SHIFT Terms of Service
Last updated: 21 September 2026
SHIFT is two things, and these terms cover both. Part 1 covers the website at useshift.app, where athletes set a race goal and the people around them pledge money behind it. Part 2 covers the SHIFT iOS app. Part 3 applies to both. Read them with the Privacy Policy.
Part 1: the pledge platform
The platform is opening in stages. Today you can apply to be a founding athlete. Pledging is not open yet, and no money can be taken through the site until it is. The rules below are the rules that will apply when it opens, published now so athletes and backers can read them first.
1. What SHIFT does
An athlete publishes a page with a race, a goal and a chosen charity. People who want to support them (backers) pledge money. Each backer decides how their pledge is split between the charity and, if the athlete has switched on personal funding, the athlete. Nobody is charged until after race day.
SHIFT is a platform. It is not a charity, a bank, a race organiser or a coach. It does not give tax, legal or training advice.
2. Who can use it
- You must be 18 or over to publish an athlete page, to pledge, or to receive a payout.
- Athletes receiving personal funding must be able to complete identity and bank verification with Stripe and receive payouts in pounds sterling to a UK bank account.
- Clubs and companies must be represented by someone with authority to act for them.
3. How a pledge works
- The split. When you pledge you choose how much goes to the charity and how much goes to the athlete. On pages where personal funding is off, and on all company team pages, the whole pledge goes to charity. On club pages the non-charity share goes to the club's shared pot, never to an individual member.
- The condition. For any share going to the athlete or a club pot you choose one of two rules: paid whatever happens, or paid only if the goal is met. The charity share never depends on the result.
- It locks. Once you confirm, the amount, the split and the condition are fixed and cannot be changed. If you have made a genuine mistake, email us before race day and we will put it right.
- Your card. At the time of pledging your card is saved securely with Stripe and nothing is taken. By confirming, you authorise SHIFT to charge that card after race day for the amount these terms say is due.
- A pledge is a gift. You receive nothing in return in any outcome: no prize, no refund of a larger sum, no goods or services. A conditional pledge is a gift that is only made if a condition is met. It is not a bet.
4. The fee
SHIFT charges backers a platform fee of 6%, added on top of the pledge. It covers payment processing and running the service. A £100 pledge costs the backer £106 and the full £100 goes to the split the backer chose. The fee is calculated on the amount actually charged, so if a conditional share is not charged, no fee is charged on that share. SHIFT takes nothing from athletes or charities.
5. What is charged in each outcome
| Part of the pledge | Goal met | Goal missed | Did not start or did not finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charity share | Charged | Charged | Charged |
| Athlete or club share, whatever happens | Charged | Charged | Charged |
| Athlete or club share, only if goal met | Charged | Never charged | Never charged |
6. How the result is decided
- The result is the athlete's official chip (net) time published by the race organiser. A time goal is met if that time is equal to or faster than the goal time shown on the page. A "finish" goal is met if the organiser lists the athlete as an official finisher.
- Where a goal is not a time (for example a placing or a qualification), the page must state what official published result decides it.
- The athlete gives SHIFT a link to the official result. SHIFT checks it and settles pledges, normally within 14 days of the results being published.
- If there is no official published result, the goal is treated as not met. If a backer or athlete disputes a result, email us within 14 days of settlement. SHIFT will review the organiser's published results and its decision on whether the goal was met is final.
7. If the race moves or is cancelled
- If the organiser postpones the race, the page moves to the new date and pledges stay in place.
- If the organiser cancels the race, the athlete has 60 days to name a replacement race of the same distance with the same goal. Backers are told, and any backer may withdraw their pledge before the replacement race day.
- If no replacement is named, conditional shares are never charged. Charity shares and "whatever happens" shares are charged, because they were never tied to the race result.
8. If a card payment fails
If a charge fails after race day we will email the backer and retry. If it still fails the pledge is marked as failed. SHIFT does not guarantee that any pledge will be collected and does not make up a shortfall. Totals shown on a page before settlement are pledges, not money received.
9. Refunds
Because nothing is charged until after the race, there is usually nothing to refund before then. After a charge, pledges are gifts and are not normally refundable. We will refund a charge that was made in error, in the wrong amount, or on a page we find to be fraudulent. Nothing in these terms affects your rights against your card issuer or your rights under consumer law.
10. Athletes
- Your page must be true: you are genuinely entered in, or genuinely intend to enter, the race, and the goal is one you are honestly trying to achieve.
- If you list what your share pays for, spend it on those things or on the same race effort.
- Money you receive is a personal gift from your backers, not a charitable donation and not a payment from SHIFT. Any tax consequences are yours to check. Gift Aid cannot be claimed on it.
- You must not pledge to your own page, arrange for others to do so with your money, or otherwise manipulate totals.
- Payouts are made through Stripe after settlement and after Stripe's verification is complete. SHIFT may pause a payout while it checks a result or investigates suspected fraud.
- You can take your page down at any time before race day. If you do, all pledges on it are cancelled and nobody is charged.
11. Charities
- Athletes may choose any charity registered in the United Kingdom. SHIFT checks the registration number before a page goes live. Naming a charity on a page does not mean that charity endorses SHIFT or the athlete.
- SHIFT passes the charity share to the charity after settlement, normally within 30 days. If a charity cannot or will not accept the money, SHIFT will ask the athlete to choose another registered charity.
- SHIFT does not currently claim or process Gift Aid. If that changes, these terms will be updated first.
12. Example pages
Pages marked "Example page" were written by SHIFT to show the format. The athletes, backers, totals and charities on them are fictional and they cannot accept pledges.
13. Things you must not do
- Publish a false or misleading page, or pledge using a card you are not authorised to use.
- Use SHIFT to move money for any purpose other than genuinely backing an athlete's goal.
- Post messages or stories that are abusive, unlawful, or that include someone else's personal data without their permission.
- Interfere with the site, scrape it at scale, or try to get around its security or rate limits.
SHIFT may remove a page or message, cancel pledges before they are charged, or close an account where reasonably necessary to protect users, comply with the law or prevent fraud.
Part 2: the SHIFT iOS app
This part governs use of the current SHIFT iOS app and the features clearly available in it. Read it with the Subscription Terms and Apple's Standard Licensed Application End User License Agreement where applicable.
Use of the App
SHIFT is provided for race-weekend activity, hydration, preparation prompts, private crew participation and subscription management. You are responsible for using it safely, lawfully and in accordance with event, workplace and local rules. Do not use SHIFT while driving or where looking at a phone would be unsafe.
Health and Fitness Notice
SHIFT is a general fitness and wellness product, not a medical device, emergency service or substitute for professional advice. Outputs and readiness-style prompts can be incomplete or wrong. Stop activity and seek appropriate professional help if you are unwell, injured or concerned about a medical condition.
Location and Safety
Use Track Run somewhere safe and lawful. Foreground location, when allowed, is an aid for estimating activity distance and pace; it is not safety monitoring, navigation or proof that a route is safe. Keep SHIFT open during tracking because background tracking is not enabled in the current candidate. A timer/manual passport option remains available if location is unavailable or declined.
Ask Coach
Ask Coach is optional and provides general AI-assisted suggestions. Before its first use, SHIFT describes the information sent to OpenAI and asks for consent to the current data notice. Do not enter confidential employer, team, medical or third-party information. You remain responsible for decisions made using an output and should verify important information independently. See the AI Disclaimer and Privacy Policy for the current data boundary and retention details.
Third-Party Services
SHIFT relies on independent services including Apple, RevenueCat, Supabase, OpenAI, web hosting and email delivery. Their availability and processing are subject to their own systems and terms. SHIFT remains responsible for the SHIFT app and its support. The current App Store candidate does not offer a connected-fitness-provider flow; any future provider connection must be clearly enabled, reviewed and disclosed before use.
Subscriptions
SHIFT Pro subscriptions on iOS use Apple In-App Purchase. Apple displays the localized price, billing period and account-specific introductory-offer eligibility before purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically until cancelled in the user's Apple account. The free Track Run, passport and foundation week do not require SHIFT Pro. See the Subscription Terms for purchase, restore and cancellation information.
User Content
You are responsible for names, goals, private crew or challenge text, workout notes, support reports and other content you enter. Do not submit confidential team information, unsafe location details, illegal or abusive content, personal data about someone else without permission, or material you do not have the right to use. SHIFT may restrict or remove content or access where reasonably necessary to protect users, comply with law or operate the service.
Availability and Changes
Connectivity, location services, email delivery, App Store services and third-party infrastructure can fail or be delayed. SHIFT may change or discontinue features, but will not knowingly charge for a paid entitlement that it cannot provide. Material changes to data handling or subscription terms will be disclosed through an updated notice where required.
Account Deletion
Users can start permanent account deletion in SHIFT Settings. Deleting the SHIFT account does not cancel an Apple subscription, so manage that separately in Apple subscription settings. The Privacy Policy and Delete Account page explain deletion scope and limited retention.
Part 3: general terms
Young users
SHIFT is not directed to children under 13. The pledge platform is for people aged 18 or over. If you are a minor, use the SHIFT app only with the involvement and permission required from a parent or guardian in your country. A minor must not use Ask Coach without the consent required by applicable law and the AI-service terms.
Our responsibility to you
We will run SHIFT with reasonable care and skill. We are not responsible for a race organiser's decisions or results, for a charity's or athlete's use of money once paid, for a failed card payment, or for outages of third-party services we rely on, including Stripe, Vercel, Supabase and Apple. We do not exclude or limit liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud, or for anything else the law does not allow us to exclude. If you use SHIFT as a consumer, you keep all your statutory rights.
Changes
We may update these terms. The date at the top shows the current version. A pledge is governed by the terms in force when it was confirmed, unless a later change is in the backer's favour or the law requires it.
Law
These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales. If you are a consumer living in Scotland or Northern Ireland you may also bring proceedings in your local courts.
Contact
For support, privacy or account questions, contact SHIFT at sam@useshift.app.