Tax-Deductible Contributions to Charitable Causes
Donations made on the Firespring Foundation Website in support of Registered Charities, Projects of Registered Charities, or Charity Fundraisers (collectively, “Charitable Causes”) are complete and final charitable gifts to Firespring Foundation and are not refundable. The Firespring Foundation is a tax-exempt public charity described in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code which maintains a donor-advised fund. A donor-advised fund (“DAF”) is defined by Congress as a public charity that receives completed gifts from donors while allowing them the privilege of advising on the distribution of their grant to other charities and charitable causes. Normally your donation to a Charitable Cause made through the Firespring Foundation Website goes to and will be receipted by Firespring Foundation as a donor-advised contribution. Firespring Foundation makes every effort to honor donor advisements and is authorized to do so for advisements to public charities appearing on the Firespring Foundation Website as Registered Charities. Occasionally, for specific fundraising events, Firespring Foundation will collaborate with other local public charities. In those cases, the event website and other publicity will indicate if contributions will be receipted directly by the local charity, instead of by Firespring Foundation.
It is Firespring Foundation’s normal practice to regrant 95% less $0.30 per advisement to the qualifying tax-exempt entity and/or cause advised, and to retain 3% for platform costs and Firespring Foundation’s expenses plus 2% and $0.30 cents per advisement transaction for credit card processing costs, a total of 5% plus $0.30 per advisement. A regrant to the advised charity and/or cause is generally made on the 10th of the month following receipt of the advised contribution in the previous calendar month (e.g, a donation on July 5th would be regranted on August 10th). Firespring Foundation makes every reasonable effort to respect the wishes of its donors. However, to comply with federal tax laws and Internal Revenue Service regulations, Firespring Foundation must retain the exclusive authority, discretion, and legal control over all donated funds. In the rare event that the charity you have advised does not satisfy Firespring Foundation’s criteria or otherwise does not enable or accept payment (reasons for this include issues like: they don’t or cannot accept donations, are not recognized by the IRS as a public charity, or are not in good standing with federal or state regulators, etc.), Firespring Foundation may select an alternate charity to receive your advised funds.
In certain instances, Firespring Foundation may retain an additional percentage to support the efforts of the charity partner in conducting a giving event. Any additional retained percent will be disclosed on the home page for the giving event and on the final checkout page prior to completing your donation. For more information please feel free to contact hello@firespringfoundation.org.
Charged Back or Refunded Donations
In accordance with IRS regulations, the Firespring Foundation enforces a strict “No Refunds” policy for contributions made to the donor-advised fund. However, the Foundation recognizes circumstances wherein reversal of transactions are necessary. These include Charge Back and Gross Error transactions.
A Charge Back transaction occurs when the credit card holder files a dispute with their bank stating that either they did not authorize or recognize the transaction on their credit card or bank statement. The Firespring Foundation staff will provide supporting documentation in an effort to resolve the Charge Back case in favor of the Foundation. However, if the Foundation is unable to resolve such cases and the case is referred to pre-arbitration, the Foundation will accept the Charge Back transaction. Further, the Firespring Foundation will, under its variance power authority, not regrant any funds to the advised organization that has been charged back. If the Charge Back funds have already been regranted to the advised organization, no attempt will be made to compel the organization to return the funds since the regrant of an advisement is considered complete and unrestricted. However, the Firespring Foundation will not issue any further regrants of donor-advised funds until it receives additional funds from donors or other sources advised for the organization equal to the amount of the Charge Back.
A Gross Error transaction occurs when then credit cardholder / donor makes a transaction for an amount grossly different than the intended amount. For example, a donor makes a $10,000.00 donation instead of $10.00 donation. A Gross Error transaction DOES NOT include advisements: made to the wrong organization or fundraising page, containing an incorrect name, dedication, or designation, or any other non-financial reason. The Firespring Foundation retains sole authority to determine the exact criteria of a Gross Error transaction. A Gross Error transaction refund will only be considered if Firespring Foundation has not yet regranted the funds to the designated organization (see “Tax-Deductible Contributions to Charitable Causes” section for more information on regrants). Once funds are regranted, the donor should contact the advised organization in order to attempt to correct the error.
Credit Card Anti-Laundering Policy
Only the authorized credit card holder may donate on the Firespring Foundation Website. A third party may not use the donor's card information or enter donations on behalf of the donor. This practice is known as "credit card laundering" and violates Visa and MasterCard usage agreements. Firespring Foundation may report any such abuses to the appropriate authorities. This restriction does not preclude the use of computer terminals or kiosks, with access to the Firespring Foundation Website, for the authorized credit card holder to utilize in order to make a donation.
No Goods and Services in Exchange for Donations to Charitable Causes
Federal law prohibits charities from promising or providing goods and services (e.g., tickets to events or raffles) in exchange for making a donation to a donor advised fund such as Firespring Foundation. Firespring Foundation may only accept pure contributions and not part gift and part sale transactions.
Ultimate Responsibility for Donor Expressions of Preference about Use of Funds
The Firespring Foundation Website provides an opportunity for you as a donor to indicate preferences for specific use of the funds you donate in fields provided on the donation form. If you express such a preference, it will be noted in the donation report. However, indication of such a preference does not guarantee you that funds will be used in a manner consistent with any such preference, and Firespring Foundation is not responsible for nor will be held liable for the ultimate handling of such preferences. You hereby acknowledge that any designation of a donation's use is merely an expression of preference and does not give rise to any contractual obligations.
Firespring Foundation Tax Information
Firespring Foundation's IRS Form 990 is available by visiting Guidestar® or by emailing hello@firespringfoundation.org.