Terms

Kleros is a platform for community giving funds. A fund is a group of members who each contribute a small recurring amount; the money is held by the fund’s fiscal sponsor, a nonprofit organization named on the fund’s page; and the members take turns deciding which projects and nonprofits the fund supports. Kleros runs the site and the process. Kleros never holds contributor money.

Members are people 18 or older in the United States. A fund may be open to anyone or by invitation. Staff of a fund’s fiscal sponsor help run the fund and do not contribute or vote in it.

• You pick a level, from $1 a week, charged once a year through Stripe. The card processing fee is added on top so the full amount reaches the pool. The platform fee and the fiscal sponsor’s fee are shown on each fund’s page and recorded on its ledger.
• A contribution is a gift to the fiscal sponsor, restricted to the fund. Whether it is tax-deductible depends on the sponsor and your situation; the sponsor issues any receipt.
• Your membership renews yearly until you cancel it from your account page. Cancelling stops future charges; it does not refund the current year.
• Refunds are the exception, not the rule: a charge made in error, or a duplicate, is refunded on request within 30 days. A refund reverses the fees that were taken with it and appears on the ledger.

• When a fund reaches its cycle goal, a funding cycle opens. Members may put forward one entry per cycle: a project of their own, or a nonprofit they nominate. Nonprofits are checked against IRS records and only verified ones reach the ballot.
• A share of the members, about a fifth, is drawn at random to vote. Voters rank entries within the budget; entries are funded in order until the money runs out, and the last may be partially funded.
• Every member may skip individual winners before payment. Then the fiscal sponsor pays grants directly: to the member for a project, to the nonprofit for a nomination.
• The draw, the tally and the payments are recorded on the fund’s public ledger. Decisions of a cycle are final once paid.

A member who receives a grant agrees to use it for what they described and to share a short report with the fund when it is done. A member with an unreported grant cannot enter the next cycle. The fiscal sponsor may ask for information it needs to make the payment and keep its records.

Members agree to the code of conduct before their first ballot. A fund’s organizers may remove a member who breaks it; a removed member’s contributions stay with the fund.

Kleros giving-circle texts. If you tick the box beside the mobile number field, Kleros texts you when you are drawn to vote in your giving circle, with a reminder or two if you have not answered: up to 6 texts per funding cycle. Message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out at any time, or untick the box on your account page. Reply HELP for help, or write to hello@theklerosfund.com. Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages. How your number is used is in the privacy page.

Ballots and announcements come by email, each with an unsubscribe link.

• Your account is yours; keep your sign-in link private and tell us if you think someone else used it.
• The site is provided as it is, during a pilot. We work to keep it accurate and available but cannot promise either at all times.
• Kleros is not liable for a project’s outcome, a nonprofit’s use of a grant, or a fiscal sponsor’s handling of funds; each is responsible for its own part.
• We may change these terms; when a change matters, the date above changes and members are told by email. Continuing to use the site after that means you accept the change.
• Governing law: to be set by counsel before the first live charge.

Questions about these terms go to hello@theklerosfund.com.