Terms & Conditions

1.0 Welcome

1.1 Introduction

Welcome to the Give as you Live Online terms and conditions. In particular, this documents covers:

How donations are raised and paid to your charity.
Our relationship with you, the retailer and the charities.
Standard terms of use of our products and services.

We also have separate documents that cover:

If you represent a charity, you should see our charity terms and conditions.

This policy was last updated on 23rd February 2024.

1.2 Formal notices

Give as you Live Limited ("we", "us" or "our") is a registered company in England & Wales (company number 5181419), with registered offices at 13 The Courtyard, Timothy's Bridge Road, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, CV37 9NP, United Kingdom.

By using our website, product or services, you are accepting our terms and conditions.

These terms and conditions may change or be updated from time to time. It remains your responsibility to access and check these terms and conditions when you use Give as you Live. The latest version of these terms and conditions will govern any future usage by you of Give as you Live.

2.0 About donations

2.1 Introduction

Give as you Live provides you with a way to raise donations for charity. You may choose a specific charity to support. If you do not choose a charity, or if the charity you were supporting leaves us, then any donations raised will be distributed to a charity of our choosing.

Donations are raised by shopping online with retailers listed on Give as you Live.

For a donation to be allocated to your Give as you Live account and to your charity, you must be logged into your account before visiting the retailer via Give as you Live.

2.2 How donations are generated

Give as you Live works with retailers via affiliate marketing. The premise of affiliate marketing is that in return for sending them a customer who completes a pre-specified action on the retailer's website, the retailer pays us a commission.

The pre-specified action is usually making a purchase, but can also include signing up for an account or completing a quote. For the purposes of this document, all actions are referred to as a 'purchase'. The commission may be a percentage of the sale amount or a fixed amount.

Relationships between us and each retailer is usually facilitated by an affiliate network. Affiliate networks work with the retailers to provide the tracking and reporting technologies, and are responsible for the invoicing and collection of commissions owed.

2.3 Reporting and calculating donations

From the commission paid to us, we make a donation to the charity. As standard, 50% of the commission is passed on as a donation.

All values we display and communicate refer to the donation portion of the commission. For example, if a retailer offers a commission rate of 5.00%, then a donation rate of 2.50% is displayed.

Increased shares of the commission are available for charities dependent on volume of commission (see section 2.8 Increased charity shares of commission).

Donations are only added to your account once they have been reported to us by the retailer. We cannot track your purchases and cannot be held responsible if a purchase is not reported to us and therefore isn't added to your account. However we can contact the retailer to request the commission (see section 2.7 Unreported and incorrect donations).

2.4 Donation statuses

Once a donation is listed in your account, it will be listed in one of four states:

'Pending' - the transaction has been reported to us, but is yet to be validated by the retailer.
'Declined' - the retailer has decided that the purchase is no longer eligible for commission and therefore a donation cannot be paid.
'Approved' - the retailer has decided that the purchase is eligible for commission and are preparing to pay it to us.
'Paid' - we gave received payment of the commission and are either preparing to pay it to the charity or have paid it to the charity (see section 3.3 Payment methods and timings).

Whilst payments should not change from 'approved' to 'declined', or from 'paid' to another status, in exceptional circumstances this may be necessary. For instance if a retailer ceases trading or if a payment is made in error.

2.5 Donation amounts and eligibility of donations

We list the donation rates available at each retailer, along with any terms and conditions. Whilst we endeavour to display rates and terms that are accurate and up-to-date, it is possible that the displayed rates and terms are incorrect or incomplete.

We cannot be held responsible if the reported donation amount is different to what you expect or if a donation is unexpectedly unreported or declined due to this reason.

Each retailer specifies the commission rates that apply. Typically, commission is not paid on VAT or delivery charges.

Some retailers may have different commission rates for different products, or may have different rates for new customers as opposed to existing customers. Whether a customer is 'new' or 'existing' is dependent on your relationship as a user with the retailer and is not affected by our involvement. Whilst commission is normally available on all products, in some cases a retailer may have exclusions which may or may not be specified by us.

Each retailer will specify the set of rules that affect the eligibility of a donation.

Some rules are with regards to the purchase itself. A retailer may deem a purchase to be ineligible for commission for any of the below reasons. Further reasons may apply.

Fraud
Payment failure
Cancellation or return of the purchase (either fully or in part)

In addition, a retailer may have additional rules that are decided as part of their affiliate marketing strategy. It is standard practice that when a purchase is made on a retailer's website, they will attribute the purchase to a single "source".

Examples of these sources can include:

Other affiliate websites, including competitors of Give as you Live, cashback services, voucher code services, price comparison services, product review websites, and blogs.
Other forms of internet advertising, including sponsored search engine results and banner advertisements.
The retailer's own marketing activities, including emails, voucher codes and social media activity.

In the case where you access the retailer via multiple sources before the purchase is completed, the retailer will decide which source the purchase is attributed to.

It is recommended that you access the retailer's website via Give as you Live at the earliest opportunity, before any items have been added to your basket, and without using any of the above sources at any stage.

Sometimes, these rules will be applied at the point of purchase, meaning that the purchase will not be reported to us if the rules are not met. At other times, the rules will be applied at a later date, after the purchase has been reported to us - if the rules are not met then the status of the donation will change to 'declined'.

In some cases a retailer may only be able to report purchases that have happened on the desktop version of their website and not their mobile website.

Normally, commission is not eligible on purchases made through mobile apps (including apps owned and operated by the retailer). If you are using a mobile device then you should make the purchases through the web browser (e.g. Chrome or Safari) or through the Give as you Live Online App.

In all cases, the decisions made by ourselves, the retailer or the affiliate network are final.

2.6 Questions or disputes regarding purchases

If you have any queries about your purchase, you should contact the retailer directly and not us. Similarly, if you have any queries about your donation, then you should contact us and not the retailer.

Whilst we list retailers in good faith, we cannot be held responsible for any negative or dissatisfactory experiences you may have with them, the products or services purchased, or with services linked with your purchase such as delivery or after-sales support.

2.7 Unreported and incorrect donations

In cases where you feel that a purchase has not reported when it should have been; or it has been reported but with incorrect values; or it has been reported but subsequently incorrectly declined, then you may make a 'claim' within your account.

You should not contact the retailer directly. If you choose to do so, the information they provide may be not be correct.

When submitting a claim, you are provided with a list of dates and times at which you visited each retailer using Give as you Live (as opposed to the date and time of the actual purchase). You should only continue with the claim if the correct date and time are available.

You are responsible for providing the correct information. If incorrect information is provided, then your claim may be declined by us or by the retailer.

In all cases, we will endeavour to reach a positive outcome, whereby we are paid a manual commission by the retailer, from which we make a donation to the charity. However in some cases, a retailer may not be able to accept any claims at all, or they may decline your claim, for instance due to the reasons detailed in section 2.5 Donation amounts and eligibility of donations.

In all cases, the decisions made by ourselves, the retailer or the affiliate network are final.

2.8 Increased charity shares of commission

We pass on 50% of commissions earned to charity as a donation.

If a charity generates an annual level of commission greater than or equal to £500,000, they are eligible for an increased share starting at 75% and increasing to 90%, as specified in the below table:

Level of annual commission	£500k	£500k to £999,999.99	£1m to £1,999,999.99	Over £2m
Commission share to charity	50%	75%	85%	90%

2.9 Raising donations through our referral scheme

We operate a referral scheme which allows you to share Give as you Live using an individual referral link. For each person ('referral') who signs up to Give as you Live and meets the specified criteria, a donation is made to your charity.

The referral must visit our website via your individual referral link and sign up on the landing page.

Only genuine new sign-ups are eligible. Referrals who already have a Give as you Live account are not eligible. Donations will be not be made if the referral uses a fictitious email address or if is suspected to be a fraudulent sign-up.

The amount of the bonus donation is usually £5 per valid referral, however we may change this from time to time. The amount of the bonus will be specified on the referral webpage. The new bonus amount will only apply to subsequent referrals and not to previous referrals.

The criteria for receiving the bonus donation will be specified on the referral webpage. When a minimum amount of donations is required (usually a minimum of £5) then only valid donations generated by shopping through Give as you Live apply - donations made through other Give as you Live services (such as Give as you Live Donate or Give as you Live Instore) do not count towards this total.

The bonus is added to your account once the criteria have been met. If the criteria is based on raising donations, then it is initially added as a pending donation and will be changed to be 'approved' once the criteria has been met in paid donations (as in we have received the funds from the retailers involved). Once this happens, we will prepare for payment to your charity. There is no time limit regarding these payments and your bonus.

We reserve the right to change the eligibility criteria of the scheme. Such changes will take immediate effect, regardless of when your referrals signed up or shopped, and without prior notification.

2.10 Earning hero badges and bonus donations

We operate an incentive scheme that allows users to earn badges and bonus donations by completing specific tasks.

Information about the badges, the bonus donations, and the tasks required to reach the threshold for each individual incentive can be found within each user's account panel.

For incentives where a bonus donation is paid, once the threshold for an individual incentive has been reached, the badge is awarded. Once the purchases that contributed to the threshold being reached have been approved and paid by the retailers concerned, the bonus donation will be added to the user's account and paid to the user's currently supported charity in the next available payment run.

A user's activity before the launch of the scheme will contribute towards the scheme. If a user's activity means that the threshold for an individual incentive was reached prior the launch of the scheme, they will be awarded the badge retrospectively but not the bonus donation. Bonus donations are only made if the threshold for an individual incentive is reached after the launch of the scheme.

If a purchase does not raise a donation, or is declined by the retailer, then it will not contribute towards an individual incentive.

We reserve the right to withhold badges and bonus donations from users who are deemed to have fraudulently met the incentive target - for example through the use of multiple accounts.

We reserve the right to change or withdraw the incentive at any time and without prior notification.

3.0 About charities and payments

3.1 Charities listed on Give as you Live

We list charitable organisations who are fully registered with either the Charity Commission for England & Wales, the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, or the Charity Commission for Northern Island; or who are officially recognised by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) as a 'good cause'. We are also able to list Community & Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs) and Community Interest Companies (CICs).

You may choose to support any charity we list. Some charities may have similar names, descriptions or logos - it is your responsibility to select the charity you intend to select.

If at any time you wish to change your selected charity, you may do so through your account. Changing your charity does not affect any previous generated donations. We can only change the benefitting charity of a donation in exceptional circumstances.

In cases where you do not choose a charity to support, or if donations can no longer be made to your originally selected charity (see section 3.4 De-registered Charities and failed payments), then we will choose the benefitting charity at our own discretion. Typically, this will be a charity chosen as our 'featured charity'.

3.2 Use of charity data

Charity data is often made publicly available. For example, the Charity Commission for England & Wales maintains a public database of registered charities and contact details. We uses this freely available data to create our list of supportable charities and store the information on our databases.

Subject to the terms of the data provider (e.g. the Charity Commission for England & Wales), we may also contact the charity using those contact details to make them aware of any funds that have been raised for them through our services, as well as any benefits, products and services that we make available to the charity sector in order to help them raise additional funds.

We only contact people on that database or those who have expressly given us permission to do so.

3.3 Payment methods and timings

Payments can only be made to charities once we have received the commission for a purchase in full. A retailer will typically first pay the commission to the relevant affiliate network, who will then pass the commission onto us. This process may take several months and we can make no guarantees regarding the length of time required.

Payments are made to charities by us via BACS, subject to our payment schedule (currently monthly) and to any minimum payment thresholds (typically £250 on direct donations and £15 on other funds).

Historically, fees have applied to payments made to cover the transactional and administration costs of making the payment. Currently, no fees are charged on Give as you Live donations however we reserve the right to reintroduce such costs in future if we see fit to do so.

Give as you Live Limited does offer additional products and in some cases fees will apply, however these will only apply to the relevant portion of the payment.

In exceptional circumstances, payments may be made via cheque by us direct to the charity.

3.4 De-registered charities and failed payments

Payments can only be made if we or our payment partner have the required bank details of the charity. In cases where no bank details have previously been provided or if the a payment has failed due to incorrect details, we will endeavour to contact the charity however we cannot be held responsible if the charity is uncontactable, declines to respond, or responds but declines to provide the required bank details.

When this happens, we will continue to hold the funds for as long as we see fit in case bank details are subsequently provided, however we reserve the right to make the donation to a different charity if we decide the bank details are not going to be forthcoming.

In some cases, a charity may cease to be listed on our services - this may be because they've ceased to exist as a register charity, or it may be at their request. Any outstanding donations will be paid to a charity of our choice.

3.5 Use of funds by charities

Each charity reserves the right to utilise the funds raised for any purpose as they see fit. The charity's decision regarding use of funds is final.

4.0 Further terms and conditions

4.1 Privacy policy

Our privacy policy explains how we handle your account information and the steps we take to ensure your privacy. We also have a cookie policy.

4.2 Trademarks

The names Give as you Live®, Give as you Live Online™, www.giveasyoulive.com, and the Give as you Live Online™ logo are the property of Give as you Live Limited. These marks and URLs and any other product and service names that are displayed on www.giveasyoulive.com or donate.giveasyoulive.com may not be used in connection with any product or service that is not provided by Give as you Live Limited, nor in any manner that is likely to cause confusion, or in any way that may disparage or discredit these marks and specifically Give as you Live.

Other trademarks, service marks or logos that appear on our services - including, but not limited to, those of our charity and merchants - are the property of their respective owners and are likely to be registered trademarks and subject to restrictions as to their use. They must not be used without the express permission of both us and the trademark owner.

4.3 Copyright

All aspects of the Give as you Live service are protected by copyright. All content is owned either by Give as you Live Limited, our supported charities, or other original providers, and is protected by the applicable intellectual property and proprietary rights and laws.

Give as you Live, in whole or in part, is for your personal use only. You may copy content for your own personal, non-commercial use provided you do not alter it or remove any copyright, trademark or other proprietary notice. No other use of the website's content is permitted without the express prior permission of Give as you Live Limited, and, where applicable, the copyright holder. Inquiries and permission requests may be sent to finance@giveasyoulive.com.

4.4 Changes to the service

Give as you Live will make every effort to ensure that its services are available continuously, but reserves the right to modify, suspend or discontinue all or any part at any time with or without notice. Unless specifically exempted, any new features, services or software applications introduced shall be subject to these Terms and Conditions.

4.5 Indemnification

You agree to indemnify Give as you Live Limited against any loss, liability, claim, demand, damage or expense (including legal fees) that may occur in connection with the use of this site. We take reasonable care and skill to ensure that the data provided on this site is accurate and up to date. However, we give no warranty or undertaking of the accuracy or completeness of any information on the site and do not accept liability for any errors or commissions, neither do we accept any liability for any resulting damage or loss howsoever arising.

4.6 Linking from external websites

Other websites may link to our websites (including www.giveasyoulive.com); however, it is not permitted for pages to be loaded into frames on other third party sites, or for pages to be linked to from any websites that contain material which could be construed as offensive or illegal.

4.7 Links to external websites

Give as you Live links to many other third party websites for information and as a service to our users, including the websites of our affiliated retailers. The external websites are not under our control and we are not responsible for the content of any linked site.

By listing or linking to another site, we are not making any kind of endorsement and we accept no liability in respect of the content. We do not guarantee that links will work all of the time and cannot control the availability of the linked pages.

If you deem any link inappropriate or offensive, or find any link does not work, then please let us know so that we may remove the link.

4.8 Unauthorised use of our website

If it is found that the Give as you Live service is being interfered with in any way including modification of URLs, posting unauthorised URLs on public media, pages being spidered, automatic scripts or anything deemed by ourselves to be abnormal or improper use then we reserve the right to terminate your account and any donations may become voided.

To protect our retailers, any abuse of an offer may lead to transactions being revoked. Any transactions deemed to be of a suspicious nature may require verification by ourselves and/or the retailers involved, and further information on your transactions may be requested from yourself.

For this reason, we may pass on any details which you have provided in communications with the merchant and its agencies. Usernames should not be offensive nor used in any way which may represent any trademarks or brand names, be it owned by Give as you Live or other entities. Where this is the case then you will be required to update this to a suitable name.

4.9 Virus disclaimer

We take all reasonable effort to test material before making publically available. In the very unlikely event of any loss, disruption or damage, we cannot be held responsible for any loss, disruption or damage to your data or computer system which may occur whilst using Give as you Live or any material derived from our service.

4.10 Disclaimer

The Give as you Live service - including, but not limited to, our websites, browser extensions and mobile applications - are provided 'as is', without any representation or endorsement made and without warranty of any kind whether express or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of satisfactory quality, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, compatibility, security and accuracy.

We do not warrant that the functions contained in the material contained in this site will be uninterrupted or error free, that defects will be corrected, or that this site or the server that makes it available are free of viruses or represent the full functionality, accuracy, reliability of the materials.

In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including, without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damages whatsoever arising from use or loss of use of, data or profits arising out of or in connection with the use of Give as you Live.

Use of Give as you Live is unauthorised in any jurisdiction that does not give effect to all provisions of these terms and conditions, including without limitation this paragraph. If any part of this agreement is determined to be invalid or unenforceable pursuant to applicable law including, but not limited to, the warranty disclaimers and liability limitations set forth above, then the invalid or unenforceable provision will be deemed superseded by a valid, enforceable provision that most closely matches the intent of the original provision and the remainder of the agreement shall continue in effect.

4.11 Termination

You may discontinue use of Give as you Live at any time. These terms and conditions will continue to apply to past use by you.

4.12 Modification of agreement

We may modify any of the terms and conditions contained in this agreement, at any time and at our sole discretion for any reason. We will post the revised agreement on this website.

4.13 Miscellaneous

Our failure to enforce your strict performance of any provision of this agreement will not constitute a waiver of our right to subsequently enforce such provision or any other provision of this agreement.

4.14 Governing law

These terms and conditions shall be governed by the laws of England. Any dispute arising under these terms and conditions shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England. You hereby consent to the exclusive jurisdiction of the England courts in all disputes arising out of or relating to the use of Give as you Live.

4.15 Third party rights

A person who is not a party to these terms and conditions has no right under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce any term of this agreement.

4.16 Fraud and misrepresentation

Only referrals for genuine signups will be paid. Multiple accounts created for use by or under the direction or control of the same person or any fraudulent signups, or signups using fictitious email addresses that we subsequently detect may result in any unpaid referrals being withheld at our discretion.

Our decision, after investigation, will be final and action may be taken to reclaim funds gained as a result of misrepresentation or fraudulent behaviour.