Prerequisites to raise funds on Teaming

In Teaming, any individual, NGO or company one can raise funds for any cause or non-profit organisation with a social purpose. We advise you to check the countries in which Teaming is supported before taking any action.

To assess whether a cause can raise funds through Teaming, we take into account:

• The nature of the cause.
• The Teaming Manager’s management of the Group and the funds.

The following will not be taken into account nor will they be a motive for blocking a Group:

• The ideology, race, belief, nationality, or any other particular trait of the Teaming Manager as a person. We will only sonsider their management of the Group. With the exception of proven cases of crime (effective convictions of fraud, terrorism or similar).
• The ideology, race, belief, nationality, or any other particular trait of the Teamers who participate in the Group at an individual level.

Requirements for the Nature of the Cause

The nature of a Group can vary (social assistance, medical research, culture, defence of animals…) but the only indispensable requirement is that it must be non-profit.

As mentioned earlier in this article, any person or organisation can raise funds on Teaming, provided they do it in favor of a social and non-profit cause. For instance, funds can be raised within a company, if employees join efforts to support an NGO as part of the Social Responsibility Programme. However, they cannot raise funds in favor of the company as such (to launch a new product or any similar goal).

To sum up, the beneficiary cause must have a social character and not seek any economic benefit. This means that the funds collected have to be destined to a totally altruistic aid, with the exception of the basic costs of structure of some organisations, which, according to the legislation in place, cannot exceed 30%.

We will not be able to accept Groups:

• That are lucrative but generate a social good (some cases of social entrepreneurship for example).
• That finance illegal, criminal or illicit activities or that explicitly support such activities.
• To finance personal projects that do not involve basic needs or that are not welfare. To clarify with an example: a wedding, a private car, an end-of-year trip, etc.
• In favour of businesses, in any of its phases, whether in planning, incubation, development or exploitation.
• In favour of political parties, political movements or any entity whose purpose is political. We would not allow entities that have to do partly with politics, even if the rest of their activities is apolitical.
• In favour of organisations whose main activity or part of their activities is the defence or implementation of a specific ideology.
• In no case can they contradict the international declaration of human rights of the United Nations.
• Ideas that have not yet materialised. With one exception: we can accept NGOs in the process of being established, with the condition that funds cannot be transferred until the entity is officially created and has an account in the name of the entity.
• That finance the probono services of a company, unless they are part of their foundation’s programme. For example, a company that spends part of its time helping NGOs. This part could not be financed through Teaming, unless they have a foundation and a defined project programme for these cases.
• That support projects that are not for profit, but do not have a social component (relief).

It is also important to review the reasons why Teaming can eliminate a Group that was initially accepted. To review it, click here.

Requirements for the Teaming Manager management

The collaboration of the Teaming Managers is essential for Teaming to continue to welcome new Teaming Groups and to manage the current ones. Thanks to everyone’s help, Teaming can be 100% free and keep platform costs very low. Being accessible and facilitating every single Teaming procedure is essential for all this to happen and is one of the first requirements as a Teaming Manager. In addition, the Teaming Manager must meet the following requirements:

• The management of the Teaming Manager must comply with that specified in the International Declaration of Ethical Principles in Fundraising published by the Spanish Fundraising Association and the Code of Conduct for the Development of Fundraising in Spain. Failure to comply with some of the points indicated in these documents may result in the Group being blocked or transferred to another Teaming Manager.
• For all intents and purposes, we consider the Teaming Manager to be a fundraiser dedicated to the cause or organisation for which they raise funds. For this reason, if a Group is born in favour of an NGO, the Group will ultimately belong to this cause and the destination of the funds cannot be changed. With one exception: if from the beginning it has been indicated that the collection is each time for one entity. In the case of this exception, any change in the destination of the funds must be informed to the Teamers and be made public in a permanent and traceable way.
• The Teaming Manager must be able to prove the veracity of his or her non-profit activity and inform Teaming at any time about its progress. This sometimes means that additional documentation must be provided at the request of the Teaming Foundation.
• The Teaming Manager must have an active email contact on the platform. In the event of any change, it is essential that this is also reflected in the Teaming profile, so that we can get in touch under any circumstances.
• The Teaming Manager should explain publicly in the Group the essential information about the fundraising: destination, nature, organization, etc. They can use the any of the spaces provided by Teaming (including the forum comments) for this purpose.
• The Teaming Manager commits to managing their Group on the platform in accordance with its rules and to advertise their Teaming Group correctly, without using mass mailings to Teamers of other Groups either through internal mail or through the forum of another Group. There is only one exception: if they are Teaming Manager of several Groups, it is their decision to do so or not within their own Groups.
• Solidarity can only be understood in a context of positive relationships, empathy, affability and education. That is why, beyond what is described in the previous points, the Teaming Manager is committed to abiding by the manners required by this context of trust. Any inappropriate treatment or lack of respect towards any Teamer, other Teaming Manager or member of the Teaming team could result in the transfer or closure of the Teaming Group.

Requirements for the management of the Group

Teaming makes some checks before transferring the funds to the cause’s account. We do this for the peace of mind of Teamers, Teaming Managers and causes, but also because it is our responsibility. These are the requirements that you should know before creating your Teaming Group about sending the funds:

• When requesting the funds raised, Teaming will ask for additional information in order to validate that the funds are being used for the cause for which the Teaming Group was created. In other words, if the Group is created to help a specific NGO, Teaming will validate that the funds are destined to this entity. It is essential that the Teaming Manager provides the documentation that Teaming requires for this purpose.
• In the case of a Group created to support a registered non-profit organisation, Teaming can only validate a transfer to a dedicated account under the name of such organisation. We will not accept transfers of funds collected in Teaming to private accounts.
• We can only transfer the funds to private accounts if the beneficiary is a private individual. For example, if you are raising funds for a child who needs treatment each month. In these cases, we will require additional documentation before validating the transfer of funds.
• In the case of projects that require a certain level of organisation (sanctuaries or shelters, food banks, purchase of school materials, etc.), the funds must be managed through a non-profit organisation and not through a private account.
• In the case of Groups that help a different organisation or cause periodically, the funds should be allocated to the chosen cause directly. The account of the Teaming Manager or another person may not be used as an intermediary.
• In all cases, Teaming will request a valid identity document from the Teaming Manager and a document of ownership of the beneficiary’s account. Additionally, we can also request other documents such as invoices, annual accounts or other documentation.
• Beneficiary accounts must be European accounts (SEPA format). This requirement is important because at the moment we cannot accept Groups that need to transfer funds to other parts of the world. It is essential to have a European NGO that can manage the funds.

To know more about how to send the funds from Teaming to the cause, click here.

Other frequently asked questions

What if our NGO is still in the process of being set up?

You can start to raise funds in Teaming, but at the moment you apply, the entity must be constituted and must have a bank account in the name of the association. If finally the process is not finished and the project is diluted, the funds will go to a similar entity that the Teaming Manager and the Teamers can select.

What happens if our NGO does not have an account in the name of the NGO?

The funds can wait in Teaming until the NGO has an account with the entity. Until that time they cannot be transferred.
If you do not plan to have an account in the name of the entity, unfortunately we will not be able to host the project in Teaming.

What happens if we are not organized as an NGO?

Only in small groups of occasional help, we can accept to justify the activity through invoices: for example, buying a wheelchair for a colleague.

What if the person receiving help is for a specific person?

By person assisted, we mean the person we are helping directly (not someone in between): e.g. a child in need of treatment, a family, etc. In this case we may agree to send the funds to a particular person’s account, although Teaming will request additional information on the use of the funds. This documentation will vary depending on the specific case of the cause being assisted.

Can I change the destination of the funds?

Teaming Groups can be created:

1. In favour of a specific entity or cause. In this case, the NGO cannot be changed unless the NGO for which it was created has closed and the Teamers agree to continue for a new cause. If the Teaming Manager does not want to continue helping the cause for which it was created for personal reasons, it can hand over the leadership to someone who wants to do so or to the NGO itself. But he or she cannot change the destination of the funds. This means that, ultimately, the Group belongs to the beneficiary NGO.
2. In favour of a specific project. You can change the project as long as it is for the same NGO, having previously warned the Teamers. For example, an entity raises funds for the shelter flats, but after a while it would need to allocate them to the research project. It can be changed, as long as the Teamers are informed.
3. To help a different cause each time. It can be changed if this has been reported from the beginning. However, the Teamers must also be informed each time.