This document is written in plain English. If anything is unclear, contact [email protected].
In short: Donations keep VipLIMS free for every laboratory. They are voluntary gifts, not payment for the service, and they do not buy features, priority or any other rights. They are refunded only if there has been a mistake. Visiopath Ltd is not a registered charity, so Gift Aid does not apply. You can cancel a recurring donation at any time.
Version 1.0. Effective date: 13 October 2026.
1. Who receives your donation
Donations are received by Visiopath Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales under company number 12096339, of 5 East Close, London W5 3HE, United Kingdom, which operates VipLIMS. You can contact us at [email protected] or on 0800 111 4606.
2. What donations are for
VipLIMS is free for every laboratory, with unlimited users and cases, no adverts, and no selling or mining of data. It is funded by voluntary donations from individuals and organisations, and by optional paid services. Donations help pay for hosting, backups, security work, development and support.
3. Donations are voluntary
3.1 Donating is entirely optional. Laboratories that donate and laboratories that do not have the same access to every feature of the service.
3.2 A donation:
- is a gift, not payment for any goods or services;
- does not buy features, a service level, priority support or any other benefit;
- does not give you any rights over VipLIMS, its development or its data;
- does not change our Terms of service or how we treat your laboratory's data.
3.3 If your organisation needs priority support, data migration, validation help or a dedicated instance, these are available as separate paid services. Contact [email protected].
4. How payments are taken
4.1 Donations are made on the hosted payment pages of Stripe or PayPal. VipLIMS never sees or stores your card or bank details. Stripe and PayPal act as independent controllers for your payment data, under their own terms and privacy notices.
4.2 The provider gives us a record of each donation, including your name, email address, amount, currency, date and whether it is recurring. See our Privacy policy for how we handle this.
4.3 Your bank or payment provider may charge fees, for example for currency conversion. Those charges are set by them, not by us.
5. Recurring donations
5.1 If you choose a monthly or other recurring donation, your payment provider will collect it on the schedule you choose until you cancel.
5.2 You can cancel at any time:
- through your Stripe or PayPal account, or the link in your donation receipt where the provider supplies one; or
- by emailing [email protected] with the email address you used and the approximate date of your first donation.
5.3 Cancellation stops future payments; it does not refund payments already made. If you email us, we will cancel within 5 working days and confirm when we have done so. If a payment is collected after you asked us to cancel, we will refund it.
6. Refunds for mistakes
6.1 Because donations are voluntary gifts, they are not refundable unless there has been a mistake, for example:
- you donated the wrong amount by mistake;
- you were charged twice for the same donation;
- a recurring donation was collected after you cancelled it;
- your payment method was used without your permission.
6.2 To ask for a refund, email [email protected] within 30 days of the payment, with the date, amount and provider. We will refund confirmed mistakes through the original payment method. Where a payment was taken without your permission, you can ask for a refund at any time.
6.3 This does not affect any rights you have under the law or with your card issuer or payment provider.
7. Tax status
7.1 Visiopath Ltd is a company, not a registered charity. This means donations are not eligible for Gift Aid and may not be tax-deductible for you or your organisation. Please check with your own tax adviser.
7.2 Your payment provider sends a receipt for each donation. We can provide a further receipt on request.
8. Organisational donations
Organisations can donate in the same way as individuals. If your organisation needs a purchase order or invoice to make a donation, email [email protected]. An invoice issued for a donation does not turn it into payment for services.
9. Supporter recognition
9.1 With your permission, we may thank you publicly, for example by listing your name, or your organisation's name or logo, on our supporter list. This is always opt-in. You can ask us to remove or change your entry at any time by emailing [email protected].
9.2 By sending us a logo, you confirm that you are allowed to let us display it for this purpose.
9.3 Any recognition, such as a supporter badge, is a thank-you only and does not create any rights.
10. How donations are used
10.1 Donations go to Visiopath Ltd to run and develop VipLIMS. We cannot promise to use a donation for a specific purpose.
10.2 If we ever decide to close VipLIMS, we will give every laboratory at least 12 months' notice. We will also email recurring donors directly so that they can decide whether to cancel.
11. Changes to these terms
We may update these terms. Changes apply to donations made after the update. If a change affects recurring donors, we will email them before it takes effect, and they can cancel at any time.
12. Governing law
These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have jurisdiction. If you are a consumer living in Scotland, Northern Ireland or the European Union, you keep any mandatory protections given by the law where you live, and you may also bring proceedings in your local courts.