Terms of service

ThusaFund lets people raise money for a cause and publish a receipted record of how it was spent. We are a platform. We are not a bank, a registered charity, a financial adviser, or a party to the relationship between a donor and an organiser.

We do not endorse any campaign. Publishing a campaign is not a statement by us that it is genuine, accurate, or a good use of anyone’s money.

You must be at least 18 and provide accurate information. You are responsible for what happens under your account, so keep your password to yourself.

By publishing a campaign you undertake that:

• everything you say in it is true, and the images are yours to use;
• you will use the money for the purpose you described;
• if you are raising for someone else, they know about it and agree;
• you will publish honest, itemised spend records with genuine receipts;
• you are entitled to receive the funds into the bank account you provide.

Publishing a fabricated receipt is fraud. We will terminate the campaign, open whatever we still hold for its donors to redirect under clause 7, and report it.

No campaign may fund or promote:

• anything illegal in South Africa;
• weapons, ammunition, or explosives;
• illegal drugs;
• gambling, lotteries, or investment schemes promising a return;
• hate speech, harassment, or violence against any person or group;
• a legal defence for a violent or sexual offence;
• anything misrepresenting who benefits, or a beneficiary who has not consented.

A ThusaFund donation is a gift, not an investment. Nobody may be promised any financial return.

ThusaFund charges no fee. There is no platform fee on donations, no fee to withdraw, and no subscription.

The only amount deducted from a donation is PayFast’s own transaction charge, passed through at cost. We do not mark it up. A donor may choose to cover that charge instead, in which case the campaign receives the full amount entered.

How we are funded. At checkout we invite the donor to add an optional amount for ThusaFund. That control is a slider which starts at 5% of the donation, shows the amount in rands, and can be set to zero — by dragging it or by tapping “No thanks”. It is presented as support for ThusaFund and never as a fee, and setting it to zero changes nothing about the donation or the campaign.

If we introduce a fee, or change where that slider starts, we will say so on this page and give notice before it applies.

Between a donation being made and a payout being released, ThusaFund holds the funds briefly. This is operational float, not deposit-taking: every rand is destined for a campaign and is paid out to one. We do not hold money indefinitely, we do not accept deposits, and we are not a bank.

Where a campaign is terminated, funds still with us are allocated to another campaign under clause 7 and paid out to it. There is no state in which a donation stops being destined for a campaign.

Any interest earned while funds are in transit accrues to ThusaFund and does not form part of the amount payable to a campaign.

When you request a payout we show you the date it will arrive. We aim to release funds within 48 hours. Withdrawing costs nothing. Campaigns using staged release are paid stage by stage, and each stage after the first requires the previous one to be evidenced with approved receipts.

We may place a hold on a payout where we have a genuine concern — a mismatch between the account and the organiser, a credible report, or a legal obligation. Every hold will state its reason, what you must do, and a date by which it clears.

If we have not reviewed a hold by that date, it clears automatically and the payout proceeds. We will not freeze your funds indefinitely.

Donations are final. A donation is a gift, not a purchase, and there is no right to change your mind. Please be certain before you give.

The only exception is a technical error that charged you incorrectly, or where the law requires a refund.

If we terminate a campaign because it was fraudulent, your donation is not refunded — but it is not lost and it is not kept by us. Any funds we still hold for that campaign are opened for you to redirect: sign in and choose another campaign to receive your donation, or ask us to choose one for you.

You have 5 days from the date we notify you to make that choice. If you do not, ThusaFund selects an active campaign and pays your donation out to it. In every case the money goes to a campaign — there is no circumstance in which unclaimed donations become ThusaFund’s to keep.

Money already released to an organiser before termination may not be recoverable. That is why staged release exists, and why we encourage donors to prefer campaigns that use it.

We may pause, suspend or terminate a campaign that appears to breach these terms, is subject to a credible fraud report, or is required to be stopped by law. Where we hold undisbursed funds for a campaign we terminate as fraudulent, those funds are handled under clause 7 — redirected to another campaign, never retained by us.

Organisers are responsible for their own tax position. A donation received through ThusaFund may be taxable income depending on circumstances, and a donation made through ThusaFund is not automatically tax deductible — that depends on the recipient’s own registration status.

We are not affiliated with SARS and we do not give tax advice.

We provide the platform as it is. We do not guarantee any campaign is genuine, nor that any goal will be reached.

To the extent the law allows, our total liability to you for any claim is limited to the fees we actually earned from the transaction it relates to. Nothing here excludes liability that cannot lawfully be excluded, including under the Consumer Protection Act.

We may update these terms. Material changes will be announced on this page with a new date, and where they affect money we will give notice before they take effect.

These terms are governed by the laws of South Africa, and the South African courts have jurisdiction.

Email support@thusafund.com. See also our Privacy Policy and Trust & Safety pages.