General Terms and Conditions of Spendenaktion

General Terms of Use Spendenaktion

General Terms of Use of Spendenaktion relating to www.spendenaktion.de and www.spendenaktion.at of SPONSOR EUROPE B.V., ESTABLISHED IN REEUWIJK, THE NETHERLANDS
Registered with the Chamber of Commerce (KvK) in Rotterdam under number: 90734408
hereinafter referred to as: Spendenaktion

Version: November 2026

1. Introduction
2. Definitions
3. Registration
4. Code of conduct
5. Donations and donors
5a. Spendenaktion Guarantee
6. Payouts and fees
7. Rights and obligations
8. Ending a campaign – Deleting data – Closing the account
9. Liability
10. Disputes and governing law
11. Privacy policy
12. Location and amendment of the terms
13. Contact

1. Introduction

Spendenaktion is an online crowdfunding platform on which fundraising campaigns can be published to collect donations without anything in return.

These general terms of use apply to all visitors and users of the platform. They also set out the code of conduct and rules that visitors and users of the platform must observe.

The Spendenaktion platform is not a financial institution, lender or charity. The Spendenaktion platform is solely a technical service provider offering a platform for advertising and facilitating donations. Spendenaktion operates for commercial purposes and is managed by Sponsor Europe B.V.

Wherever the term Spendenaktion is used in these terms, the legal relationship is with Sponsor Europe B.V., the owner of Spendenaktion. Sponsor Europe B.V. has drawn up these terms.

2. Definitions

In these general terms of use, the following terms have the following meanings, unless expressly stated otherwise:

Account: the account a registered user creates on the Spendenaktion platform, from which the registered user can manage his/her details and campaign.

Beneficiary: the person or organisation for whose benefit a campaign is held.

Campaign: an initiative to raise money for a cause.

Campaign page: the web page on which a campaign is presented on the Spendenaktion platform.

Collector: the user of the platform and counterparty of Spendenaktion, acting in the course of a profession, business, club, association, foundation, school, institution or other organisation or group, or as an individual in a personal capacity, who has registered on www.spendenaktion.de or www.spendenaktion.at and raises money for an existing campaign through his/her own campaign page.

Content: all information, texts, descriptions, updates, images, videos, etc. that the registered user places on the campaign page.

Costs: costs charged by Spendenaktion on successful donations.

Donation: an amount of money given for the purpose of a campaign.

Donor: individuals, organisations and/or companies that give money to the purpose of the campaign.

Organiser: the user of the platform and counterparty of Spendenaktion, acting in the course of a profession, business, club, association, foundation, school, institution or other organisation or group, or as an individual in a personal capacity, who has registered on www.spendenaktion.de or www.spendenaktion.at and initiates and sets up an online fundraising campaign.

Payment Service Provider(s): payment service providers integrated by Spendenaktion to process payments as part of the donation and payout process:

Mollie B.V., Keizersgracht 126, 1015 CW Amsterdam, the Netherlands (hereinafter Mollie)
PayPal (Europe) S.à r.l. et Cie, S.C.A., 22-24 Boulevard Royal, L-2449 Luxembourg, Luxembourg (hereinafter PayPal)
Payaut B.V., part of Nuvei, Backershagen 99a, 1082 GT Amsterdam, the Netherlands (hereinafter Payaut)

Platform: the donation platforms and websites www.spendenaktion.de and www.spendenaktion.at with their associated functionality for setting up a campaign online, sharing it and receiving donations.

Registered user: a person or entity that registers on the platform.

Spendenaktion: Spendenaktion is the donation platform and refers to Sponsor Europe B.V., owner and operator of the Spendenaktion donation platform.

User: a registered or unregistered visitor and/or user of the platform.

3. Registration

A registered user can sign up on the platform free of charge, register and create an account via the registration form. The registered user then receives an activation email to activate his/her Spendenaktion account.
By registering, the registered user accepts these general terms of use and enters into an agreement with Spendenaktion to use the platform.
Only users with full legal capacity and users acting with the consent of their legal representative(s) are entitled to use the services of Spendenaktion.
Users must be 18 years of age or older or have the express consent of their legal representative(s).
Spendenaktion reserves the right to refuse a user's registration without giving reasons.
An account is linked to one registered user and is not transferable.
The registered user is responsible for the security of his/her account, including setting and keeping secret a strong password and changing it regularly. Spendenaktion also offers two-step verification (2FA) and strongly recommends that all registered users set up and use it. Spendenaktion is not liable for unauthorised access to an account and/or loss of a password and/or any consequences and/or damage resulting from unauthorised access to an account (see also article 9.8). The registered user must notify Spendenaktion immediately if an account is used by unauthorised persons.
The registered user must provide only truthful information, both when registering and when posting content.

4. Code of conduct

The registered user is fully responsible for his/her conduct on the platform and for all content he/she posts and its accuracy.
Before posting content, the user must ensure that his/her conduct and/or content does not infringe statutory provisions or the intellectual property rights of third parties, and that the necessary consents of those involved and/or rights holders have been obtained.
If a campaign is set up for a person or entity other than the registered user, the registered user must request and obtain prior consent from the person(s) and/or organisation(s) for whom the campaign is held. The registered user is responsible for arranging and obtaining this consent and bears full responsibility for the consequences if the campaign is held without it. Consequences may include having to repay donations already paid out if it later turns out that no consent was given, and/or legal consequences.
The registered user declares not to set up campaigns or post content that calls for or supports violence, criminal offences, extremist views and/or ideologies, unlawful acts or disturbance of public order, or that is sexual, discriminatory, racist, offensive, vulgar, provocative, aggressive or misleading.
The registered user declares not to set up campaigns or post content that is in any way related to money laundering and/or terrorist financing and/or that violates the Dutch Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing Act (Wwft).
The registered user declares not to set up campaigns or post content that is in any way related to military purposes.
The registered user declares not to set up campaigns or post content that is in any way related to lotteries or other games of chance.
The registered user declares not to set up campaigns or post content relating to persons, countries and/or entities on the applicable sanctions lists of the European Union, the United States and/or any of the Payment Service Providers. The current sanctions lists can be found at sanctionsmap.eu and ofac.treasury.gov.
The registered user declares to fully understand that the platform may only be used to collect donations without anything in return. The registered user declares not to set up campaigns or post content offering products and/or services for payment or at a discount, or offering anything else in exchange for something in return.
It is prohibited to post texts calling for donations directly to a bank account or in any other way outside the Spendenaktion platform, and/or referring to other crowdfunding platforms. If such calls are nevertheless posted, Spendenaktion reserves the right to remove the relevant text, the entire campaign and/or the user.
Where there are signs, indications or suspicions of abuse and/or a fraudulent campaign, Spendenaktion may take the measures described in article 6.12 (suspending payouts) and article 7.2 (taking offline, blocking or removing), and may refund donations to the donors (see article 5a).
Without prejudice to article 5a (Spendenaktion Guarantee): the organiser warrants that the donations raised, minus costs, will be used exclusively for the stated purpose of the campaign. Spendenaktion is not responsible for an incorrect or misleading presentation of the purpose, nor for misuse of the money raised by the organiser.
If, for whatever reason, donations raised will not or cannot be spent on the communicated purpose(s) of a campaign and donations have already been paid out to the organiser, the organiser is obliged to transfer the donations already paid out back to Spendenaktion, so that Spendenaktion can in turn refund the donations to the donor(s).
Collectors can register separately to act as a collector for a campaign, to help spread it further and to keep track of the amount they have raised themselves.
A donor can add a comment to his/her donation. The donor declares not to post comments or content that calls for violence and/or criminal offences, unlawful acts and/or disturbance of public order, that is sexual, discriminatory, racist, offensive, vulgar, provocative, aggressive or misleading, or that speaks negatively about the campaign and/or the organiser.
Spendenaktion reserves the right to remove a campaign and/or account and/or a donor's comment at any time if, in its opinion, it does not comply with the code of conduct and/or these terms, and/or if there is abuse.
A donor can contact the organiser or a collector via the contact button on the campaign page, provided the organiser or collector has chosen to show a contact button on his/her campaign page. Requesting account numbers or other means of direct payment is not permitted. Messages containing such requests are not forwarded to the organiser and/or collector.
The user complies with the statutory rules on data protection and data security, in particular the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Users of the platform can report abuse to Spendenaktion if they come across content that violates these terms and/or applicable law. The 'Report abuse' button can be found on every campaign page.

5. Donations and donors

By donating, donors accept these general terms of use.
Donations and the donor are shown publicly on the campaign page, unless the donor indicates when donating that he/she wishes to remain anonymous.
Donors are fully responsible for their own donation(s). Donors should inform themselves about the reliability of a campaign and decide for themselves whether to donate to it.
Donations are irrevocable and cannot be reclaimed, except as provided in article 5a (Spendenaktion Guarantee). Only in exceptional cases may Spendenaktion decide to refund donations. The decision to refund is entirely at Spendenaktion's discretion and can only be taken if the donations have not yet been paid out to the organiser.
Refund service. The organiser can ask Spendenaktion to refund the donations of a campaign to the donors, for example because the goal will not be reached or the project will not go ahead. The following applies:
1. Only donations that have not yet been paid out to the organiser can be refunded by Spendenaktion. If donations have already been paid out, the organiser is responsible for refunding the donors.
2. All donations of the campaign are refunded at once.
3. A refund is only possible within the period the payment service provider applies per payment method (usually 365 days after the donation; for PayPal 180 days). The oldest donation of the campaign determines whether that period is still running.
4. For each refunded donation the organiser owes the same transaction costs as on receipt (see article 6.9), so the transaction costs are charged twice in total. Spendenaktion sends an invoice for this in advance; the refund takes place once it has been paid.
5. No costs are charged for refunds under article 5a (Spendenaktion Guarantee).
Donations are processed via the payment platform of the Payment Service Providers.
Donors can donate anonymously or with their name and email address. If a donor does not donate anonymously, his/her name and email address are known to the organiser. The organiser can contact a donor who has provided his/her name and email address (for example, to say thank you).
The details of donors who did not donate anonymously (name and email address) are kept until the organiser deletes the campaign.
The donor receives an email confirmation of his/her donation, provided the donor did not donate anonymously.
Monthly donations. A donor can choose to donate monthly via a recurring mandate (SEPA direct debit). The donor can stop a monthly donation at any time via the link in every email about the monthly donation. No further debits are made once the campaign has ended. A different payout period applies to monthly donations (see article 6.7).

5a. Spendenaktion Guarantee

Spendenaktion wants donors to be able to donate with confidence. That is why Spendenaktion offers the Spendenaktion Guarantee: if a campaign turns out to be misleading or fraudulent, Spendenaktion refunds to the donors the donations that have not yet been paid out to the organiser.
The Spendenaktion Guarantee applies if Spendenaktion establishes, after its own investigation, that:
1. the campaign contains incorrect or misleading information about the purpose, the beneficiary or the organiser; or
2. the organiser did not have the consent of the person or organisation for whom the campaign was held (see article 4.3); or
3. the donations raised have not been or will not be spent on the communicated purpose of the campaign (see article 4.12).
The Spendenaktion Guarantee applies only to donations that have not yet been paid out to the organiser at the time of the decision to refund. Donations already paid out are not covered by the Spendenaktion Guarantee; for those donations, the organiser's repayment obligation under article 4.13 applies.
The Spendenaktion Guarantee does not apply:
1. to campaigns linked to an own Mollie account (option 3 of article 6.3), because the donations are then paid out directly to the organiser;
2. if the target amount of a campaign is not reached;
3. if a donor regrets the donation or no longer agrees with the campaign or the organiser;
4. to disputes between users (see article 10.3);
5. if the donor has reclaimed the payment via his/her bank, credit card company or PayPal (chargeback).
Spendenaktion may refund on its own initiative, for example after a report via the 'Report abuse' button. A donor can also invoke the Spendenaktion Guarantee via the contact form. Where abuse is suspected, Spendenaktion may suspend payouts to the organiser during the investigation (see article 6.12).
Whether the Spendenaktion Guarantee applies is assessed by Spendenaktion on the basis of its own investigation and in reasonableness. The refund is made via the donor's original payment method. This also applies to donors who donated anonymously.
The Spendenaktion Guarantee is a voluntary commitment by Spendenaktion to donors and not an insurance. No rights can be derived from the Spendenaktion Guarantee other than those described in this article.

6. Payouts and fees

The organiser can view all transactions at any time in the dashboard of his/her account.
The organiser is responsible for any taxes and other charges payable on the donations received, where such an obligation exists.
Types of (bank) accounts: a distinction is made between 3 types of (bank) accounts that can be linked to an account: option 1: a private bank account; option 2: a business bank account; option 3: an own Mollie account (existing links only, see article 6.4).
Linking a new own Mollie account (option 3) is no longer possible. New organisers can only add a private or business bank account (option 1 or 2). Organisers who linked an own Mollie account in the past can continue to use it; the provisions on option 3 in these terms continue to apply to them. If an existing link with an own Mollie account is removed, it cannot be set up again.
Payout: with an added bank account (options 1 and 2) the flow of money is as follows: donations are received in the third-party funds account of Mollie and/or PayPal, transferred to the third-party funds account of Payaut and then – after deduction of costs – paid out to the added bank account. With an existing link to an own Mollie account (option 3), donations are received in the own Mollie and/or PayPal account and paid out from there – after deduction of costs – to the owner of that account (or accounts).
Payouts can be made to a large number of countries worldwide. Payouts to countries outside the SEPA area and/or in a currency other than the euro incur additional costs, consisting of a percentage conversion fee and a fixed additional payout fee. An overview of the countries to which payouts can be made and the associated fees can be found in the article Foreign bank account. A payout can only be made if there is a sufficient balance – after deduction of costs – in the Spendenaktion account.
Payout period and frequency: with an added bank account (options 1 and 2), the donations raised, minus the fees charged by the platform, are paid out weekly on Wednesday. The Wednesday payout covers all outstanding (paid and received by Spendenaktion) donations up to and including Monday 24:00. The organiser can choose to pause payouts; the payout then takes place on the first Wednesday after weekly payouts have been switched back on. Donations via SEPA direct debit, such as monthly donations, are only paid out after the period in which the donor can have the direct debit reversed has expired (60 days). If a payout is returned by the organiser's bank, the balance is held until the bank account has been corrected. With an existing link to an own Mollie account (option 3), the organiser can set the payout frequency in his/her Mollie account.
Identification and verification: for all types of (bank) accounts, an identification and verification process must have been completed successfully. When adding a bank account (options 1 and 2), the identification and verification process is carried out by Payaut. For existing links with an own Mollie account (option 3), the identification and verification process was carried out by Mollie.
Fees: with a linked bank account (options 1 and 2) the costs are 5% platform fee plus €0.50 transaction costs including VAT per donation, plus a percentage surcharge (if applicable) for the payment method chosen by the donor. With an existing link to an own Mollie account (option 3) the costs are 5% platform fee including VAT per donation; this is deducted from Mollie's payout to the organiser, and Mollie's transaction costs are charged by Mollie directly to the owner of the Mollie account. A campaign is subject to the fees in force at the time the campaign was created, unless a different fee has been agreed in writing. For payouts outside the SEPA area and/or in a currency other than the euro, the additional costs of article 6.6 apply. The identification and verification costs for registering a business bank account (option 2) are €20, deducted from the organiser's balance. More information on fees can be found at spendenaktion.de/rates.
Fee changes are reserved. Fee changes are announced by a notice in the organiser's account and/or on the fees page of the website.
No interest is paid to users on balances in their account.
Suspension of payouts: Spendenaktion has the right at all times to suspend payouts to the organiser – with or without notice and without any liability – if there are signs, indications or suspicions of abuse, a fraudulent campaign and/or content or conduct in breach of these terms.
The organiser agrees that Spendenaktion may give the Payment Service Providers instructions concerning donations not yet paid out, including suspending payout or refunding donations to the donors, insofar as this is necessary under these terms.
If a donor has a donation reversed via his/her bank, credit card company or PayPal (chargeback) after it has already been paid out to the organiser, the reversed amount is offset against future payouts to the organiser.

7. Rights and obligations

Spendenaktion makes every effort to keep the platform functioning optimally, but does not guarantee uninterrupted availability. Spendenaktion cannot be held liable if the platform is unavailable or does not function, for whatever reason. In such a case, Spendenaktion will make every effort to restore normal operation of the platform as soon as possible.
Spendenaktion has the right at all times to take a campaign offline, block or suspend it and/or remove the user from the platform – with or without notice and without any liability – if there are signs, indications and/or suspicions of abuse, a fraudulent campaign and/or content or conduct in breach of these terms. For suspension of payouts: see article 6.12.
Once a registered user has been removed or blocked, this user may no longer use the platform and may not register again under another account.
Spendenaktion reserves the right to change or discontinue its services.
The user indemnifies Spendenaktion against claims by third parties arising from the use of the platform.
The registered user understands that a campaign published on the platform is based on his/her own initiative and responsibility, that the target amount is not guaranteed and that Spendenaktion cannot be held responsible for not reaching this target amount or any amount.
Spendenaktion is entitled to bring campaigns to the attention of and/or promote them to the general public.
Spendenaktion makes the platform available to users who use it at their own responsibility. The platform only facilitates setting up and sharing a campaign and receiving donations. Spendenaktion has no influence on the success of a campaign and disclaims all liability in this respect.
The content of Spendenaktion is protected by copyright. Texts and images may not be copied and/or used without the express written permission of Spendenaktion.
In the event of bankruptcy, suspension of payments, death or disappearance of the registered user, Spendenaktion has the right to terminate the agreement and close the account with the associated campaign(s).

8. Ending a campaign – Deleting data – Closing the account

It is the responsibility of the registered user to end a campaign and/or delete data relating to the campaign and/or personal data. The organiser does this by logging into the dashboard of his/her account and taking the necessary action(s) there.
For more information on the options for ending a campaign, (temporarily) stopping donations and deleting and closing an account, see the article Ending / deleting the campaign, account or donation in the Spendenaktion Support Center.
Specific information on stopping as a collector can be found in the article Stopping as a collector in the Spendenaktion Support Center.
Inactivity: an account is considered inactive if no donations have been received on the registered user's campaigns for 24 consecutive months.
If an inactive account has a balance and no verified bank account is linked to it, Spendenaktion will inform the registered user of this repeatedly by email over a period of at least 6 months. During that period the user can add a bank account and have it verified; the balance will then be paid out with the next weekly payout.
If no verified bank account has been linked by the end of that period, Spendenaktion closes the account and takes the campaigns offline. The registered user can object up to 6 months after closure by replying to the email about the closure. After that period, the right to payout of the balance lapses and Spendenaktion determines its destination.
When an account is closed, all data is deleted by us, except for data we are required to keep for legal purposes.
If your account has been closed, you can always create a new account via the usual registration procedure.

9. Liability

Spendenaktion actively monitors for abuse, but the content of campaigns is written and posted by the registered users themselves. Spendenaktion does not review content in advance and has no influence on users' conduct; Spendenaktion can only intervene after content has been posted or conduct has taken place. Without prejudice to article 5a (Spendenaktion Guarantee), Spendenaktion is not liable for content posted, information provided or conduct by users.
The user indemnifies Spendenaktion against all third-party claims arising from a breach of these terms.
Without prejudice to article 5a (Spendenaktion Guarantee), Spendenaktion is not liable for damage caused by failures and/or shortcomings in systems of third parties or partners, force majeure, fraud, hackers, outages and the like.
The organiser is fully responsible for the tax and financial consequences that receiving donations may have. It is the organiser's responsibility to inform himself/herself about the possible financial and tax consequences before starting a campaign. Spendenaktion cannot be held liable for any consequence of receiving donations.
Donors are responsible for their own donation(s) (see article 5.3). Donors declare that they understand that donations are irrevocable and cannot be reclaimed, except as provided in article 5a (Spendenaktion Guarantee) – not even if it later turns out that a campaign is/was not legitimate, that the money does not go/has not gone to the stated purpose and/or that an idea or project for which money was raised is not carried out for whatever reason.
Without prejudice to article 5a (Spendenaktion Guarantee), Spendenaktion is not liable for any consequence of donating to campaigns if it (later) turns out that campaigns are not legitimate, that the money does not go/has not gone to the stated purpose and/or that an idea or project for which money is raised is not carried out for whatever reason.
Under no circumstances is Spendenaktion liable for direct or indirect damage, such as lost income and/or donations and the further consequences thereof.
Spendenaktion is not liable for damage caused by unauthorised access to an account. It is the registered user's responsibility to ensure his/her account is optimally secured, among other things by using a strong password, changing it regularly and setting up two-step verification (2FA). The registered user is liable for any damage resulting from unauthorised access to his/her account.
It is the registered user's own responsibility to enter the correct bank account to be linked to his/her account. Spendenaktion is not liable for any consequence of entering an incorrect bank account and the resulting non-receipt of net donations paid out.
If, for whatever reason, liability of Spendenaktion is nevertheless established, compensation is limited to the costs charged, calculated from the date on which the damage was established.
The limitations and exclusions of liability in these terms do not apply in the event of intent or gross negligence on the part of Spendenaktion.

10. Disputes and governing law

The parties will make every effort to settle a dispute by mutual agreement.
Spendenaktion is not willing or obliged to participate in dispute resolution proceedings before a consumer arbitration board.
Users are themselves responsible for disputes between them. Spendenaktion reserves the right, but has no obligation, to become involved in a dispute between users of the platform.
These terms and all agreements between Spendenaktion and users are governed by Dutch law. Disputes will be submitted to the competent court in the district in which Sponsor Europe B.V. has its registered office, unless mandatory law designates another court. This choice of law does not deprive consumers of the protection of mandatory provisions of the law of the country in which they live.
This is a translation of the Dutch original. Translation errors and differences in interpretation excepted. In the event of a dispute, the Dutch text prevails.

11. Privacy policy

The privacy policy forms part of these terms and is published separately on this website. The privacy policy can be found on the Privacy page.

12. Location and amendment of the terms

These terms are published on the Spendenaktion websites: www.spendenaktion.de and www.spendenaktion.at.
Amendments are published on the Spendenaktion websites: www.spendenaktion.de and www.spendenaktion.at.

13. Contact

For suggestions and questions about the Spendenaktion terms of use, you can contact:

Spendenaktion
Support Department
’s-Gravenbroekseweg 15a
2811 GA Reeuwijk
The Netherlands

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Terms & Conditions