Donation & Refund Policy

1. No online payments

This website does not process any payments. There is no donation button, no checkout, no card form and no payment gateway. Anyone presenting a page that appears to take card payments in our name is not acting for us, and we would be grateful if you would report it to us.

2. How donations are received

• The donation box at the shrine entrance, opened by two volunteers together and recorded in the donation book on the same day.
• Cheque or bank transfer, arranged directly by contacting the trustee on (303) 501-5481 or by email.
• Goods in kind — food staples, equipment and materials, recorded by description rather than value.
• Sponsorship of an event, where a family covers a specific cost such as flowers, a meal or musicians.

3. What donations pay for

Rent and property costs, heating and utilities, kitchen ingredients, insurance and compliance, festival materials and building repairs. No volunteer, coordinator or trustee receives any salary, stipend, fee or expense payment for their time. An approximate breakdown is published on our support page and the full figures are read aloud at the open congregation meetings held each January and July.

4. Receipts

A written receipt is issued on request for any donation of any size. Ask at the time, or email info@shrikhodiyarmandirtrust.website afterwards with the date and amount. Please retain your own records for tax purposes and consult a qualified tax adviser regarding deductibility — we cannot give tax advice.

5. Refunds

Donations are voluntary gifts and are normally non-refundable, because they are typically spent within weeks on rent, food and utilities. However, mistakes happen, and we will always deal with them fairly:

• Duplicate or mistaken amounts: contact us within 30 days and, where the donation can be identified in our records, we will refund it in full by the same method it was given.
• Event sponsorship where the event is cancelled by us: you may choose a full refund or to carry the sponsorship to the next occasion.
• Unauthorised payments: if you believe a payment was made in your name without your authority, telephone us immediately and we will investigate and, where confirmed, refund it.

Requests should be made to Robert Short, Trustee, by email or telephone. We aim to decide within 14 days and to pay any agreed refund within a further 14 days.

6. Anonymity and pressure

You may give anonymously. Nobody is ever pressed to give, nobody's name is published as a donor without their permission, and no service, class or meal is ever conditional on having donated.

7. Contact

Shri Khodiyar Mandir Trust, 1804 Valencia Pl, Pekin, IL 61554, USA · info@shrikhodiyarmandirtrust.website · (303) 501-5481.