Donation Terms

What Brightnote is

Brightnote is a fundraising platform for South African schools, operated by Twiddle Technologies, Company No. 14837803 (United Kingdom). Brightnote is the technology that makes a school's giving page and monthly-giving programme possible. Brightnote is not a charity and is never the recipient of your donation.

Who your donation is for

Every donation you make through Brightnote is for the specific school named on the giving page you donated through, and is intended entirely for that school's use. The school is the beneficiary. Brightnote provides the platform and never holds or takes possession of your donation on the way to the school.

Recurring donations

If you choose a monthly gift, the amount you chose is charged to your payment method every month, automatically, starting the day you give, and continues until you cancel it. There is no fixed end date unless you set one by cancelling.

You can cancel a monthly gift yourself at any time, with no need to contact anyone, using the "manage your gift" link in your welcome email or receipt. If you can't find that link, email us at hello@brightnote.co.za and we'll help you cancel it.

Payment processing

Donations are processed by Paystack, a payment service provider. Your card details are entered directly with Paystack; Brightnote never sees or stores your full card number.

Fees

Brightnote currently charges the receiving school a platform fee of 1% of each donation, deducted from the donation before the remainder settles to the school's own bank account. You are never charged more than the amount you chose to give.

Paystack, as the payment processor, also applies its own standard transaction-processing fees, in line with its own published pricing, separately from Brightnote's platform fee.

Refunds, chargebacks and payment problems

Because your donation settles directly to the school and Brightnote never holds or controls it, refund decisions and chargeback responses are the responsibility of the receiving school, not Brightnote. If you believe a donation was made in error or you would like a refund, please contact the school directly.

If a payment fails to go through, or a recurring charge fails, no funds are taken and nothing further happens automatically beyond that one attempt.

How the school uses your donation

The school itself is responsible for how it uses the funds it receives. Brightnote's role is limited to providing the platform that connects donors to schools; Brightnote does not direct, oversee or guarantee how any individual school spends donations it receives.

Brightnote's role and limitation of liability

Brightnote provides the technology platform only. To the fullest extent permitted by law, Brightnote is not liable for the acts or omissions of any school, or of Paystack as an independent payment processor, and Brightnote's liability to you in connection with a donation is limited to the amount of that donation.

Tax deductibility

A donation is only tax deductible under South Africa's Section 18A if the specific receiving school has been approved by SARS to issue Section 18A certificates. Unless a school's own page says otherwise, do not assume a donation to it is tax deductible.

Changes to these terms

We may update these terms from time to time. The version and effective date at the top of this page always reflect the current version; the version that applied to your own donation is recorded against it at the time you gave.

Governing law

These terms are governed by the law of South Africa, including the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act and applicable consumer-protection law.

Contact

For anything Brightnote itself is responsible for, including questions about these terms, contact hello@brightnote.co.za.