Terms of Service
Terms of Use
Futurize.io has been designed to empower the community, create positive environmental impacts faster, and to drive change now! It does this by providing a platform that allows Contributors to support environmental projects developed and/or funded by Project Managers.
It is expected that our community of Contributors and Project Managers (as those terms are defined below) is supportive and respectful of each other and engages collaboratively to stimulate new environmental action. By accessing or using our service, you agree to these Terms of Service with us.
Definitions
Project Manager is the user of Futurize who is interested in raising funds for an environmental project, working either as an individual or part of an organisation
Contributor is the user of Futurize who is interested in funding environmental projects by financially contributing to the projects they are interested in supporting
Smart Contract is a computer program or a transaction protocol which is intended to automatically execute, control or document legally relevant events and actions on a Blockchain according to the terms of a contract or an agreement
Futurize Community Fund is a Cryptocurrency Wallet accessed through a community governed smart contract. All funds transferred to the Community Fund are re-allocated to other projects as chosen by the community from time to time
Governance is a general term referring to the ability for a community member to vote for or against predefined activities on the platform
Milestone is one portion of the projects total campaign defined by the intended actions to be taken, the funding period and the target funding amount
Campaign is the total planned funding required for the project including all milestones and any milestone additions as outlined on Futurize.io for the applicable project
Claim is the request to release funds from a milestone (in part or total) submitted by the Project Manager
Veto is the ability of any contributor that hold a governance token to vote against the release of funds to the Project Manager
User Roles and Expectations
The role of a Project Manager is to:
register on the Futurize platform;
provide a bank account for the purpose of receiving funds;
download a Digital Wallet to receive funds (if preferred) on the Blockchain selected to run the project, if the campaign is successful;
engage in positive community discussion in support of environmental solutions;
complete the Project Campaign Application Form with as much detail as possible;
describe accurately the project they want to develop/fund, which must be lawful and in accordance with the legislation of the country(s) in which the organization is operating;
set the value(s) they need to fund each project milestone; and
set the deadline date(s) for each funding milestone;
claim a withdrawal of the milestone funds (in part or total) through the platform when successfully funded;
The Project Manager authorises Futurize to publicise the project on social media platforms and metaverses. Prior to the full Community Governance feature being implemented Futurize may, in its discretion, reject a project in circumstances where it considers a project does not meet the necessary criteria for an environmental project. These may include projects that should be funded responsibly as part of a business entity or an attempt to fund expenses for a project which does not directly improve the environment, the project should target at least 1 of the 9 planetary boundaries as explained here
The Project Manager can claim any portion of a particular milestone and therefore milestone budgets should be designed to reflect actual project expenses so as to support transparent communication.
The role of a Contributor is to:
register on the Futurize platform (if required);
engage in positive community discussion in support of environmental solutions;
choose the project they wish to support;
set the value they wish to contribute to the project;
fund the desired project through the platform;
purchase any applicable tokens (if they wish represented by tradable cards on the platform), that represent the project they have supported;
Note:
Contributors’ funds are held by us in an interest bearing account and are secured through a Smart Contract until a project reaches its deadline (at which stage the process set out under “Fees and Payments” occurs). Any interest/income generated during this time is received as revenue for Futurize and used to fund the usual business expenses associated with the platform.
Contributors are not paid any interest on funds held on the platform and expressly agree to the use of these funds by Futurize to generate income for its own purposes.
If the Project Manager decides to cancel the project during the funding period, funds will not be refunded to Contributors and are not eligible to partial claims. Instead, funds will be reallocated as outlined in the Funds of Failed Campaigns section below, we will notify the relevant Contributors where this is the case.
Contributions are not necessarily a donation to charity, contributors may not be able to claim tax deductions on their contributions.
Projects will clearly state their organisation type ie: Charity, Not for Profit etc…and contributors should seek advice if required.
Futurize will not share Contributors’ personal information with the Project Manager.
Any use or disclosure of personal information will be handled solely in accordance with our Privacy Statement and applicable privacy law.
The user is solely responsible for the security of their username and password. It is through this data that the user can access and change their personal information and other data connected to their account.
If there is any suspected misuse or unauthorised use of your account, Contributors must immediately notify Futurize by email.
Futurize has no obligation to verify or take steps to verify any act taken in respect of a user’s account. Futurize reserves the right at its discretion to reject any registration, temporarily block access to an existing account or otherwise close an account by providing written notice to the registered user.
Futurize will never use your registration information to conduct any illegal activities.
Governance
Our Contributors need to be confident that the projects they fund will be delivered as expected.
When the funding period is over and the Project Manager claims the funds contributed to one of the project milestones (in part or total), the Futurize Contributors have the opportunity to veto the release of funds to the project if they are not satisfied in any way with how the funds will be used.,
If 10% or more of Contributors decide to veto the release of funds within 5 days following a claim, the claim is cancelled (subject to the ability of the Project Manager to rectify the matter – see under “Fees and Payments” below).
A minimum period of 14 days is required between a vetoed claim and a subsequent claim for the same funds. (Noting that at least one claim is required for each project milestone).
To minimise the chance of a community veto, all efforts should be made by the Project Manager to provide as much information as possible to the Contributors through the Futurize platform during the campaign and in the case of each fund release, evidence of what the funds will be used for.
Age Limit
Project Managers should be over 18 years of age. If they are not over 18, a parent or guardian must front or manage the campaign, including the input of bank details for Futurize pay-outs.
Milestone Additions
At any time, the Project Manager may choose to claim, and the contributors may choose to grant the addition of further milestones to the campaign, this is governed under the same 10% veto terms outlined in the governance section above.
Milestone Period Extensions
Within 14 days of a Milestone ending unsuccessfully, the Project Manager may choose to claim, and the contributors may choose to grant an extension of time for a Milestone if required in an effort to reach the Milestone target, this is governed under the same 10% veto terms outlined in the governance section above.
Milestone Target Adjustment
Within 14 days of a Milestone ending unsuccessfully, the Project Manager may choose to claim, and the contributors may choose to grant the adjustment of a Project Milestone target, this is governed under the same 10% veto terms outlined in the governance section above.
Funds of Failed Milestones
If a project milestone does not reach its funding target and the community does not allow an extension to the Milestone period or, a lesser amount to be released as above, the anonymous and registered contributions intended for the milestone are transferred to the Futurize Community Fund. See also “Refund and Return Policy” below.
Disclosure
Futurize only approaches Project Managers and Contributors. We don't generate employment relationships, associations or partnerships between the users (i.e. Project Managers and Contributors) and Futurize, and we don't represent business transactions or sell products or services. Nor do we take responsibility for the reliability, accuracy or completeness of any information provided by Project Managers or Contributors on the platform, although we reserve the right to remove content or refuse to serve any content to users.
Fees and Payments
All funds raised for projects require the use of a credit card through the credit card gateway Wyre
All Contributors' funds will be held in the projects Smart Contract until the project milestone reaches its deadline, at which stage the following process will be undertaken:
refer to “Funds of Failed Milestones” section above if the funding target is not reached.
if the project milestone reaches its minimum funding requirement, the Project Manager is required to claim a withdrawal of these funds in part or total.
contributors will have 5 days from the date the Project Manager claims a withdrawal of funds to veto the release of funds to the Project Manager. Please note that at least 10% of the relevant Contributors need to veto the withdrawal within that period, to stop the release of funds.
if the fund release is vetoed, the Project Manager will aim to rectify the matter and satisfy the Contributors.
when the PM feels all issues have been addressed, the PM will then be required to claim the withdrawal of the applicable funds again but not before 14 days of the date the milestone was vetoed as outlined in the governance section above.
up to 2 additional claims are authorised for any Vetoed claims, if the 3rd claim is vetoed (or are not claimed within 1 month) the funds will be reallocated as outlined in the Funds of Failed Milestones section above.
if less than 10% of Contributors veto the claim, 100% of the funds claimed (excluding any interest/income generated on Contributors’ funds held on the Futurize platform) will be transferred from the Smart Contract to the account of the Project Manager.
All rates will be clearly quoted in United States Dollars (USD). Futurize is responsible for paying all fees associated with the use of Futurize.io. If a project is withdrawn from Futurize for violating our Terms of Service, violation of law or by court order, all the current contributions will be reallocated as outlined in the Funds of Failed Milestones section above.
Please note that Wyre and Futurize are independent, and Futurize gives no warranty in respect of payments processed by Wyre and is not responsible for failures of credit cards.
Fee structure as of 1 January 2022
Project Managers:
Setup Fee: Nil
Success Fee: Nil
Credit Card Fee: Nil
Contributors:
Credit Card Fee: Nil
Note: Users are responsible for any personal bank fees related to the use of Credit Cards etc…
As noted above, however, interest/income generated on Contributors’ funds held on the Futurize platform during this time is received as revenue for Futurize and used to fund the usual business expenses associated with the platform.
Fees may be amended as set out under “Amendments” below.
Intellectual Property
Futurize owns all intellectual property rights in and to its platform and service, except in respect of any intellectual property rights subsisting in content created by users and displayed on the Futurize platform. Futurize grants users a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to access and use the platform and service only as required for your use of the platform and service in accordance with these terms. You must not use, reproduce, decompile, adapt, amend, or create derivative works of any part of the platform or service (including underlying source code) without our prior written approval or do anything else that may infringe our intellectual property rights.
The Project Manager is the holder of intellectual property rights of their own campaign and campaign content. However, Futurize reserves the right and is hereby granted a perpetual, irrevocable, and royalty free license to use, edit, store, and publicly distribute all content that is uploaded to the Futurize platform without attribution in order to conduct our service including the creation and sale of NFT’s (Non Fungible Token) / SFT’s (Semi Fungible Token) to Contributors through third party sites. The use and distribution of this content by Futurize will be used to promote our service and the campaign from which the content was sourced. This license does not grant Futurize the right to sell customer content or otherwise distribute or use it outside of Futurizes’ service.
All campaign creators should be aware that by trying to raise funds publicly, the idea could be developed and copied by others. Futurize cannot prevent this from occurring, nor has any responsibility for this situation. Futurize reserves the right at its sole discretion, and as notified, to cancel campaigns and terminate the accounts of Project Managers that violate intellectual property rights of others or violate other rights guaranteed by New Zealand law.
Futurize reserves the right to remove content or refuse to serve any content to users. Futurize also reserves the right to access, read, preserve, and disclose any information necessary to fulfil this contract, protect and maintain the security of the platform, perform its services, comply with laws or respond to court orders.
Privacy and Security
We do all we can to provide you with the best service possible, and we take your privacy and security seriously. Any personal information we collect about you will be handled in accordance with our privacy statement and New Zealand privacy law. We avoid collecting and keeping any personal information that isn’t absolutely required for the purpose of providing our service to you.
We have some Google Analytics Advertising features enabled (Search Console and Demographics and Interest Reports) that use cookies in order to collect general audience information, such as gender and age range. We use this information to provide the most relevant content on our website and blog. To the extent cookies constitute personal information under applicable privacy law, such data will be handled in accordance with our privacy statement.
All credit card information is fully maintained by Wyre, a PCI-DSS compliant payment processing company. Being PCI-DSS compliant means Wyre must fulfil all standard credit card security requirements. It also means that Futurize has no access to this information, we rely on Wyre to confirm whether your contribution was approved or not.
Although we take reasonable steps to protect the security and integrity of the platform, you acknowledge and agree that transmission of information over the internet (including to and from the platform) is not completely secure or error free, and any transmission of your personal information is done so at your own risk.
The platform may contain links to third party websites. Those links are provided for convenience only, and Futurize does not endorse or make any representations or warranties in respect of those websites.
Futurize reserves the right to change its privacy statement at any time by providing you with reasonable notice. Any revised version of our privacy statement will be posted on our website and we will send you an updated version via email if you choose to accept communication via email. If there is anything else you want to know about our privacy or security conditions, feel free to contact us.
If you are a Contributor, Futurize will only send you emails relating to your contributions, or if there are updates to our Terms and Conditions.
If you are a Project Manager, Futurize will only send you emails relating to your project, or if there are updates to our Terms and Conditions.
Cancellation Policy
Futurize does not offer the option to cancel a contribution once it has been processed
Refund and Return Policy
Futurize does not offer refunds once a contribution has been released to the Project Manager. Refunds are only provided if the applicable funding milestone was not successful, these funds are subsequently reallocated as outlined in the Funds of Failed Milestones section above.
Amendments
We may amend these terms at any time and for any reason without prior notice to you, and any amendment will be effective on the posting of the amended terms on our platform.
If the changes to these terms are material and will significantly impact the way that you use Futurize, we will notify you of the changes by reasonable means, which may include emailing you in addition to posting the changes on the platform. If you have any queries or concerns in relation to our terms, please contact us.
In relation to amendments to fees, such amendments will only effect projects that commence after the date such changes are posted.
Disclaimers and Governing Law
Futurize does not offer a financial product, provide client money or property services, or provide a financial advice service for the purposes of the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013. However, certain fair dealing conduct obligations will apply to us in relation to the arrangements with Contributors and Project Managers.
All information, content and material set out on our platform is provided for general information purposes only and we make no warranty about the accuracy, completeness, reliability or timeliness of the information. You accept that the platform may not operate on a continuous basis, and may be unavailable from time to time, including for maintenance purposes.
Our terms are governed by New Zealand law, and the Courts of New Zealand have exclusive jurisdiction if there is a dispute. If any of our terms are inconsistent with relevant New Zealand laws or regulations, then those laws or regulations will apply.
Liability
Where the user is a ‘consumer’ for the purposes of the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 (CGA), nothing in these terms is intended to exclude, modify or limit any implied condition, warranty, right or remedy available to that user under the CGA.
Except for any liability arising under the CGA, to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Mōhio Sustainability Solutions Limited, and its officers, directors, affiliates, licensors, and business partners (collectively, the “Related Parties”), shall not be liable to any Contributor or Project Manager or any other person or entity, under any contract, tort, strict liability or any other legal or equitable cause of action, for:
any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, special or exemplary damages, including loss of profits, use, data or goodwill, arising out of or in any way connected with access to or use of the Futurize platform and/or service, even if Mōhio Sustainability Solutions Limited and/or the Related Parties have been advised or should have been aware of the possibility of any such losses or damages; or
the deletion of, corruption of, or failure to store any materials, information, or data maintained by or through ones use of the Futurize platform or service.