TERMS OF SERVICE

About Aruuri

Aruuri is a community funding platform operated by Somalis in Tech CIC, a community interest company registered in England and Wales under company number 13202400.

Current company information, including our registered office address, is available on our About page.

You can contact us at contact@aruuri.so.

In these terms, “Aruuri”, “we”, “us” and “our” mean Somalis in Tech CIC. “You” and “your” mean the person or organisation using Aruuri.

What Aruuri does

Aruuri enables people to contribute to community led projects, including projects led by organisations across the Horn of Africa. Depending on the options available at the time, you may be able to:

• make a one off contribution to a named project;
• make a one off or recurring contribution to the Aruuri Pot;
• indicate which shortlisted projects matter most to you;
• view contribution and refund activity on the Open Ledger;
• receive project updates and partner reports; and
• apply to become a project partner.

Aruuri provides the funding and transparency platform. Project partners identify priorities, lead delivery, manage local relationships and report on their work.

The features available may change as the platform develops.

Who may use Aruuri

You must be at least 18 years old to create and manage an account or make a contribution independently.

If you are under 18, you may only use Aruuri with the consent and involvement of a parent or legal guardian. The parent or guardian must supervise the use of the service, authorise any contribution and ensure that an authorised payment method is used. They are responsible for the account and contribution.

You must not use Aruuri if doing so would be unlawful where you live, or if sanctions, payment restrictions or other legal requirements prevent us from providing the service to you.

If you use Aruuri on behalf of an organisation, you confirm that you have authority to act for that organisation and agree to these terms on its behalf.

Your account

Some features require an account. You agree to:

• provide accurate and current information;
• keep your sign in details secure;
• not share an account in a way that compromises its security;
• tell us promptly if you believe your account or payment method has been used without permission; and
• keep your contact information up to date so that we can send important service messages.

You are responsible for activity carried out through your account unless it results from something we did wrong or from circumstances outside your reasonable control.

Making a contribution

Before confirming a contribution, you will be shown the amount, currency, whether the payment is one off or recurring, and any fees or charges collected through Aruuri that apply to that payment.

A contribution is voluntary. It does not purchase goods or services, give you ownership of any funds or project, or create a right to a financial return.

We may set minimum or maximum contribution amounts. We may also refuse, pause, reverse or return a contribution where reasonably necessary, including where:

• a payment fails or appears to be unauthorised or fraudulent;
• we cannot complete required identity, risk or compliance checks;
• accepting the contribution may breach a law, sanction or payment network rule;
• the selected project is no longer able to receive funding; or
• returning the contribution is otherwise necessary to protect Aruuri, a project partner, a contributor or the integrity of the platform.

Project specific contributions

When you contribute to a named project, we intend to reserve the contribution for that project and allocate it towards the project’s approved budget, after any fees or charges shown to you at checkout.

Project plans can change. A project may become fully funded, be delayed, require a revised budget, become unable to proceed, or no longer meet our legal, safeguarding, financial or due diligence requirements.

If we cannot use a project specific contribution as intended, we will act reasonably and in line with the purpose of the original contribution. Depending on the circumstances, we may:

• hold the contribution while the project is revised;
• allocate it to another approved project with a closely related purpose;
• move it to the Aruuri Pot for allocation across approved projects; or
• return it to the original payment method.

Where reasonably practical, we will explain the change before reallocating the contribution and give you an opportunity to contact us. If funds have already been deployed to a project partner, a different allocation or refund may no longer be possible.

The contribution examples shown on a project page, such as the cost of equipment, training or transport, illustrate how the project budget is built. Unless we expressly say otherwise, your payment is not restricted to purchasing that exact item. It contributes to the project’s approved budget as a whole.

Contributions to the Aruuri Pot

Contributions to the Aruuri Pot are pooled and may be allocated across approved projects.

You may be invited to indicate preferences or vote on shortlisted projects. These choices help inform allocation decisions, but they do not give you a right to direct funds or guarantee that a particular project will be selected. Aruuri remains responsible for final allocation decisions, taking account of project assessments, available funds, community input, risk, urgency, feasibility and other relevant factors.

We will aim to explain material allocation decisions through the platform, the Open Ledger, project updates or other contributor communications.

Recurring contributions

If you choose a recurring contribution, you authorise Stripe to charge the payment method you select at the frequency and amount shown before you confirm.

You may cancel a recurring contribution at any time through your account or by contacting contact@aruuri.so. Cancellation takes effect for future payments. To avoid the next payment, you must cancel before it begins processing. A payment already in progress may still complete.

Cancelling a recurring contribution does not automatically refund contributions already processed.

We will not increase the amount or frequency of a recurring contribution without your agreement. If a payment fails, we or our payment provider may retry it and send you a service message about the failure. We may stop a recurring contribution after repeated failed payments.

Payment processing, fees and currency conversion

Payments are processed by Stripe. Aruuri does not receive or store your full card or bank account details. Stripe’s own terms and privacy information also apply to its payment processing services.

A payment may involve:

• a platform fee;
• a payment processing fee;
• currency conversion; or
• charges imposed by your card issuer, bank or payment provider.

Any fee collected through Aruuri will be shown before you confirm the payment. Charges imposed independently by your bank or card issuer may not be known to us.

Where we say that an approved project receives 100 per cent of its requested budget, we mean that Aruuri intends to provide the approved project budget to the project partner. This does not mean that every individual payment is free from disclosed payment, platform or currency conversion costs.

Refunds, reversals and payment disputes

Contributions are normally final once processed because funding may be pooled, allocated or deployed promptly. A change of mind does not automatically entitle you to a refund.

Please contact contact@aruuri.so as soon as possible if:

• you made a duplicate contribution;
• the amount charged was incorrect;
• you did not authorise the payment;
• a technical error affected the payment; or
• the selected project cannot proceed and you do not consider the proposed reallocation suitable.

We will review the circumstances and act reasonably. We may issue a full or partial refund where appropriate, where required by law, or where funds have not yet been deployed and a refund is practicable. Refunds are normally returned to the original payment method.

If you do not recognise a payment, please contact us promptly so that we can investigate. Nothing in these terms limits any rights you have through your bank, card issuer or applicable law.

Project selection, delivery and reporting

We assess project partners and proposed projects before approving funding. Our checks may include governance, financial, safeguarding, identity and delivery information. Approval means that a project met our requirements at the time of review. It is not a guarantee that every plan, date, cost or intended outcome will be achieved.

Projects are delivered by project partners, not by contributors. Conditions on the ground, exchange rates, supplier availability, regulation, security, weather and other events may affect cost, timing and delivery.

We expect project partners to provide updates and supporting evidence. We may publish partner reports, photographs, testimonials, financial information and other evidence where we have an appropriate basis to do so. We will aim to distinguish:

• information recorded by Aruuri;
• information reported by a project partner; and
• information independently checked or verified.

We may correct or update published information when new evidence becomes available. We do not guarantee a particular social outcome from any contribution.

The Open Ledger

The Open Ledger provides a public record of contribution and refund activity. It may show:

• the date of the transaction;
• whether it was a contribution or refund;
• the amount; and
• either “Anonymous” or, where the contributor has chosen this option, their first name and the first letter of their surname.

The Open Ledger does not display a contributor’s email address, account identifier, full name or payment details.

We retain ledger and related financial records indefinitely to preserve the integrity of Aruuri’s financial history, meet legal and accounting obligations, prevent fraud and maintain public accountability. Closing your account does not remove or rewrite this financial record. Our Privacy Policy explains how we handle personal data and how you can exercise your rights.

Communications

We send service messages that are necessary to operate Aruuri, including account, welcome, payment, refund, security and project administration messages. You cannot opt out of messages needed to provide a service you have requested, although you can stop future recurring payments and close your account.

Newsletters and other marketing messages are optional. You can unsubscribe from them at any time using the link in the message or by contacting us.

Tax and Zakat

Somalis in Tech CIC is a community interest company. A contribution through Aruuri should not be assumed to qualify for Gift Aid, charitable tax relief or a tax deduction in the country where you live. Any receipt we provide is a payment record and is not a guarantee of tax treatment. You should seek your own tax advice if this matters to you.

You should not assume that every contribution is Zakat eligible. If Aruuri identifies a project or funding route as suitable for Zakat, that statement will apply only to the option expressly labelled and will be based on the information available at the time. You remain responsible for deciding whether a contribution meets your religious obligations and may wish to seek independent advice.

Project partner applications

An organisation may apply to become a project partner only through a person authorised to act for it. Application information must be accurate, complete and not misleading.

Submitting an application does not guarantee approval, funding or any minimum level of funding. We may request further information, carry out checks, pause or reject an application, or withdraw approval where reasonably necessary.

If an organisation is selected, funding and delivery will be subject to a separate project partner agreement. If that agreement conflicts with these terms on a matter relating to project delivery or partner funding, the project partner agreement will take priority for that matter.

Content supplied to Aruuri

If you submit text, images, photographs, testimonials, reports or other material, you confirm that:

• the material is accurate to the best of your knowledge;
• you have the rights and permissions needed to provide it to us;
• any person shown or identified has given appropriate consent, including consent for the intended publication where applicable; and
• the material does not infringe another person’s rights, breach confidentiality, create an avoidable safeguarding risk or break the law.

You keep ownership of your material. You give Aruuri a worldwide, non exclusive, royalty free licence to store, review, reproduce, adapt for formatting, translate and publish it for operating, explaining and promoting Aruuri and the relevant project, in line with the permissions and restrictions agreed with you.

We may decline, remove or restrict material where reasonably necessary for accuracy, privacy, safety, safeguarding, legal compliance or the integrity of the service.

Acceptable use

You must not:

• use Aruuri for unlawful, fraudulent, abusive or misleading activity;
• attempt to access another person’s account or restricted systems;
• probe, scan or test the vulnerability of Aruuri without our prior written permission;
• exploit or attempt to exploit a vulnerability, or bypass any security, authentication, rate limit or access control;
• carry out or assist with a denial of service attack, distributed denial of service attack or any other activity intended to overload or disrupt the service;
• introduce malicious code, malware or other harmful material;
• use stolen credentials, automated credential attacks, bots, scrapers or other automated tools in an unauthorised or harmful way;
• interfere with the security, integrity, availability or operation of Aruuri, or with another person’s use of it;
• impersonate another person or misrepresent your authority;
• collect personal information from the service without a lawful basis;
• publish or submit content that infringes rights, is unlawfully discriminatory, threatening or defamatory, or creates a safeguarding risk; or
• use Aruuri in a way that could expose us, a contributor, a project partner or a community member to sanctions or other legal restrictions.

We may investigate suspected misuse and take proportionate action, including limiting a feature, removing content, suspending an account, reversing a transaction where possible, or reporting a matter to a payment provider or public authority where appropriate.

If you discover a suspected security vulnerability, please report it responsibly to contact@aruuri.so. You must not exploit it, access or alter data that is not yours, disrupt the service, use the vulnerability for personal gain, or disclose it publicly before we have had a reasonable opportunity to investigate and address it. Reporting a vulnerability does not authorise you to carry out security testing or access our systems beyond what the law permits.

Intellectual property

The Aruuri service, brand, software, design and original content belong to Somalis in Tech CIC or our licensors. Project partner content and other third party material remain the property of their respective owners.

You may view and share public Aruuri pages for personal, community, educational and non commercial purposes, provided that you do not misrepresent the content, remove attribution or suggest endorsement where none exists.

You must not copy, sell, license, scrape, reverse engineer or commercially exploit a substantial part of the service unless the law allows it or we have given written permission.

Third party services and links

Aruuri relies on third party services, including Stripe for payment processing and Clerk for account authentication. We also link to project partner and other external websites.

Those services may have their own terms and privacy information. We are not responsible for the content or independent actions of a third party website that we do not control. We remain responsible for our own obligations and for choosing and managing service providers with reasonable care.

Service availability and changes

We aim to keep Aruuri accurate, secure and available, but no online service is free from interruption or error. We may carry out maintenance, respond to security issues, correct information, add or remove features, or suspend parts of the service.

Where a change materially affects an active recurring contribution or the way already received funds will be allocated, we will give reasonable notice where practicable and explain the choices available to you.

We are not responsible for a delay or failure caused by events genuinely outside our reasonable control, but we will take reasonable steps to reduce the effect and keep affected users informed.

Suspending or closing an account

You may stop using Aruuri at any time. You can cancel recurring contributions through your account and can ask us to close your account by emailing contact@aruuri.so.

We may restrict, suspend or close an account where we reasonably believe that:

• these terms have been seriously or repeatedly breached;
• the account presents a fraud, security, safeguarding or legal risk;
• we are required to do so by law or a payment provider; or
• continuing to provide the account is no longer reasonably possible.

Where appropriate, we will explain the reason and give you a reasonable opportunity to address the issue. We may act immediately where delay could cause harm, compromise security or break the law.

Account closure does not affect completed contributions, valid rights and obligations that arose before closure, or records that we must or reasonably need to retain. The Privacy Policy explains our retention practices.

Our responsibility to you

We do not exclude or limit responsibility where it would be unlawful to do so. This includes responsibility for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, and your statutory rights.

If we fail to use reasonable care and skill or breach these terms, we are responsible for loss or damage that was a foreseeable result when you agreed to these terms. We are not responsible for loss that was not reasonably foreseeable, or for a project partner’s independent acts where we used reasonable care in selecting and overseeing that partner and were not otherwise at fault.

We do not guarantee uninterrupted access, that every project will meet its intended outcomes, or that third party information will always be complete. Nothing in this section reduces any responsibility we have for our own actions, our legal duties, or statements that we expressly make to you.

If you use Aruuri for business purposes, we are not responsible for loss of profit, revenue, business opportunity or anticipated savings unless we expressly agreed otherwise in writing.

Your responsibility to us

You are responsible for losses we reasonably incur as a direct result of your deliberate unlawful use of Aruuri, your fraud, or your material breach of these terms. You will not be responsible for losses caused by us or for losses that you could not reasonably have foreseen.

Changes to these terms

We may update these terms to reflect changes in the service, law, regulation, security needs or our operating model.

We will update the date at the top of this page. If a change is material, we will provide reasonable notice through the website, your account or email before it takes effect where practicable.

Changes will normally apply from their effective date and will not change how a completed contribution was described when you made it. If a material change affects future recurring contributions, you may cancel before the next payment.

Governing law and disputes

Please contact us first at contact@aruuri.so so that we have an opportunity to understand and resolve a concern.

These terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales. The courts of England and Wales will have jurisdiction, except that if you are a consumer living elsewhere, you keep any mandatory rights to use the courts and laws that apply where you live.

General terms

If a court finds part of these terms unlawful or unenforceable, the remaining parts will continue to apply.

If we do not enforce a term immediately, that does not prevent us from enforcing it later.

You may not transfer your rights or obligations under these terms to another person without our written agreement. We may transfer our rights and obligations to another organisation if this does not materially reduce your rights. We will tell you if that happens.

Nothing in these terms creates an employment, agency, partnership or joint venture relationship between you and Aruuri, or between a contributor and a project partner.

Contact us

Questions, complaints and accessibility requests can be sent to:

contact@aruuri.so