Donation Terms and Conditions
1About the Foundation
Professional Development And Leadership Foundation (“Foundation”, “we”, “us” or “our”) is a Section 8 company incorporated in India and operates on a not-for-profit basis in accordance with its constitutional documents and applicable law. The Foundation may receive voluntary donations from individuals, companies, institutions, trusts, foundations and other eligible entities for its charitable and permitted objects.
2Acceptance of Donation Terms
By making a donation through this website, you (“Donor”, “you” or “your”) confirm that you have read and accepted these Donation Terms and the Privacy Policy. If you are donating on behalf of a company, institution or other organisation, you confirm that you are authorised to make the donation and provide the organisation’s information.
3Permitted Donations
Donations must be made voluntarily and without any expectation of a private benefit, commercial consideration, ownership interest, guaranteed outcome or return. The Foundation may refuse, return or decline a donation where acceptance would be unlawful, inconsistent with its objects, contrary to donor restrictions, create a conflict of interest, expose the Foundation to regulatory or reputational risk, or otherwise be inappropriate.
4Donor Eligibility and Representations
- Individual donors must be legally competent to make the donation. A person making a donation for another person or organisation must have appropriate authority.
- Corporate and institutional donors are responsible for obtaining their internal approvals and ensuring that the donation complies with their applicable policies, laws and governance requirements.
- Donors must provide accurate information, including name, address, PAN and other details where required for accounting, tax reporting, KYC, payment processing or regulatory compliance.
- Donors must not use the Foundation’s donation facility for money laundering, terrorist financing, fraud, unlawful transactions, bribery, sanctions evasion or any other prohibited purpose.
5Donation Amount and Payment
Donations may be made through the payment methods displayed on the website. The Foundation may use authorised payment gateways, banks, technology providers and other service providers to process donations. A donation is treated as received when the payment is successfully credited or settled to the Foundation or its authorised collection account, subject to reconciliation.
The Foundation is not responsible for delays or failures caused by banks, card networks, payment gateways, internet service providers or other third parties, although it will reasonably assist in resolving genuine payment issues.
6Donation Receipts and Tax Benefits
The Foundation will issue an electronic acknowledgement or receipt based on the information supplied by the Donor and the Foundation’s applicable procedures. A tax deduction is not automatic merely because a donation has been made. Any deduction or tax benefit is subject to the Foundation holding the relevant approval or registration at the time of donation and to the Donor satisfying all conditions under applicable tax law.
Where the Foundation is eligible and required to report donations to the Income-tax Department, it may collect PAN, Aadhaar or other prescribed information and furnish the applicable statutory donation statement or certificate. Donors should retain the donation receipt or certificate and verify their tax eligibility.
For corporate donors, the Foundation currently cannot accept donation as CSR expenditure subject to the Companies Act, 2013 and the CSR Rules. A normal donation which does not represent CSR expenditure, and which meets the applicable requirements, can be accepted.
7Restrictions on Cash and Unlawful Contributions
The Foundation encourages digital or banking-channel donations. Where tax law imposes restrictions on cash donations or on the eligibility of particular forms of donation for tax deduction, the Donor is responsible for complying with those requirements. The Foundation may decline cash or other donations that it cannot lawfully accept.
8Foreign Donations and FCRA
Professional Development and Leadership Foundation (PDAL Foundation) does not have FCRA registration and hence is legally not permitted to receive foreign contribution. The Foundation may reject or return the contribution if received from a location outside India.
A donor located outside India must not assume that a donation can be accepted merely because the website or payment method technically permits an international payment. The Foundation may restrict or reject foreign contributions to ensure compliance with FCRA and other applicable laws.
9Donor Restrictions and Designated Donations
If the website permits a Donor to select a programme or purpose, the Foundation will make reasonable efforts to use the donation for that purpose. However, unless a separate written agreement expressly states otherwise, the Foundation retains discretion to apply funds in the manner most consistent with its charitable objects, including where a programme has ended, changed, been fully funded or become impracticable.
10Refunds, Reversals and Chargebacks
Donations are voluntary contributions and are generally non-refundable once successfully processed and accepted. A refund may be considered where there is a duplicate transaction, technical error, unauthorised transaction, payment received in error, regulatory requirement, or another circumstance approved by the Foundation.
Refund requests should be submitted promptly to email@pdalfoundation.org with the transaction or reference number, date, amount and reason. Refunds, where approved, will normally be made to the original payment method and may be subject to payment-gateway or bank processing constraints.
The Foundation may suspend or investigate a donation where a chargeback, fraud alert, payment dispute or compliance concern arises.
11Donor Communications
By donating, you may receive transactional communications such as donation acknowledgements, receipts, tax certificates, payment confirmations and important administrative notices. Promotional or programme communications will be handled in accordance with applicable consent and communication requirements.
12No Commercial Consideration
A donation does not create a partnership, agency, employment, investment, franchise, membership or other commercial relationship with the Foundation. Unless expressly agreed in writing, donors do not acquire rights over Foundation assets, programmes, governance or intellectual property.
13Website Availability and Third-Party Services
The Foundation endeavours to keep the donation facility available and accurate but does not guarantee uninterrupted website or payment-gateway availability. Third-party websites, payment gateways and services may have their own terms and privacy policies. Donors should review those terms where applicable.
14Fraud, Misuse and Compliance
The Foundation may conduct reasonable verification, screening, reconciliation and due diligence and may share information with banks, payment processors, auditors, regulators, law-enforcement authorities or other authorised persons where required or permitted by law.
15Limitation of Liability
To the extent permitted by law, the Foundation will not be liable for indirect, incidental or consequential loss arising from a failed payment, website interruption, third-party service failure or circumstances beyond its reasonable control. Nothing in these Terms excludes liability that cannot lawfully be excluded.
16Changes to Donation Terms
The Foundation may update these Terms from time to time to reflect changes in law, technology, payment arrangements or its practices. The updated version will be published on the website with the revised effective date.
17Governing Law and Jurisdiction
These Terms are governed by the laws of India. Subject to applicable law and any mandatory dispute-resolution mechanism, courts having jurisdiction over Mumbai, Maharashtra, being the location of the Foundation’s registered office, shall have jurisdiction over disputes arising from these Terms.