Introduction
Education and Life Foundation (hereinafter referred to as "ELF", "the Foundation", "we", "us" or "our") is a registered nonprofit charitable organisation operating in Pakistan.
ELF is committed to transparency, financial accountability and responsible stewardship of charitable donations received from individuals, institutions, foundations, corporations and other supporters worldwide.
Donations help support our educational, healthcare, humanitarian, livelihood development and community welfare programmes.
This policy establishes the terms governing donation refunds, cancellations, payment reversals, chargebacks and related financial disputes.
Its purpose is to protect the interests of donors, safeguard charitable resources, discourage fraudulent claims and ensure compliance with applicable laws and financial regulations.
General Donation and Non-Refund Policy
All donations to Education and Life Foundation are voluntary charitable contributions made to advance the Foundation's charitable objectives.
Donations are generally final and non-refundable once successfully received and accepted by ELF, except where a refund is justified under this policy, a binding donation agreement or applicable law.
By making a donation, donors acknowledge that:
• Donations are voluntary contributions rather than payments for commercial goods or services.
• Charitable funds may be allocated, committed or disbursed to legitimate organisational activities.
• A change of mind or change in personal circumstances does not ordinarily establish an entitlement to a refund.
• Submission of a refund request does not automatically guarantee reimbursement.
• Restricted donations are subject to any specific terms expressly agreed upon by ELF.
• ELF reserves the right to assess discretionary refund requests individually, provided that all applicable legal and contractual obligations are respected.
• Nothing in this policy restricts rights or remedies that cannot lawfully be excluded.
Circumstances in Which Refunds May Be Considered
ELF may consider refunds in the following circumstances:
3.1Duplicate Donations
Where a donor unintentionally makes the same donation more than once and the duplication can be reasonably verified.
3.2Incorrect Donation Amount
Where a demonstrable technical, clerical or payment error results in a contribution substantially different from the amount the donor intended to transfer.
3.3Unauthorised Transactions
Where a payment is reasonably established to have occurred without the lawful account holder's authorisation. Such cases may also be subject to investigation by the relevant financial institution.
3.4Banking or Processing Errors
Where a bank, payment processor or technical system has incorrectly processed a transaction and a refund or correction is appropriate.
3.5Restricted Donations
Where a donation was expressly accepted for a particular project or purpose that cannot lawfully or practically proceed, and the applicable donation agreement or law requires the funds to be returned.
3.6Legal or Regulatory Requirements
Where a refund or repayment is required by applicable law, an enforceable agreement, a competent authority or a binding legal decision.
ELF may consider other exceptional circumstances where a refund would be lawful, appropriate and consistent with its charitable obligations.
Circumstances in Which Refunds Are Normally Declined
Subject to applicable law and binding agreements, ELF may decline discretionary refund requests where:
• The donation was knowingly and voluntarily authorised.
• The donor subsequently changes their mind.
• The donor experiences a change in personal or financial circumstances after contributing.
• The donation has already been lawfully allocated, committed or disbursed toward charitable activities.
• The requested reimbursement conflicts with an enforceable donation agreement.
• The request contains materially inaccurate or misleading information.
• The requester cannot reasonably establish an entitlement to the funds.
• The transaction has already been refunded, reversed or reimbursed.
ELF will not rely on these grounds to deny a refund that is legally or contractually required.
Refund Request Timeframe
Donors who identify an error are encouraged to notify ELF within 14 calendar days of making the donation.
Early notification can assist the Foundation in verifying the transaction before the funds are committed to charitable activities.
Requests received after 14 days may still be considered according to their circumstances.
This notification period does not override mandatory legal rights, banking dispute deadlines, remedies for unauthorised transactions or obligations under binding donor agreements.
Refund Request and Verification Procedure
Refund requests must be submitted to:
Email: info@educationandlifefoundation.org
Subject: Donation Refund Request
Donors should provide:
• Full name and contact information.
• Date and amount of the donation.
• Currency and payment method.
• Transaction reference or payment confirmation.
• Reason for requesting a refund.
• Supporting evidence reasonably necessary to verify the claim.
• Confirmation of whether a banking dispute, recall or chargeback has already been initiated.
ELF may require reasonable additional information to establish the identity of the requester, ownership of the originating account and legitimacy of the request.
Donors must not disclose passwords, banking PINs, payment-card security codes or other unnecessary confidential credentials.
ELF reserves the right to withhold a discretionary refund pending reasonable verification and compliance checks.
Refund Assessment and Processing
Each request will be reviewed by authorised Foundation personnel.
ELF will aim to acknowledge refund requests within five business days and communicate its decision as soon as reasonably practicable after obtaining the necessary information.
Where a refund is approved, the Foundation will ordinarily seek to initiate payment within 14 business days after verification and approval, unless a different legally required deadline applies.
Refund processing may take longer where additional investigation, banking procedures, international transfer arrangements or regulatory checks are necessary.
ELF cannot guarantee the date on which funds will appear in a donor's account because final settlement may depend on independent financial institutions.
Refund Payment Method and International Transfers
Approved refunds will ordinarily be returned to the original payment source.
For bank transfers, refunds will normally be directed to the originating bank account.
ELF does not ordinarily issue refunds to unrelated third-party accounts or alternative recipients.
Where the original account is no longer available, an alternative method may be considered after satisfactory verification and subject to financial regulations.
International refunds may involve currency conversion, correspondent banking arrangements, intermediary charges or other transaction costs.
Any deduction of charges or adjustment for currency differences will be made only where permitted by law, applicable banking rules and binding agreements.
ELF is not responsible for independent exchange-rate movements or third-party banking delays except to the extent that responsibility is imposed by law or agreement.
Chargebacks and Payment Disputes
ELF recognises that financial institutions may provide mechanisms for disputing, recalling or reversing payments.
A chargeback ordinarily refers to a transaction reversal conducted through a card issuer or payment network. Bank-transfer recalls and other payment disputes may follow different banking procedures.
Where ELF receives donations through a payment method that supports chargebacks, the following provisions apply.
9.1Resolution of Payment Concerns
Donors are encouraged, where practical, to contact ELF before initiating a chargeback or payment dispute.
Direct communication may allow genuine errors to be corrected promptly and reduce unnecessary administrative costs.
This recommendation does not prevent donors from reporting suspected fraud immediately to their bank or exercising legitimate dispute rights.
9.2Right to Contest Unsubstantiated Chargebacks
ELF reserves the right to contest chargebacks it reasonably considers unsupported or incorrectly raised.
To support its position, the Foundation may submit relevant evidence to the applicable financial institution or payment processor, including:
• Transaction confirmations and payment records.
• Donation correspondence and acknowledgements.
• Applicable donor instructions and agreed donation restrictions.
• Records of refunds or reversals already processed.
• Other relevant and lawfully obtained supporting information.
ELF will disclose only information reasonably necessary and legally appropriate for resolving the dispute.
9.3Fraudulent or Misleading Chargeback Claims
Where there is credible evidence that a chargeback or refund claim involves deliberate misrepresentation, attempted financial fraud or another unlawful act, ELF may take appropriate lawful measures to protect its interests.
These measures may include seeking professional legal advice, cooperating with financial institutions, preserving relevant evidence or referring suspected unlawful activity to competent authorities.
No person will be presumed to have committed fraud merely because they initiated a chargeback or disputed a transaction.
9.4Prevention of Duplicate Reimbursement
Where a payment has already been refunded or reversed, ELF may take reasonable steps to prevent the same amount from being reimbursed a second time.
If duplicate reimbursement occurs, the Foundation may seek recovery of the excess amount through lawful procedures.
9.5Pending Chargebacks
Where a chargeback, banking recall or payment dispute is already underway, ELF may coordinate any proposed refund with the relevant financial institution to avoid duplicate payments or inconsistent settlement.
The Foundation may defer a separate discretionary reimbursement while the disputed transaction is being reviewed, provided that doing so does not breach an applicable legal obligation.
9.6Chargeback Fees and Recovery
Any chargeback fees or administrative charges imposed by independent payment providers will be handled in accordance with applicable banking rules, contractual arrangements and law.
ELF will not automatically impose such fees on donors simply because they have exercised legitimate dispute rights.
Where the Foundation establishes that it has suffered a recoverable loss through proven fraudulent conduct, it may pursue remedies available under applicable law.
9.7Preservation of Donor Rights
Nothing in this policy prevents a donor or lawful account holder from:
• Reporting unauthorised transactions.
• Contacting their bank or payment service provider.
• Initiating a valid chargeback or payment dispute.
• Submitting a complaint to a competent regulatory authority.
• Exercising rights or remedies provided by applicable law.
Donations Allocated to Charitable Programmes
ELF may allocate donations toward its approved charitable activities, including children's education, healthcare, midwifery training, widows' welfare, livelihood development, orphan care, emergency relief and community improvement initiatives.
Once donations have been lawfully committed or disbursed, repayment may no longer be operationally possible without affecting charitable activities or beneficiaries.
ELF may therefore decline discretionary requests for reimbursement of funds already used for legitimate charitable purposes.
However, prior expenditure does not remove a binding legal or contractual responsibility to return funds.
Project-Specific Donations and Institutional Grants
Where a donor specifies a charitable purpose and ELF expressly accepts that restriction, the Foundation will seek to use the contribution in accordance with the agreed terms.
If the original purpose cannot be fulfilled, ELF will evaluate appropriate alternatives in consultation with the donor, subject to applicable law and the donation agreement.
Restricted donations will not be redirected to materially different purposes in breach of an enforceable restriction.
Institutional grants, sponsorships, project agreements and memoranda of understanding may contain separate provisions governing refunds, unused funds, financial accountability, cancellation or repayment.
Where such provisions apply, they will take precedence over this general policy to the extent required by law and the applicable agreement.
Recurring Donations and Cancellation
Where recurring donations are offered, donors may request cancellation of future contributions by contacting ELF or using the relevant payment provider's cancellation process.
Cancellation will apply to future payments that can still reasonably be stopped and will not automatically reverse donations already received.
Donors who establish recurring payments directly through their banks may also need to cancel the relevant standing order or payment instruction with their financial institution.
Any legally binding pledge or grant commitment will be governed by its applicable written terms.
In-Kind Donations
Non-monetary contributions, including food, clothing, educational materials, equipment and other donated goods, are generally not returnable once accepted and distributed or used for charitable purposes.
Requests for the return of unused items may be considered individually.
The Foundation may require proof of ownership and may take account of safeguarding, storage, operational and legal considerations.
Nothing in this section overrides an enforceable agreement or applicable legal requirement.
Donation Receipts and Recordkeeping
ELF may issue donation acknowledgements or official receipts after receiving and verifying contributions.
If a donation is refunded or reversed, the Foundation may amend, cancel or replace the relevant receipt to maintain accurate financial records.
Refunded contributions must not be represented as continuing donations for tax or other reporting purposes.
ELF may maintain appropriate records of transactions, refunds, correspondence and disputes in accordance with its financial governance procedures, Privacy Policy and applicable legal requirements.
Fraud Prevention and Protection of Charitable Resources
ELF is committed to protecting charitable contributions against fraud, financial misconduct, misrepresentation and unauthorised transactions.
The Foundation may implement reasonable financial safeguards, including transaction verification, internal approval procedures, bank reconciliation, independent review and relevant recordkeeping.
ELF reserves the right to reject future voluntary contributions where there are reasonable and lawful grounds to believe that accepting them would expose the Foundation to fraud, unlawful activity or unacceptable financial risk.
Such decisions will be taken in accordance with applicable laws and without unlawful discrimination or retaliation.
Limitation of Liability
ELF will take reasonable care in administering donations and processing legitimate financial requests.
To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, the Foundation shall not be liable for losses caused solely by independent banking failures, third-party processing delays, exchange-rate fluctuations or circumstances beyond its reasonable control where no legal responsibility is otherwise established.
Nothing in this policy excludes liability that cannot legally be excluded, including liability arising from fraud, unlawful conduct or breach of mandatory legal obligations.
Complaints and Dispute Resolution
ELF encourages donors and other relevant parties to raise concerns through the Foundation's official communication channels.
The Foundation will endeavour to review legitimate concerns fairly, professionally and in good faith.
Where a dispute cannot be resolved directly, the parties may pursue any available procedures under applicable banking rules, binding agreements or law.
Direct resolution is encouraged but is not a mandatory condition for exercising a legal or regulatory right.
Governing Law
This policy is intended to operate in accordance with the applicable laws of Pakistan.
Where mandatory laws or financial regulations of another jurisdiction apply to a particular contribution or transaction, those requirements will also be respected.
Nothing in this policy removes the jurisdiction of a competent court or regulatory authority or restricts legal protections that cannot lawfully be waived.
Changes to This Policy
ELF reserves the right to review and update this policy to reflect changes in organisational procedures, banking arrangements, payment methods or legal requirements.
The updated policy will be published on the Foundation's official website.
Changes will apply prospectively unless otherwise permitted by law and will not retrospectively remove established rights or override existing binding donation agreements.
Contact Information
For refund enquiries, donation corrections, chargeback concerns or other payment-related matters, please contact:
EDUCATION AND LIFE FOUNDATION (ELF)
Head Office: 181 Raza Block, Allama Iqbal Town, Lahore, Pakistan
Email: info@educationandlifefoundation.org
Phone: +92 300 9475513
Website: www.educationandlifefoundation.org
© 2026 Education and Life Foundation. All Rights Reserved.