Terms of Service

1. Who we are

Proficio (“we”, “us”, “our”) operates the website at joinproficio.com and the related application (collectively, the “Service”). You can reach us at support@joinproficio.com.

2. Eligibility & accounts

You must be at least 18 years old and able to enter into a binding contract in your jurisdiction to use the Service. You agree to provide accurate registration information, keep it current, and keep your credentials secure. You are responsible for all activity under your account.

We may suspend or close any account that we reasonably believe is being used unlawfully, abusively, or in a way that puts other users, charity partners, or our payment processors at risk.

3. How commitments work

A “commitment” is the core unit of the Service. When you create one, you specify (a) what you intend to deliver, (b) a deadline, (c) a stake amount, and (d) a cause that will receive the stake if you miss. You may also nominate a peer reviewer.

3.1 Activation & charge

A commitment becomes active only after you complete payment via our payment processor (Stripe). At activation we authorize and capture the stake plus a platform fee (described in Section 5). Until you activate, your commitment is a draft and no money has changed hands.

3.2 Outcomes

• Delivered on time — you mark your commitment complete (or your peer reviewer approves it) before the deadline. Your stake is refunded to your original payment method, typically within 5–10 business days.
• Missed — the deadline passes without a successful completion. After a short confirmation window, your stake becomes a donation obligation owed to your chosen cause.

3.3 Honor system

Unless a peer reviewer has been nominated, you self-report whether you delivered. We do not generally verify whether the underlying work was done. By using the Service you agree that misreporting completion to avoid the donation is a breach of these Terms and undermines the entire purpose of the Service.

4. Peer review

You may nominate a third party (a “peer reviewer”) to approve or reject your completion claim. If you do, the reviewer’s decision is binding for purposes of refund vs. donation under these Terms. The reviewer is acting as your chosen judge, not as our agent. We are not responsible for a reviewer’s decision, delay, or non-response, and we provide reasonable timeouts so a non-responsive reviewer does not lock your stake indefinitely.

5. Pricing, fees, and refunds

5.1 Stake & platform fee

At activation we charge: (i) the stake you chose, plus (ii) a platform fee equal to 6% of the stake or $1, whichever is higher. The platform fee covers payment processing and operating the Service. We display the full breakdown before you confirm.

5.2 What gets refunded

On a successful, on-time delivery, the stake is refunded to your original payment method. The platform fee is non-refundable, because the processing and reservation costs have already been incurred. If a refund cannot be issued to your original card (e.g., it was closed), we will work with you in good faith to arrange an equivalent settlement.

5.3 What gets donated

On a missed commitment, the stake is allocated as a donation obligation to the cause you selected. We pass on 100% of the stake to the chosen cause; we do not take a cut of donations.

5.4 When donations are sent

Donations are batched and remitted to charity partners on a regular cadence (typically monthly). Until remitted, the funds are held by our payment processor on our behalf. We will provide reasonable evidence of remittance on request.

5.5 Disputes & chargebacks

If you initiate a chargeback for a charge that was correctly authorized under these Terms, we may suspend your account and pursue any donation obligations from you directly. If you believe a charge was made in error, contact support@joinproficio.com first — we’ll work to resolve it.

6. Causes and charity partners

Causes shown in the Service map to specific charity partners. We choose partners based on transparency and operational reliability, but we are not affiliated with them, do not endorse all of their activities, and cannot guarantee how they spend received funds. You may not use the Service to direct funds to entities that are unlawful, sanctioned, or that we reasonably consider abusive.

7. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

• use the Service for fraudulent, unlawful, or money-laundering purposes;
• create commitments that involve illegal acts or that you have no real intent to attempt;
• misrepresent yourself, another person, or a peer reviewer;
• circumvent our payment, security, or rate-limiting systems;
• use the Service to abuse, threaten, or coerce another person.

8. Your content

You retain ownership of the commitment titles, descriptions, and other content you submit (“Your Content”). You grant us a worldwide, royalty-free license to host, display, and transmit Your Content as needed to operate the Service. You are responsible for making sure Your Content does not infringe anyone’s rights.

9. Service availability & changes

We work hard to keep the Service available, but we do not guarantee uptime. We may update, change, or discontinue features at any time. If a change materially reduces the Service, we’ll give you reasonable notice. If we shut the Service down, we will refund stakes that have been authorized but where the deadline has not yet been reached.

10. Termination

You can close your account at any time. We may suspend or terminate your access for breach of these Terms, suspected fraud, or risk to the Service. Outstanding donation obligations (for missed commitments) survive account closure.

11. Disclaimers

The Service is provided “as is” and “as available”. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we disclaim all implied warranties, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. We do not warrant that the Service will be error-free or that any specific outcome (financial, behavioral, or otherwise) will result from your use of it.

12. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, our total liability arising out of or relating to the Service is limited to the greater of (a) the platform fees you paid us in the 12 months before the event giving rise to the claim, or (b) $100. We are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages.

13. Indemnity

You agree to indemnify and hold us harmless from claims arising out of (a) Your Content, (b) your breach of these Terms, or (c) your misuse of the Service.

14. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the jurisdiction in which Proficio is established, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. Disputes will be resolved in the courts of that jurisdiction, except where mandatory consumer law gives you the right to bring claims locally.

15. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. If a change is material, we will notify you by email or through the Service before it takes effect. Your continued use of the Service after the effective date constitutes acceptance.

16. Contact

Questions about these Terms? Email support@joinproficio.com.