Effective October 30, 2026. These terms are an agreement between you and Global Somali Association L.L.C., a Minnesota limited liability company ("GSA", "we", "us"). By creating an account, paying, or using globalsomaliassociation.com or the GSA app, you agree to them. If you don't agree, don't use GSA.
1. Who can join
- GSA Members must be at least 18 years old. GSA Businesses and GSA Vendors must be run by someone at least 18 who can bind the business.
- GSA is open in five markets: Minnesota, Ohio, Seattle (Washington), Boston (Massachusetts) and California. You choose your home state when you sign up.
- You must give true information (name, email, phone, home state; members also date of birth and a clear photo of their face) and keep it current. One person, one member account.
2. Your account and your number
- Each group (Members, Businesses, Vendors) has its own numbers, issued in order of first successful payment, shown as five digits (for example #00042).
- Your number is yours while your membership is active. It is never changed except by the GSA owner for a stated reason, and it is never reused, except as stated below for accounts created by the GSA team.
- Numbers #00001 to #00010 for members are reserved and assigned by the GSA owner.
- Accounts created by the GSA team before launch must add payment information before November 20, 2026. If they don't, the account ends and its number is forfeited and may be given to another person before the network goes live.
- You are responsible for activity on your account and for keeping your login safe. Tell us right away at support@globalsomaliassociation.com if you think someone else is using it.
3. Founding badge
- The first 1,000 members, 100 businesses and 100 vendors in each state (in order of first payment) receive a Founding Badge for that state. Founding registration closes at the end of December 6, 2026 (Central Time), or earlier in a state once its spots are gone.
- The badge is a recognition only. It has no cash value, can't be transferred, and stays tied to the state where it was earned. Founding perks described on the website may change; any perk GSA promises in writing will be honored as described.
4. What you pay and when
- Onboarding fee, charged when you sign up: $15 (Member), $45 (Vendor), $75 (Business). It pays for setting up your account, your onboarding session, and securing your number and founding badge. It is not an event ticket and not a monthly payment.
- Your plan starts when GSA goes live in your state, and not before: Minnesota and Ohio December 6, 2026; Seattle and California January 1, 2027; Boston February 1, 2027.
- Plans: Monthly: $9.99 (Member), $34.99 (Vendor), $65 (Business). Yearly: $99 (Member), $349 (Vendor), $650 (Business). Prices are in U.S. dollars and include no taxes unless stated.
- Billing dates: your first plan payment is charged on go-live day. After that, monthly plans are charged on the 1st of each month at 12:00 AM Central Time, and yearly plans once a year on the renewal date.
- Automatic renewal: your plan renews automatically until you cancel. We remind you 7, 3 and 1 days before your first plan charge, and 30 days before a yearly plan renews. You can cancel online at any time from your account page.
- Payment: payments are processed by Stripe. By paying you authorize GSA, through Stripe, to charge your saved payment method for the onboarding fee and for each renewal until you cancel.
- Failed payments: if a payment fails, Stripe retries for about a week and emails you to update your card. If all retries fail, your membership ends and your number is retired.
- Price changes: we will tell you at least 30 days before a price change takes effect; it applies from your next renewal. You can cancel before then.
- Pause: where offered, you can pause your membership for $5 a month for up to 2 months. You keep your number but earn no points while paused.
5. Cancelling
- Cancel any time online from your account page in a couple of clicks. Your access continues until the end of the period you already paid for; then it ends.
- When your membership ends, your number is retired forever and your points are forfeited. If you join again later, you start over with a new number and 0 points.
- Refunds are covered by the Refund & Cancellation Policy. In short: the onboarding fee is the only payment that can be refunded, within the time limits stated there; plan payments are not refunded.
6. Onboarding sessions
- After you pay the onboarding fee you book an onboarding session within 3 days (or within 3 days of your state's sessions being posted). If you don't, you have 48 more hours; after that you can't book a session yourself, and the GSA team will help you.
- GSA Member sessions are online on Google Meet. GSA Business and Vendor sessions are in person or online. GSA may change a session's time, place or link and will notify you.
7. Events, activities and trips
- Plans include entry to GSA events in the network as described on the website; space is limited and some events need a reservation. Reservations follow the booking order on the website.
- Not showing up, or cancelling within 15 hours of an event, costs 100 points (never below 0) and a strike. Each strike lasts 3 months; with 3 active strikes you lose priority booking until enough expire.
- Trips and outings are run with outside hosts. You pay for your own ticket at the door, by card. The host's own terms and safety rules also apply, and you take part at your own risk to the extent the law allows.
- Nothing is scheduled on Fridays from 10 AM to 3 PM local time (Jumu'ah).
8. Points and rewards
Points are a loyalty benefit governed by the Rewards Terms below. Points have no cash value, can't be sold, transferred or exchanged for cash, and are forfeited when your membership ends.
You agree not to:
- harass, threaten or discriminate against anyone, or post hateful, sexual or violent content;
- impersonate anyone, use someone else's number or account, or check in someone who is not present;
- misuse points, rewards, coupons or check-ins, or try to get around limits;
- send spam, scrape the site, or interfere with its security or operation;
- break the law or the rules of a venue, host or GSA place.
GSA may suspend an account (reversible) or remove it from the network (the membership ends and the number is retired) for breaking these rules, with a written reason. Suspended accounts can't be checked in, reserve, order or message.
10. Content you share
You keep ownership of photos and text you post. You give GSA a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to show them inside the network as part of the service (for example your photo on your card, which businesses see at check-in). Opt-in features, such as the Community Spotlight and the Community Circle, show only what you choose to share. Don't post anything you don't have the right to share.
Donations to Community Missions are handled by a registered nonprofit partner, not by GSA, and are governed by that partner's terms. Donations are not open yet.
12. Not an investment
A GSA membership is not an investment. It gives no ownership share, profit, dividend or return of any kind. Statements about building community infrastructure describe goals, not promises of financial return.
13. The GSA app
The GSA mobile app uses the account you made on the website. Sign-up, plans, payments and cancelling happen only on the website. The only purchases in the app are food and drink orders paid to the GSA Business or Vendor you order from.
14. Changes to GSA and to these terms
We may change features, events and these terms. We will post changes on this page and, for material changes, notify you by email or in the app at least 30 days before they take effect. If you keep using GSA after that, the new terms apply; if you don't agree, you can cancel.
15. Disclaimers and limits
GSA is provided "as is". To the fullest extent the law allows, GSA is not liable for indirect or consequential damages, and our total liability for any claim is limited to the amount you paid GSA in the 12 months before the claim. GSA Businesses, Vendors, hosts and venues are independent; GSA is not responsible for their goods, services or premises. Some states don't allow these limits, so they may not apply to you.
16. Disputes
Please contact us first at support@globalsomaliassociation.com; most problems can be solved quickly. These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Minnesota, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. Any dispute that can't be resolved informally will be decided by the state or federal courts located in Ramsey County, Minnesota, and you and GSA agree to their jurisdiction. Either side may use small-claims court for claims that qualify.
17. Rewards Terms
GSA points are a free loyalty benefit for active GSA Members: you earn about $1 of reward value for every $5 you spend in the network, and rewards open after 90 days and 3 paid plan months.
| How you earn | Points | Limits |
|---|
| Spending at a GSA Business or Vendor | 5 per $1 | Purchases from $1; up to $100 counted per purchase; up to 1,500 purchase points a month |
| Checking in at a GSA event | 10 | Up to 5 events a month |
| Sign-up bonus (members) | 75 | Once per membership |
| First yearly plan payment | 500 | Once per membership |
| Referral, after the referred member's second payment | 125 | Per referred member |
| No-show, or cancelling within 15 hours of an event | minus 100 | Never below 0 |
- 25 points = $1 of reward value. Rewards open automatically after 90 days in the network AND 3 paid plan months (the onboarding fee doesn't count). Some rewards open after 6 or 12 months.
- Drinks and meals are given at the counter of any GSA Business or Vendor, which approves them on its screen. A place only has to give a reward to a member who has spent at least 5 times the reward's value at that place.
- Gift cards, merchandise, clothing and flights are fulfilled by GSA; stock can be limited, and GSA may substitute a reward of equal or greater value.
- Points have no cash value, can't be sold, transferred, combined between accounts or exchanged for cash, and are forfeited when the membership ends. No points are earned while paused.
- GSA may cancel points earned by fraud or error, and may change the earning rules or the reward catalog with 30 days' notice.
18. GSA Business and Vendor Terms
GSA Businesses and Vendors join the same way as members (onboarding fee, then a plan from go-live) and also agree to these terms.
- Honoring rewards: you must give valid GSA rewards at the counter when your screen shows a member can take them, at your own cost. GSA does not pay places back for rewards. Refusing valid rewards leads to discipline, up to suspension and removal from the network.
- Points fee: each month you pay GSA 2% of your sales that earned points. It is billed monthly through Stripe to your payment method on file, with a statement of the sales it covers.
- Check-ins: you may look up a member only to check them in or give a reward, and you see only their name and photo. Don't copy, keep or share member information.
- Vendors at events: you can check members in only while working a GSA event you're scheduled at (1 hour before doors until 1 hour after close). GSA plans to offer each vendor 2 events a month; attendance figures are goals, not guarantees.
- Card payments (optional): if you connect your own Stripe account, customers pay you directly through Stripe. GSA never holds your money and takes no fee on these payments; Stripe's own fees and terms apply.
- Orders and menus: you set your own items and prices and are responsible for your goods, food safety, permits, licenses and taxes.
- Vendor badges: Verified and Featured badges are earned, never bought; only the GSA owner awards them, and they can be removed if the requirements are no longer met.
- Directory and events: GSA may show your name, logo, address, hours and links in the directory and at events.
- Independence: you are an independent business, not an employee, agent or partner of GSA.
Global Somali Association L.L.C. · 3500 Rice St, Apt 505, Saint Paul, MN 55126 · support@globalsomaliassociation.com · (651) 424-9360