Donation & Refund Policy

All donations are received into a bank account or registered mobile money account held in the name of Women's Light Foundation. No individual is authorised to receive donations personally on the Foundation's behalf, and any request to send funds to a personal account is fraudulent.

Donations are recorded on receipt, and donors who provide contact details receive acknowledgement. Donations are reported in our annual accounts, which will be externally audited and published from our first full operating year.

Unrestricted donations are applied across the seven programme pillars according to need, with a proportion supporting the staffing, administration, monitoring and evaluation without which programmes cannot be delivered or verified. We state this plainly because organisations that claim every donation goes 'directly to the field' are generally either misrepresenting their costs or being funded for them elsewhere.

Our indicative budget, broken down by thematic area including staffing, administration and MEAL, is published on our Fact Sheet.

Donors may restrict a gift to a specific programme or purpose. Restricted funds are tracked separately and applied only to the stated purpose. Where a restricted purpose becomes impossible or is over-funded, we contact the donor to agree a reallocation; where the donor cannot be reached, the funds are applied to the closest available purpose and the decision recorded.

• Donations where the source of funds cannot be established.
• Donations from sources whose activities conflict with our mission, including those implicated in the exploitation of women or children.
• Donations offered conditional on influence over beneficiary selection, staffing, or the content of our advocacy.
• Donations that would compromise our independence or expose the communities we serve to risk.

The Bureau decides in any case of doubt, and may decline a donation without giving reasons.

Donations are gifts and are not generally refundable. We will, however, refund a donation where it was made in error — a duplicate transaction, an incorrect amount, or an unauthorised transaction — provided the request is made within 30 days of the donation, by contacting contact@womenslight.org with the transaction details. Refunds are returned by the original payment method wherever possible.

Recurring donations may be cancelled at any time by contacting us, and cancellation takes effect before the next scheduled payment wherever operationally possible. Donor personal data is handled in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Data Protection Policy, is never sold or shared for marketing purposes, and donors may ask to be acknowledged anonymously.