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AOGF typically distributes funds to receiving nonprofits at the end of each month and no later than sixty (60) days after the end of the accounting cycle in which AOGF has received the donation.

Your Giving Wallet is your personal Donor Advised Fund, or “DAF.”

A DAF is an account maintained and operated by a 501(c)(3) organization, which is called a “sponsoring organization”. The sponsoring organization that Spotlight uses is the American Online Giving Foundation (“AOGF”). Each DAF account holds contributions from specific individual donors. Once AOGF receives a donor’s contribution, AOGF has legal control over it, the donation cannot be refunded, and the donation must be distributed (eventually) to one or more IRS-qualified public charities. Because the money must eventually be distributed to charity, the donor can generally take a tax deduction right away. However, the donor retains advisory privileges with respect to the distribution of funds in the account. In other words, you the donor have the power to direct when and how much of the money in your DAF is distributed to whichever IRS-qualified public charities that you care about.

When you load funds to your Giving Wallet on Spotlight or click any donation button on Spotlight, you are making a tax-deductible contribution to your DAF at AOGF and recommending that AOGF make a grant of your donation to the nonprofit that you have selected, or that you will select. (Note: Spotlight does not give tax advice; please consult your tax advisor to determine tax deductibility and tax treatment.) AOGF verifies that the donation recipient meets all necessary qualifications for approval. Once approved, the donation amount is deducted from your DAF account, and the money is sent to the recipient.

AOGF retains authority and control over individual DAF accounts and may refuse a donor’s recommendations for any reason. In rare situations, AOGF cannot grant donated funds to the recommended nonprofit when, for example, such nonprofit falls out of compliance with a federal or state regulatory authority. If AOGF cannot grant the donation to the nonprofit that you have recommended, AOGF may in its sole discretion select an alternate recipient nonprofit or contact you for a different recommendation.

Credit card payment processing services on Spotlight are provided by Stripe, Inc. ("Stripe") and are subject to the Stripe Connected Account Agreement, which includes the Stripe Terms of Service (collectively, the “Stripe Services Agreement”). As a Platform Spotlighter, you agree to be bound by the Stripe Services Agreement, as may be modified by Stripe from time to time. As a condition to Spotlight enabling credit card payment processing services through Stripe, you agree to provide Spotlight accurate and complete information about yourself and your business, and you authorize Spotlight to share any such information with Stripe, as well as transaction information related to your use of the Stripe payment processing services. In all cases, standard credit card or other third-party processing fees apply in addition to any Platform Fees. We are not responsible for the performance of any third-party credit card processing or third-party payment services. For more on pricing and fees, see the <pricing page>.

Spotlight reserves the right to attempt to process all donations according to your settings based on Spotlight’s standard donation processing procedures. That means, for example, if you set up recurring donations, then we will automatically process your donation according to your time table.

Spotlight’s minimum donation is $1. We do not charge individual Spotlighters any fee to maintain an active donor account or Giving Wallet. Donations already made are irrevocable and non-refundable, but to pause or cancel a scheduled future donation, please log into your account and update your settings. We do charge organizations like nonprofits and brands and certain Spotlighters who have upgraded their accounts to a premium account to access additional features and that requires a subscription, a setup fee, yearly maintenance fee, and other charges as outlined in the <subscription and fee page>.

When you donate for any purpose, approximately 96% of your donation goes to the identified nonprofit beneficiary, via a grant from AOGF. The fees deducted from your donation are:

2.9% AOGF Cause Support Fee

You pay fees as outlined in the <subscription and fee page> for convenience fees at the time the donation is made into the Giving Wallet. These fees are not deducted from your donation.

We do not give tax advice, but generally the full amount of the donation is deductible as a charitable contribution to the extent permitted by law. If you are a citizen or taxpayer of a jurisdiction outside the United States, your donation may not be deductible. Please consult your tax advisor to determine deductibility or tax treatment. Spotlight does not offer legal or tax advice, and nothing herein should be interpreted as legal or tax advice.