Note: This is a machine translation of the original German Terms and Conditions provided for convenience only. In case of any discrepancies or legal doubts, the German version shall prevail.
(1) Bildungsspender | WeCanHelp gGmbH - hereinafter: gutopia - operates the websites www.Bildungsspender.de, www.WeCanHelp.de and gutopia.de - hereinafter collectively: gutopia.de. This is an internet-based system for raising funds for the non-profit sector.
(2) By registering with gutopia.de or otherwise using this website, these General Terms and Conditions (GTC) are accepted.
(3) Fundraising is carried out through two pillars, the so-called charity purchase (§ 3) and direct donation (§ 4).
(4) gutopia voluntarily commits that administrative costs will not exceed 20% of the transferred donations (self-commitment). If gutopia has more funds than required for cost coverage, but at most 20% of total donation volume (e.g., through additional reimbursements from partner shops that cannot be assigned to a specific institution), these will be allocated to the general funding pool.
(5) The general funding pool is used to strengthen the non-profit sector. Within the framework of the general and to be specified by gutopia funding mandate, funds that are available 'without specific recipients' are used as contributions to strengthen the immediately usable funds of a corporation or to increase the asset base of foundations (endowments). In this context, gutopia is responsible to customers and funded institutions to determine the character of the contributions, such as making the explicit declaration according to § 62 para. 3 no. 2 AO that the contributions are intended for equipping the corporation with assets or increasing assets. In this context, funds can be used for matching funds, fundraising contests, or for the foundation capital of foundations that promise to sustainably strengthen the educational landscape. This use of funds serves the strategic goal of expanding the non-profit infrastructure in the education sector, winning people over to civic engagement, and strengthening gutopia's public perception.
(1) The following General Terms and Conditions (GTC) apply to the legal and contractual relationships between gutopia and buyers, contact persons of institutions, shop operators, service providers and other company cooperation partners, donation recipients and other users - hereinafter: users. The validity of deviating GTC of users is hereby excluded, their inclusion is expressly objected to.
(2) The GTC can be changed by gutopia at any time without stating reasons. Users known to gutopia will be informed about the changed conditions in text form by email two weeks before they take effect. The period begins with the sending of the email by gutopia. As part of this information, gutopia specifically points out the importance of the two-week period to users. If the user does not object to the changes within two weeks of receiving the information, the new conditions are deemed accepted; if the user objects, the usage relationship ends.
The usage contract is concluded as soon as the user has successfully registered with gutopia. The contract is not limited in time. The usage contract can be terminated by gutopia and the user at any time without considering a period of notice.
(1) To enable a charity purchase, gutopia mediates the contact between a company as a cooperation partner - hereinafter: company cooperation partner - that is willing to pay a reimbursement for the mediation of purchases or use of services, and the customer of the company cooperation partner - hereinafter: buyer.
(2) From the received reimbursement, gutopia receives up to 20% to cover its own costs. The use of the remaining share (at least 80%) is based on the buyer's suggestion. gutopia endeavors, but is not obligated, to follow the buyer's suggestion. In any case, gutopia commits to allocating the amount exceeding cost coverage to a non-profit organization or non-profit purpose. The buyer selects a tax-privileged institution (school, daycare, support association, etc.) listed on gutopia.de for their contribution wish before being forwarded to a company cooperation partner - hereinafter: donation recipient. Alternatively, the buyer can decide to support the general funding pool, the use of which gutopia decides according to its strategic goals. Neither company cooperation partners nor buyers can receive a donation receipt. In the event that the selected company cooperation partner does not pay the reimbursement, neither the buyer nor the donation recipient is entitled to demand payment of funds in the corresponding amount.
(3) The published information on the amount of remuneration is merely for orientation and is not guaranteed. For percentage information, the calculation basis is the shopping cart value without sales tax and shipping costs, as the sales tax must be paid by gutopia to the tax office. gutopia assumes that the payment of the amount as a donation, which remains for the institutions after deduction of sales tax and retention of its own share (see § 3 para. 2), is tax-neutral for gutopia. If the tax office should demand income taxes, gutopia will have to change the donation amount in the future.
(1) gutopia is a tax-recognized funding corporation. gutopia also accepts direct donations through electronic media. For donors, direct donations mean contributions to promote tax-privileged purposes, which are deductible as special expenses according to § 10b para. 1 sentence 1 EStG with the respective maximum amounts regulated there. For this purpose, gutopia offers an online donation service and provides an online direct donation form - hereinafter: donation form. This form can be used by donors to provide contributions to an institution listed on gutopia.de.
(2) Monetary contributions to institutions whose operators are recognized as non-profit under German tax law are initially received by gutopia as the recipient of the contribution. By selecting an institution, the supporter communicates their wish for how their donation should be used. gutopia will usually follow this wish and donate the funds to the chosen institution, provided that it has submitted valid proof of non-profit status to gutopia, but is not obligated to do so. The donation is reduced by any fees charged by payment service providers. Currently, the payment methods direct debit, instant transfer, PayPal, credit card, and charity SMS are offered.
(3) For a contribution amount of 200 euros or more, the donor automatically receives a donation receipt. Upon request, gutopia also issues donation receipts to donors below a donation amount of 200 euros.
(4) The donor assures to make truthful and complete statements and to be legally competent.
(5) For a donation that is processed via the SEPA direct debit procedure (one-time or recurring direct debit), gutopia informs the donor in a timely manner about the intended direct debit in text form, usually by email, stating the due debit amount and the due date (so-called pre-notification). Donations are debited within one week after the online submission of the donation on the following business day. The pre-notification is made immediately after triggering the donation, but no later than one day before the due date. For recurring direct debits (subsequent direct debits), a one-time notification of the donor before the first direct debit with information about future due dates and agreed debit amounts is sufficient. If the amount of individual contributions or due dates changes, a new pre-notification with information about the changed data is sent.
(6) For all other payment methods such as instant transfer, credit cards, PayPal, etc., gutopia forwards the donor to the respective payment service provider. Data stored there is not visible to gutopia. The respective GTC, terms of use, and privacy policy of the payment service provider apply.
(7) Donor data such as name, address, email address, payment method, date and amount of the donation, and for donations via SEPA direct debit, SEPA mandate and IBAN are permanently stored at gutopia. To prevent fraud, the donor's IP address is also stored.
(8) The donor does not donate directly to the institution specified in the donation form. The donor's wish is usually met with a time delay, as legal revocation periods of the various payment methods must be observed and regular transfers take place. The donor's wish cannot be considered if the beneficiary institution cannot provide valid proof of tax privilege for longer than two years (see § 7 para. 2).
(9) The donation recipient bears the risk of a chargeback of the received donation for certain payment methods (SEPA direct debits or credit card). Chargebacks that occur after the donation has already been paid out to the donation recipient will be charged to them plus the respective applicable chargeback fee calculated by the bank.
(1) Contact person is someone who registers with gutopia on behalf of an institution. Each contact person can initiate the listing of an institution. In this case, a new URL following the pattern www.gutopia.de/institutionname is set up for individual use. The contact person must ensure that a bank account of the donation recipient is deposited and that current proof of tax privilege (e.g., exemption or assessment notice from the responsible tax office) is regularly submitted. Only tax-privileged institutions such as schools, daycares, universities, (support) associations, foundations, or other corporations under private law and public law corporations are eligible as donation recipients, which are directed in their articles of association and in their actual management exclusively and directly to the fulfillment of tax-privileged purposes and comply with the provisions that contain the prerequisites for tax benefits. Contributions to natural persons or to their accounts are excluded.
(2) Registration with gutopia.de and use of the services are free of charge. gutopia commits to donating at least 80% of the actual reimbursements received from shops, service providers, and other company cooperation partners that users have intended as contributions for a specific institution. Excluded from this are reimbursements where this is not technically, contractually, or legally possible. gutopia uses these donations to cover its own costs.
(3) gutopia collects all funds that flow in from charity purchases and direct donations and allocates them up to twelve times per calendar year to tax-privileged institutions that pursue non-profit, charitable, or church purposes. The individual institution receives a transfer as soon as a contribution amount of at least 200 euros is available for use, but at least once annually in November regardless of the amount (from 1.00 €). The prerequisite is the existence of valid proof from the institution of its tax-privileged status. The institution to which the contributions flow decides on the use of the funds received from gutopia.
(4) Cost coverage of gutopia is achieved when up to 20% of total donation volume is reached. If gutopia's donations exceed the cost coverage limit, gutopia commits to donating the amount available beyond that to individual or all donation recipients or other tax-privileged institutions. gutopia decides on the selection of recipients.
(5) gutopia does not charge its own fees for direct donations but does not cover transaction costs from payment providers. The offered payment methods and their costs can be viewed at gutopia.de/spenden/konditionen.
(1) gutopia endeavors to ensure proper operation of gutopia.de at all times. However, gutopia does not guarantee uninterrupted usability or accessibility of the internet portal. gutopia is also not liable for technically caused transmission delays or failures that are caused by technical disruptions or necessary maintenance work and lead to temporary inaccessibility of gutopia.de.
(2) gutopia is not liable for the accuracy and content of the information provided by the contact persons. gutopia assumes no liability for the possible misuse of this information.
(3) gutopia is not liable for unauthorized acquisition of user data by third parties, e.g., through unauthorized access by 'hackers' to the database. gutopia is also not liable for misuse of information and data by third parties to which users themselves have made this information accessible.
(4) gutopia is not liable for the content provided by donation recipients for publication. This applies in particular to cases where this content violates intellectual property (trademark rights, copyright, etc.) or personality rights of third parties.
(5) gutopia provides no warranty and is not liable for the goods and services offered by the shops and service providers as well as for the fulfillment of contracts between users and shops and other service providers.
(6) gutopia is not liable for economic, physical, or immaterial damages that result from the use of gutopia.de, insofar as the damage was not demonstrably caused intentionally or by gross negligence by gutopia or its employees.
(7) gutopia is entitled at any time to discontinue the site gutopia.de in whole or in part with immediate effect and to delete all stored user data within the legal framework, excluding any claims for damages. No reason needs to be given for this.
(8) Linked internet pages are checked for compliance with legal regulations at the time of linking. However, gutopia has no influence on the content of linked pages. In particular, gutopia cannot continuously monitor the content of linked external pages. If gutopia becomes aware of illegal content on linked external pages, these links will be removed immediately.
(9) gutopia enables the use of the fundraising platform with the partner shop offers listed at gutopia.de. gutopia can only donate actually received reimbursements. There is no right to forward reimbursements not paid by partner shops.
(10) gutopia informs the contact persons who have registered with gutopia on behalf of an institution at least once per year about the transferred donation status. Donations are usually transferred in the fourth quarter of each year, provided that the contact person has deposited a bank account and the tax privilege of the donation recipient has been proven in accordance with gutopia's tax-privileged goals. There is no claim to compliance with the deadline.
(11) If gutopia is obligated to repay reimbursements to shops or repay donations after the contribution has been made to the donation recipient because the underlying transaction was not properly concluded and is being reversed, gutopia is entitled to demand the repayment amount from the originally beneficiary donation recipient. The donation recipient is obligated to refund the donation to gutopia in this case.
(12) gutopia is not liable for lost reimbursements, provides no warranty, and makes no assurances that relate to products or the contractual processing in connection with products of a company cooperation partner.
(13) Otherwise, gutopia is only liable for gross negligence or intent to the extent of foreseeable and contract-typical damages.
(1) The contact person is responsible for the content of their registration and for information they provide. They assure that the data they have entered corresponds to the truth. For contact persons of institutions, it must be ensured that the donation recipient is a tax-privileged institution that pursues the same tax-privileged purposes as gutopia and that the deposited account details belong to the donation recipient. The specification of private account details is prohibited. In case of violation, the contact person can be held liable for damages incurred. Username and password are to be treated confidentially. Contact persons will be sent information about new features, changes, and actions at gutopia.de by email at irregular intervals. The sending of this electronic mail cannot be objected to, as this is necessary for proper operation. In case of objection, gutopia can terminate the contractual relationship with the contact person (§ 2).
(2) Furthermore, the contact person must ensure that the tax privilege of the donation recipient is proven. Without this proof, no transfer of the donation will take place. Due to its own tax privilege, gutopia is obligated to use donations promptly. Therefore, if proof is missing, the donation credit cannot remain with gutopia for longer than 2 years after receipt. If no valid proof of tax privilege is available after this period, this is considered a waiver by the contact person of the transfer of the donation credit; in this case, the donation credit flows into the general funding pool, from which it is made available by gutopia for tax-privileged purposes.
(3) Users of gutopia.de must not make any efforts to manipulate, damage, or abusively read out, store, process, change, forward, or otherwise misuse information from the website. They are obligated to compensate gutopia for damages arising from corresponding intentional or negligent unlawful actions.
(4) Before content (e.g., texts, photos, videos, etc.) is published on gutopia, the user must ensure that these do not violate legal regulations, do not violate good morals, and do not infringe on third-party rights. They are responsible for ensuring that no protective rights - such as trademark, copyright, personality, data protection, or youth protection rights - are violated by the publication on their profile. To avoid ambiguities, it is emphasized that the user is obligated to obtain the necessary legal consents from affected or entitled persons before publishing content, especially from photographers as well as from depicted or named persons.
(5) Shops, service providers, and other company cooperation partners can register with gutopia and be listed. They thereby commit to making the reimbursement amount specified in their listing available to the donation recipient designated by the user via gutopia.de, at least upon request from buyers, which arises from a contract conclusion with a user.
(6) gutopia prohibits linking gutopia.de with other internet pages that contain illegal and/or youth-endangering content.
(1) gutopia reserves the right to exclude this user from the service with immediate effect without stating reasons and excluding the assertion of damages in the event of violations of one or more of the provisions of these GTC. In these cases, gutopia expressly reserves the right to take civil and/or criminal steps, in particular to assert damages and/or file a criminal complaint.
(2) gutopia acquires a claim for damages against the user for those material or immaterial damages including the costs of active or passive legal prosecution that arise because
false or incomplete information has been provided,
users have not fulfilled their notification obligations,
third-party rights are violated by the communicated and posted information on gutopia.de,
the impracticability or failure of a donation campaign was known to the user, had to be known without gross negligence, or was deliberately caused by them, or
the user acts or cooperates alone or in cooperation with third parties to obtain an advantage for themselves or a third party or to damage gutopia.
(3) Users are liable to the extent of § 8 para. 1 also when gutopia is used by third parties that are caused by links or are based on another violation of applicable law in connection with the use of gutopia.de by users.
(4) Users commit to indemnify gutopia from any claims by third parties that could arise from misuse of a service of gutopia.de by the user and violation of these GTC.
gutopia assures to use the collection, processing, and use of personal data only for its own purposes. The data traffic during registration and maintenance of data by users is encrypted to protect it against unauthorized persons. gutopia assures not to pass on personal data. Furthermore, the detailed privacy policy applies.
gutopia is entitled to commission third parties with the provision of the provided services and services in whole or in part. In this respect, the GTC and privacy policies of these service providers also apply, insofar as they do not contradict the GTC of gutopia.
Should a provision of these GTC be invalid or incomplete in parts, the remaining clauses of the GTC remain unaffected in their validity. Instead of the invalid or incomplete provision, the parties agree on an effective regulation that comes closest to the intended content.
To the extent legally permissible, the place of jurisdiction is the location of the business headquarters. The law of the Federal Republic of Germany applies, excluding the UN Sales Law and other provisions of private international law.