Gift Hope Privacy Policy
Date of Last Revision: March 17th 2018.
Welcome to the website or application as the case may be (collectively, the “Platform”) of Gift Hope Funds, Inc. (including its subsidiaries, affiliates, agents, and service providers, collectively, “Gift Hope”, “we”, “us” and/or “our”). This Platform is operated by Gift Hope and has been created to provide information about our non-profit organization and to permit donors and fundraising groups to provide monetary donations, charities and non-profits to accept monetary donations, corporations to provide matching donations. This Privacy Policy sets forth Gift Hope’s policy with respect to information, including personal data (“Personal Data”) and other information that is collected from users of or visitors to the Platform. By accessing or using the Platform, you signify that you have read this Privacy Policy, and you expressly consent to our collection, use, disclosure, storage and protection of your personal information as described in this Privacy Policy.
Information We Collect
When you interact with us through the Services, we may collect Personal Data and other information from you, as further described below:
Personal Data That You Provide Through the Services: We collect Personal Data from you (including, but not limited to, your name, email address and location) when you voluntarily provide such information, such as when you register as a donor with us, when you contact us with inquiries, respond to one of our surveys, register as a non-profit, corporate partner, fundraising group, or approach us for access to the Services or use certain Services. Wherever Gift Hope collects Personal Data we make an effort to provide a link to this Privacy Policy.
All Personal Data is collected for the purposes of providing the Services to you, as well as providing customer service, conducting research and improving the Services. For more details on why we collect your Personal Data and how we use it, please see the section below entitled “Our use of Personal Data and other information.” While you are under no obligation to provide any Personal Data, should you choose to withhold such information, we may not be able to provide you with some or all of the Services.
By voluntarily providing us with Personal Data, you are consenting to our use of it in accordance with this Privacy Policy. If you provide Personal Data to the Services, you acknowledge and agree that such Personal Data may be transferred from your current location to the offices and servers of Gift Hope and the authorized third parties referred to herein located in the United States.
Information displayed on a Donor page. When you register for an account on the Platform as a donor, the default profile setting is to have a public donor profile on the Platform and under this setting, a basic public donor page will automatically be created for you. The basic public donor page may show to the public your name, area of residence (city, state/province and country), public donor page URL and the date on which you created an account on the Website. You may also choose to provide other information through the creation of a donor page (for example, age, gender, your occupation, the causes that you support, the charities that you support, the reasons why you donate, a description of your work and your website). You can review and update the donor page information you provide to Gift Hope through the Platform by logging into your account on the Platform. You have the option of closing down your public Donor profile on the Platform by changing your Donor page setting to anonymous at your discretion. If you have a public Donor profile, once you begin to donate on the Platform or utilize other features on the Platform, your public Donor page on the Platform will automatically show information about your activity on the Platform.
Information collected and displayed about the donations that you have made (“Transactions”). Gift Hope collects information on your Transactions, individually (for example, amount of a Transaction, recipient of the donation, time, method used to donate) and in the aggregate (for example, number of Transactions and the distribution of Transactions by gender, country, sector and partner). If you have created an account on the Gift Hope platform and conducted Transactions through your account, Gift Hope makes information on these Transactions available to you on your private portfolio page on the platform. Except as noted in the section titled “Our Disclosure of Personal Data and Other Information”, Gift Hope will not disclose your personally identifiable Transaction information to any third party without your consent (please note: having a public profile setting on the Platform at the time of disclosure is considered consent for such disclosure; agreeing on sharing information about your donation on the social media is also considered a consent for such disclosure). If you have a public profile, information on Transactions conducted through your Account will be displayed on your public Donor page. Gift Hope may further publicly display and disclose Transaction information, either in a personally identifiable or anonymous manner (depending on your Donor profile setting at the time of such display or disclosure), for example, as part of the latest activity of any Charity to which you may have attributed the donation, as part of the current activity on the Platform, or as part of a historical visualization of activity on the Platform. If you have created an account on the Platform and conducted Transactions through your account, you can review information for these Transactions by logging into your account on the Website.
Information displayed on a Charity profile page. When you register for an account on the Platform as a Charity (or non-profit), the default profile setting is to have a public Charity profile on the Platform and under this setting, a basic public Charity page will be created for you. The basic public Charity page shows to the public your name, location (city, state/province and country), your mission, logo, pictures, public Charity page URL and the date on which you created an account on the Platform. You may also choose to provide other information through the creation of a Charity page (for example, the causes that you support, the projects that are involved in, description of your plans of distributing the funds, details of your board members, 501(c)3 and IRS letter of determination). You can review and update the Charity page information you provide to Gift Hope through the Platform by contacting Gift Hope at nonprofit@gifthope.com. You have the option of closing down your public Charity profile on the Platform by emailing nonprofit@gifthope.com. If you have a Charity profile, once you begin to participate in activities (reception of a donation, communicating with donors and corporations, etc.) on the Platform or utilize other features on the Platform, your public Charity page on the Platform can automatically show information about your activity on the Platform.
Information displayed on a Corporation profile page. When you register for an account on the Platform as a Corporation, the default profile setting is to have a public Corporation profile on the Platform and under this setting, a basic public Corporation page will be created for you. The basic public Corporation page shows to the public your name, location (city, state/province and country), public Corporation page URL and the date on which you created an account on the Platform. You may also choose to provide other information through the creation of a Corporation page (for example, your social mission, the causes that you support, the socially relevant projects that are involved in). You can review and update the Corporation page information you provide to Gift Hope by emailing corporation@gifthope.com. You have the option of closing down your public Corporation profile on the Platform by emailing corporation@gifthope.com. If you have a Corporation profile, once you begin to participate in activities (donation, matching donations, communicate with donors or charities, etc.) on the Platform or utilize other features on the Platform, your public Corporation page on the Platform can automatically show information about your activity on the Platform.
Information displayed on a Fundraising Group page. When you register for an account on the Platform as a Fundraising Group, the default profile setting is to have a public Fundraising profile on the Platform and under this setting, a basic public Fundraising page will automatically be created for you. The basic public Fundraising page shows to the public your group name, location (city, state/province and country), public Fundraising page URL and the date on which you created an account on the Platform. You may also choose to provide other information through the creation of a Fundraising page (for example, your mission, the causes that you support, the charities that you support, the reasons why you are involved in fundraising, a description of your plans of distributing the funds). You can review and update the Fundraising page information you provide to Gift Hope through the Platform by logging into your account on the Platform. You have the option of closing down your public Fundraising profile on the Platform by changing your Fundraising page setting to anonymous at your discretion. If you have a public Fundraising profile, once you begin to participate in fundraising on the Platform or utilize other features on the Platform, your public Fundraising page on the Platform can automatically show information about your activity on the Platform.
Other Information
Non-Personal Data: When you interact with Gift Hope through the Services, we automatically receive and store certain non-identifiable personal information. Such information, which is collected passively using various technologies, cannot presently be used to specifically identify you. Examples of this non-identifiable personal information include the type of internet browser or mobile device you use, any website from which you have come to the Services, your operating system, location data (which is anonymous and where you log in through the Platform you will be asked if you consent to the Services accessing your location, which can be updated at any time in your device settings) (“Non-Personal Data”). Gift Hope may store such Non-Personal Data itself or such information may be included in databases owned and maintained by Gift Hope affiliates, agents or service providers. The Services may use such Non-Personal Data to assist us in providing effective Services and to collect broad demographic information for aggregate use.
Aggregated Data: In an effort to better understand and serve the users of the Services, Gift Hope often conducts research on its customer demographics, interests and behavior based on the Personal Data, Non-Personal Data, and other information provided to us. This research may be compiled and analyzed on a de-identified, aggregate basis, and Gift Hope may share this aggregate data with its affiliates, agents, and business partners. This aggregate information does not identify you personally. Gift Hope may also disclose aggregated user statistics in order to describe our services to current and prospective business partners, and to other third parties for other lawful purposes.
Location Information: Some of our services may request that you provide your city or town and state or province of residence. Please keep in mind that other users of the Services may be able to view your city or town and state or province of residence in connection with the campaign, if it is made available within Gift Hope’s Public Search Directory. We may also use your location information in an aggregate way, as described above in the “Aggregated Data” section.
Social Networking Integrations: One of the special features of the Services is that it allows you to enable or log into the Services via various social networking services like Facebook or Twitter (“Social Networking Service(s)”). By directly integrating these services, we make your online experiences richer and more personalized. To take advantage of this feature, we will ask you to log into or grant us permission via the relevant Social Networking Service. When you add a Social Networking Services account to the Services or log into the Services using your Social Networking Services account, we will collect relevant information necessary to enable the Services to access that Social Networking Service and your data contained within that Social Networking Service. As part of such integration, the Social Networking Service will provide us with access to certain information that you have provided to the Social Networking Service, and we will use, store, and disclose such information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. However, please remember that the manner in which Social Networking Services use, store, and disclose your information is governed by the policies of such third parties, and Gift Hope shall have no liability or responsibility for the privacy practices or other actions of any Social Networking Services that may be enabled within the Services.
You may also have the option of posting your Services activities to Social Networking Services when you access content through the Services (for example, you may post to Facebook that you performed an activity on the Platform); you acknowledge that if you choose to use this feature, your friends, followers, and subscribers on any Social Networking Services you have enabled will be able to view such activity.
Please visit the privacy policy of the relevant Social Networking Service to find out more information about your rights and choices.
Mobile Services: The Services include certain services that are available via a mobile device, including (i) the ability to upload content to the Services via a mobile device, (ii) the ability to browse the Platform and Services from a mobile device, and (iii) the ability to access certain features through an application downloaded and installed on a mobile device (collectively, the “Mobile Services”). To the extent you access the Services through a mobile device, your wireless service carrier’s standard charges, data rates, and other fees may apply. In addition, downloading, installing, or using certain Mobile Services may be prohibited or restricted by your carrier, and not all Mobile Services may work with all carriers or devices. By using the Mobile Services, you agree that we may communicate with you regarding Gift Hope by SMS, MMS, text message, or other electronic means to your mobile device and that certain information about your usage of the Mobile Services may be communicated to us. In the event you change or deactivate your mobile telephone number, you agree to promptly update your Gift Hope account information to ensure that your messages are not sent to the person that acquires your old number.
Third-Party Personal Data: The Services may also collect Personal Data relating to third parties stored in your email and mobile device address books, including, without limitation, names, email addresses, and phone numbers (collectively, “Third-Party Personal Data”). The Services may request your permission to access such Third-Party Personal Data.
Additional Information collected for additional Platform and Program features
As you use additional features on the Platform or otherwise participate in the Program, we may collect any additional information you choose to provide in order to facilitate the operation of these features on the Platform or your participation in the Program. For example:
Comments and messages. If you use interactive features on the Platform to write a comment (for example, on a Gift Hope blog, message board or volunteer forum), Gift Hope will collect your name and your comment, and optionally, your location and Gift Hope may publicly display this information. If you use interactive features on the Platform to write a message through Gift Hope’s donor messaging feature, Gift Hope will collect your message and information about your recipient that you provide in order to deliver your message to the recipient and make your message available for access by the recipient. You should be aware that any information you provide in these areas may be read, collected, and used by others who access them. To request removal of your personal information from our blog or community forum, please contact us at support@gifthope.com. In some cases, we may not be able to remove your personal information, in which case we will let you know if we are unable to do so and why.
Integrated third party features. If you use features on the Platform that are integrated with third party Platforms or services (for example, Twitter and Facebook) to share information about your activity on the Platform (for example, information about recently completed Transactions and whether you “like” Gift Hope) through the third party Platform or service, Gift Hope will share this information with the third party Platform or service and additional information, if any, that you choose to provide to Gift Hope in order to use these features (for example, your username for the third party Platform or service). However, Gift Hope reserves the right to withhold or withdraw information related to borrowers to the extent necessary to protect the privacy of borrowers. If you use interactive features on Gift Hope to indicate that you “recommend” a particular feature or listing on Gift Hope, that information will be collected and may be displayed on the Platform and furthermore shared on any applicable third party Platforms and services to which you have authorized such information sharing.
Donations to Gift Hope. Gift Hope collects information on any donations you make to Gift Hope (whether through the Platform or offline) to communicate with you (for example, to provide donation confirmations) via your email address, physical address or through other means of contact that you have chosen to provide to Gift Hope.
Customer service. If you contact Gift Hope customer service, we will collect the information you provide (for example, your name, email address, physical address, phone number and question/comment) in order to contact you and address your question or comment.
Applications. If you submit an application to Gift Hope (for example, to be listed on the Gift Hope Platform, for employment, volunteer, trustee, or field partner), we collect the information you submit (for example, name, phone number, resume, cover letter and position of interest) to assess the application and follow up with you on such submission.
Surveys and Promotions. From time-to-time, Gift Hope may provide you the opportunity to participate in promotions or surveys through the Platform or through email. If you participate, we may request certain personally identifiable information from you. Participation in these surveys or promotions is completely voluntary and you therefore have a choice whether or not to disclose this information. The requested information typically includes contact information (such as name and shipping address), and demographic information (such as zip code and gender). We use this information to notify and award promotion winners, to monitor Platform traffic, personalize the Platform and Program and to send participants email newsletters. We may use third party service providers to conduct these surveys or promotions. We will not share the personally identifiable information you provide through a contest or survey with other third parties unless we give you prior notice and choice.
Our Use of Personal Data and Other Information
Gift Hope uses the Personal Data you provide in a manner that is consistent with this Privacy Policy. If you provide Personal Data for a certain reason, we may use the Personal Data in connection with the reason for which it was provided. For instance, if you contact us by email, we will use the Personal Data you provide to answer your question or resolve your problem. Also, if you provide Personal Data about yourself, or have provided (or otherwise permitted the Services to access) any Third-Party Personal Data in order to obtain access to or make use of particular features of the Services, we will use your Personal Data and any such Third-Party Personal Data to provide you with access to such services and to monitor your use of such services.
Gift Hope may also use your Personal Data and other Non-Personal Data collected through the Services to help us in providing the Services, processing transactions, fulfilling requests for information, receiving and sending communications, updating marketing lists, analyzing data, providing support services, or other tasks from time to time.
Gift Hope may, with your consent, use your Personal Data to contact you in the future to tell you about services we believe will be of interest to you where permitted by applicable law. If we do so, each marketing communication we send you will contain instructions permitting you to “opt-out” of receiving future marketing communications. In addition, if at any time you wish not to receive any future marketing communications or you wish to have your name deleted from our mailing lists, please contact us as indicated below.
We may also use your Personal Data and Third-Party Personal Data to send communications relating to the Services, in accordance with applicable laws. For example, we may send periodic emails to registered users of the Services relating to their recent interactions with the Services, such as donating to a campaign or “hearting” a campaign. Also, if you use any feature of the Services permitting you to communicate with third parties (such as to refer a third party to the Services or to communicate with them regarding a campaign or a donation), either by submitting Third-Party Personal Data to the Services or otherwise permitting the Services to automatically access Third-Party Personal Data in your possession, you acknowledge and agree that you have the authority of the relevant third party for us to access and use the relevant Third-Party Personal Data and that you have notified these third parties and informed them how their information is collected and used by Gift Hope to provide the Services. We reserve the right to identify you as the person who has made the referral in any messages that are sent to them. We may use Third-Party Personal Data to (1) contact such third party using the Third-Party Personal Data provided, and/or (2) provide you with an editable template message designed to facilitate communication between you and such third party through the Services. In addition to sending the foregoing communications, we may also send reminders or related messages to you and to third parties on your behalf from time to time where permitted by applicable law. In each case, any such communications sent to third parties using Third-Party Personal Data will provide a means to “opt-out” of receiving further communication of the same nature.
If Gift Hope intends on using any Personal Data in any manner or for any purpose that is not consistent with this Privacy Policy, we will obtain your prior informed consent as required by applicable law.
Our Disclosure of Personal Data and Other Information
Gift Hope is not in the business of selling your information. We consider this information to be a vital part of our relationship with you. There are, however, certain circumstances in which we may share your Personal Data with certain third parties without further notice to you, as set forth below:
Business Transfers: As we develop our business, we might sell or buy businesses or assets. In the event of a corporate sale, merger, reorganization, dissolution or similar event, Personal Data may be part of the transferred assets.
Agents, Consultants and Related Third Parties: Gift Hope, like many businesses, sometimes hires other companies to perform certain business-related functions. Examples of such functions include mailing information and maintaining databases. When we employ another entity to perform a function of this nature, we only provide them with the information that they need to perform their specific function and require them to only use the information for the purposes for which it was collected.
Legal Requirements: Gift Hope may disclose your Personal Data if required to do so by law or in the good-faith belief that such action is necessary to (i) comply with a legal obligation, (ii) protect and defend the rights or property of Gift Hope, (iii) act in urgent circumstances to protect the personal safety of users of the Services or the public, or (iv) protect against legal liability.
Your Choices
As mentioned throughout this Privacy Policy, you can visit the Platform without providing any Personal Data. If you choose not to provide any Personal Data, you may not be able to use certain Services.
Cookies
When you interact with the Services, we try to make that experience simple and meaningful. When you visit our Platform, our web server sends a cookie to your computer or mobile device (as the case may be). Cookies are small pieces of information which are issued to your computer or mobile device (as the case may be) when you visit a website or access or use a mobile application, and which store and sometimes track information about your use of the Platform (as the case may be). A number of cookies we use last only for the duration of your web or application session and expire when you close your browser or exit the application. Other cookies are used to remember you when you return to the Platform and will last for longer.
Some of the cookies used by the Platform are set by us, and some are set by third parties who are delivering services on our behalf.
Most web and mobile device browsers automatically accept cookies but, if you prefer, you can change your browser to prevent that or to notify you each time a cookie is set. You can also learn more about cookies by visiting www.allaboutcookies.org, which includes additional useful information on cookies and how to block cookies using different types of browsers or mobile devices. Please note, however, that by blocking or deleting cookies used on the Platform, you may not be able to take full advantage of the Services.
The Platform uses cookies, and similar technologies to cookies, to collect information about your access and use of the Platform. You can also update your privacy settings on your device by setting the “Limit Ad Tracking” and Diagnostics and Usage setting property located in the settings screen of your Apple iPhone or iPad, or by resetting your Android ID through apps that are available in the Play Store. You can also stop information collection by uninstalling the App on your device and you can use the standard uninstall process available as part of your device for this purpose.
Some information on the types of cookies we use and how we use them is set out below:
- Essential: Allow you to navigate and use all the features provided by our Platform.
- Functional Cookies: These cookies customize elements of the promotional layout and/or content of the pages of the Platform and remember that you have visited us before; this means we can identify the number of unique visitors we receive. This allows us to make sure we have enough capacity for the number of users that we get.
So when you use our Platform, we remember you and your preferences and information you have submitted to us to provide you with a customized experience.
- Performance and Analytics: Performance cookies let us collect information about how you use the Platform. They collect anonymous statistical information about how you use the Platform (including how long you spend on the Platform) and where you have come to the Platform from, so that we can improve the Platform and learn which functions of the Platform are most popular with users. This information does not include Personal Data, although we might be able to associate such information with user accounts once we receive it from the third party.
- Advertising and Targeting: These cookies collect information about the pages you visit online. They gather information about the pages that you visit or the functions of the Platform you use, and also other information about other websites that you visit, so as to place you in a “market segment”. This information is only collected by reference to the IP address or unique device identifier that you are using (the applicable cookie identifier) and also can include information about the county or province and city or town you are in, together with the name of your internet service provider. This information is then used to place interest-based advertisements on the Platform, which it is believed will be relevant to your market segment. This may result in you seeing advertisements for our Platform when you visit other websites.
We use third parties, for example, Google Analytics, to analyze statistical information from users of the Platform and provide you with interest-based advertisements. You can understand Google Analytics further at https://www.google.com/intl/en/analytics/learn/privacy.html and learn about how to manage Google Analytics settings at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
Other Terms and Conditions
Exclusion
This Privacy Policy does not apply to any Personal Data collected by Gift Hope other than Personal Data collected through the Services. This Privacy Policy shall not apply to any unsolicited information you provide to Gift Hope through the Services or through any other means. This includes, but is not limited to, information posted to any public areas of the Services, such as forums or comment sections, any customer support communications, any ideas for new products or modifications to existing products, and other unsolicited submissions (collectively, “Unsolicited Information”). You agree that any Unsolicited Information becomes the intellectual property of Gift Hope to the furthest extent permitted by applicable law, and agree to assign any and all residual rights or interests that you may have in such Unsolicited Information to Gift Hope. All Unsolicited Information shall be deemed to be non-confidential and Gift Hope shall be free to reproduce, use, disclose, and distribute such Unsolicited Information to others without limitation or attribution to the extent permitted by applicable law.
Children
Gift Hope does not knowingly collect Personal Data from children under the age of 13. If you are under the age of 13, please do not use the Services and/or submit any Personal Data through the Services. We encourage parents and legal guardians to monitor their children’s Internet usage and to help enforce our Privacy Policy by instructing their children never to provide Personal Data on the Services without their permission. If you have reason to believe that a child under the age of 13 has provided Personal Data to Gift Hope through the Services, please contact us support@gifthope.com, and we will endeavor to delete that information from our databases.
Links to Other Web Sites
This Privacy Policy applies only to the Services. The Services may contain links to other web sites not operated or controlled by Gift Hope (the “Third-Party Sites”). The policies and procedures we described here do not apply to the Third-Party Sites. The links from the Services do not imply that Gift Hope endorses or has reviewed the Third-Party Sites. We suggest contacting those sites directly for information on their respective privacy policies.
Public Forums
Our Website offers publicly accessible blogs or community forums. You should be aware that any information you provide in these areas may be read, collected, and used by others who access them. To request removal of your personal information from our blog or community forum, contact us at support@gifthope.com. In some cases, we may not be able to remove your personal information, in which case we will let you know if we are unable to do so and why.
Location of Data
Gift Hope is headquartered in the USA. Your personal information may be accessed by Gift Hope, our affiliates, service providers, agents and representatives in the USA or elsewhere in the world. By providing us with personal information, you consent to this transfer. Gift Hope will protect the privacy and security of personal information according to this Privacy Policy regardless of where the personal information is processed or stored.
Security
Gift Hope takes reasonable steps to protect the Personal Data provided via the Services from loss, misuse, and unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. However, no Internet or email transmission is ever fully secure or error free. In particular, email sent to or from the Services may not be secure. Therefore, you should take special care in deciding what information you send to us via email. Please keep this in mind when disclosing any Personal Data to Gift Hope via the Internet.
Retention Period
Gift Hope reserves the right to retain your personal information for a period of 7 years or more to satisfy legal requirements such as recordkeeping and tax and credit reporting requirements, as well as for purposes of fraud prevention, audit and data integrity. In addition, Gift Hope reserves the right to retain, as well as to use and disclose as permitted pursuant to this Privacy Policy, your personal information for such period of time as reasonably needed by Gift Hope to facilitate activities and transactions for the operation of the Website and Program, improve User experiences on the Website and in the Program and further Gift Hope’s mission. Gift Hope reserves the right to retain information that does not directly identify you, for example, aggregated or anonymized data.
Terms and Conditions
Your access to and use of the Services is subject to the Terms of Service at https://www.gifthope.com/terms and such other terms, which may be made available to you in connection with your use of the Services.
Changes to Gift Hope’s Privacy Policy
The Services and our business may change from time to time. As a result, at times it may be necessary for Gift Hope to make changes to this Privacy Policy. Gift Hope reserves the right to update or modify this Privacy Policy at any time and from time to time. Any material changes will be preceded by a notice posted on the relevant Service(s). If you disagree with our revisions to the Privacy Policy, you may de-activate your account or discontinue the use of our Services. Please review this policy periodically, and especially before you provide any Personal Data. This Privacy Policy was last updated on the date indicated above. Your continued use of the Services after any changes or revisions to this Privacy Policy shall indicate your agreement with the terms of such revised Privacy Policy.
Legal disclosures
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Privacy Policy or the Terms of Use, you acknowledge, consent and agree that Gift Hope may disclose information in order to: (a) comply with applicable law, regulation, legal process, or governmental request; (b) protect the rights, property and safety of Gift Hope, Users and others, including intellectual property rights; and (c) enforce or apply our agreements and policies.
Access to Information; Contacting Gift Hope
To keep your Personal Data accurate, current, and complete, please contact us as specified below. You may request in writing copies of your Personal Data held by us. If your Personal Data that we hold is inaccurate, please let us know and we will make the necessary amendments, erase, or block the relevant Personal Data as you request and notify you within thirty (30) days of such request that the relevant action has been taken.
Please also feel free to contact us if you have any questions about Gift Hope’s Privacy Policy or the information practices of the Services.
You may contact us as follows: support@gifthope.com.
