Terms of service

Back The Side lets a youth sports team run a fundraiser: shareable pages, donation processing through the team’s own Stripe account, and privacy controls held by each child’s guardian. We are a software platform. We are not a bank, we do not hold your team’s money, and donations are made to the team, not to us. Each organisation is the merchant of record for its own donations, received into its own Stripe account under Stripe’s own agreements, which the organisation accepts directly with Stripe.

Organisers must be 18 or older and genuinely authorised to raise money for the team they name. Creating a fundraiser requires affirming exactly that, and we keep a dated record of the affirmation. Raising money under false pretences is fraud: fundraisers can be reported by anyone, reports are reviewed by a person, and suspected fraud is reported to law enforcement along with the identity and payment records involved. Stripe separately verifies the identity and bank account of whoever receives the money.

A child appears on a fundraiser only with their parent or guardian’s consent, only as that guardian chooses, and the guardian can withdraw at any time. Organisers must supply a real parent or guardian email for every player they list — inventing one, or listing children whose families don’t know, is grounds for immediate removal and, where it enables fraud, referral to law enforcement. The full picture is in the privacy policy.

Back The Side’s fee is 5% of each donation, collected automatically as an application fee when the donation is processed. Stripe’s card-processing fee is charged by Stripe to the team’s own account, as it is for any business that takes cards. Donors are never asked to cover either fee or to add anything on top. The rate in effect when a campaign launches is fixed for that campaign’s life. Donors may optionally choose to add a separate contribution to Back The Side itself; it is never preselected and never required.

Organisers can refund any completed donation. Because card processing and platform fees are not returned when a payment reverses, a refund returns the donation minus those fees — the exact figure is shown to every donor at checkout, before any card is entered, and to the organiser before they confirm a refund. Card disputes (chargebacks) are handled through the team’s own Stripe account and are the organisation’s responsibility; we notify organisers promptly when one is opened.

Donation receipts state a gift is tax-deductible only when the organisation’s 501(c)(3) status has actually been verified — an organiser’s own claim is never enough to put tax language on your receipt. Whether any donation is deductible in your situation is between you, the organisation, and your tax adviser. Organisations are responsible for their own tax obligations on funds raised.

Don’t use Back The Side to raise money under false pretences, for anything unlawful, or for anything other than the stated purpose of a genuine team; don’t list a child without their guardian’s knowledge; don’t attempt to probe, overload, or work around the platform’s security and privacy protections; don’t use the report feature to harass a legitimate fundraiser. We can pause or remove fundraisers and accounts that break these rules — pausing stops new donations immediately while pages remain visible — and where money or children are at risk we act first and explain second.

We work to keep Back The Side accurate, available, and safe, and the release notes record what actually ships. Still, the service is provided “as is”: to the maximum extent the law allows, we disclaim implied warranties and are not liable for indirect or consequential damages, and our total liability for any claim is capped at the fees Back The Side received from the fundraiser concerned in the twelve months before the claim. Nothing here limits liability that the law does not allow to be limited.

Organisers can close a fundraiser at any time; closure is permanent and pages continue to show the final total. Guardians can withdraw a child’s page at any time. We can suspend or terminate access for breach of these terms. Data retention and deletion after closure follow the privacy policy.

If these terms change materially, we’ll say so on this page and in the release notes before the change applies to you. These terms are governed by the laws of [STATE — NOT YET FILLED IN; this page must not go live until it is], without regard to conflict-of-law rules.