations, CAF check, CAF online, donations made by JustGiving, corporate gift cards, donations made on any other GlobalGiving corporate or organizational giving sites, stock donations, estate planning, donations made directly to an organization rather than a GlobalGiving project, or donations made through Facebook.
• Online donations made by the account or credit cardholder are eligible. We accept the following online payment methods: credit card, debit card, PayPal, and Apple Pay.
• All donations are final. Once GlobalGiving processes the donation, we cannot change the time, date, or status of a donation for any reason.
• GlobalGiving is moderating any activity, not in the spirit of requesting separate individuals to support donations, and GlobalGiving reserves the right to disqualify organizations for any attempts of misconduct permanently.
• GlobalGiving determines unique donors using numerous criteria, including name, email address, credit card number, mailing address, and I.P. address. We monitor these and other parameters in our system to ensure that unique donors count towards the Accelerator thresholds and cash prizes.

• Any transactions that are reported as fraudulent and/or reversed jeopardizes your participation. GlobalGiving retains the discretion to disqualify your organization from the Accelerator.

  Checks + Wire Transfers (NOT RECOMMENDED)

• Given COVID-19, we are experiencing longer than usual processing times for checks mailed to our office. Therefore, we cannot guarantee that any checks will count towards your Accelerator graduation thresholds or bonus prizes.
• However, we will process checks and wire transfers received by GlobalGiving by Sept. 23. Therefore, checks and wire transfers received by the deadline will be attributed to your project but may not count towards your Accelerator graduation thresholds or bonus prizes. Again, we don’t recommend your donors give using checks or wire transfers at this time. We strongly suggest an electronic payment method, such as a credit/debit card or PayPal.
• Checks and wire transfers will not count towards prizes on the Bonus Day.

Instructions for sending checks + wire transfers

• Indicate project title and I.D. on the memo line for the funds to get processed accurately and in a timely fashion. Include an email address on the check to get signed up to receive updates on the project.
• Send checks in USD and Canadian dollars to GlobalGiving’s D.C. office:
  • Make payable to GlobalGiving Foundation.
  • Mail to: 1110 Vermont Ave N.W., Suite 550, Washington, DC 20005, USA
  • Note: GlobalGiving accepts checks issued in the U.S. at and above $10. GlobalGiving’s D.C. office cannot cash checks from outside the U.S. in amounts less than $100 or equivalent in the local currency.
• Send checks in GBP and Euros to GlobalGiving’s London office:
  • Make payable to GlobalGiving U.K.
  • Mail to: GlobalGiving U.K.: 208A Brick Lane, London E1 6SA

Disbursements

• The exchange rate will be estimated at the time of the donation but may be subject to change until the donation settles with the donor’s bank or credit card. GlobalGiving disburses funds using the exchange rate based on the settlement value of each transaction.
• GlobalGiving disburses funds raised by US-based organizations during the Accelerator at the end of Oct. 2020. We will also disburse funds raised by non-US organizations that raise at least $100 at the end of Oct. 2020.
• Non-US organizations that raise less than $100 will not receive their funds at the end of Oct. 2020. GlobalGiving will hold these funds until your organization reaches the $100 threshold in a future Accelerator for as long as your due diligence is valid. If, after two years, when due diligence expires, your organization has not raised the disbursable amount, GlobalGiving will reallocate the funds.
• Please note that GlobalGiving maintains the right to make a final decision on all matters concerning the adjudication of unique donors and final results of the Accelerator.

Tax-Efficient Giving, Fees, & Vetting

• Tax-Efficient Giving: GlobalGiving is a registered nonprofit charity in the United States and England and Wales. Eligible donors in the United States can claim their donations as tax-deductible contributions on United States tax returns. Donations made by eligible donors in the United Kingdom can claim Gift Aid (an extra 25% added to eligible donations by the U.K. Government) when they donate in GBP. Gift Aid does not count towards project totals in the Accelerator but will appear in your Donation Manager once HMRC receives the payment. It may take up to 2 months for Gift Aid transactions to show up in your Donation Manager.
• Fees: GlobalGiving charges a 12% nonprofit support fee plus a 3% processing fee on the organization’s first $5,000 raised on the platform. After organizations raise $5,000 on GlobalGiving, the nonprofit support fee reduces to 5% for U.S. and U.K. registered organizations and 7% for organizations registered outside the U.S. and U.K. The 3% processing fee remains fixed.
• The fee does not apply to bonus prizes or matching funds awarded in the Accelerator. The GlobalGiving fee helps cover the costs we incur to conduct due diligence, to promote your organization and projects, to provide you with fundraising training and tools, and to maintain and improve our online technology to keep you connecting with new donors.
  • Are you interested in accessing the lower fee immediately? Participants have the option to pay a small start-up fee in advance of the Accelerator start date. This offer expires Sept. 10, 2020, and only online payments are accepted. To learn more and check your eligibility, visit the advanced fee payment page.
• Vetting: GlobalGiving may conduct additional due diligence on your organization both during and after the Accelerator campaign. We reserve the right to remove your project from the site at any time if your organization does not comply with our vetting standards, Non-Discrimination, and Faith-based Activities policy, or any other GlobalGiving Terms + Conditions.

Have questions? Check our Accelerator FAQs! If you still have questions, please don’t hesitate to email us at accelerator@globalgiving.org. We typically respond in one-three business days!