Purpose
This privacy policy articulates the principles, policies, and actions of Emergency Food Network (EFN) about the information collected, retained and used related to supporters and friends, including donors, volunteers, prospects, and affiliated agencies and organizations. This policy is intended to guide the actions of EFN employees, volunteers, contractors and authorized representatives.
This information covered by this policy includes:
- Personal information obtained from donors, volunteers and prospects through pledge cards, letters, surveys, applications, and other forms, in writing, in person, by telephone, or electronically (e.g. name, address, employer, birth date, credit card number, family members, interests, etc.).
- Individual information may also be collected about donors, volunteers and prospects’ present and past giving history, volunteer activity, committee service, information from public documents and reports, and any other interactions an individual may have had with EFN.
Policy
We value our donors, volunteers and prospects (hereafter referred to as our “supporters”) and take their privacy seriously. We will respect the privacy of the personal and organizational information that we are privileged to have about our supporters. Our commitment to respect the privacy of our supporters extends to how we obtain, use, protect and share information about them. This privacy policy is intended to be applied in conjunction with related EFN policies, including, but not limited to, the Donor Bill of Rights (see below).
Principles and Actions
- We do not sell supporter information.
- Without the supporter’s consent, we do not provide their information to organizations or individuals outside EFN.
- We contractually require any person or organization providing services to EFN to protect the confidentiality of supporter information.
- We will hold strictly confidential all information concerning donors and prospects, including names, addresses, names of beneficiaries, nature and value of estates, amounts of provisions or gifts, etc., unless a donor or prospect grants permission to use selective information for purposes of referral, testimonial, example, recognition, or publicity.
- We have procedures in place to limit access to information to those employees and volunteers who need to know such information in order to fulfill our mission.
- We educate our employees and volunteers on the importance of protecting the privacy and security of confidential personal and organizational information.
- We will use our best efforts to comply with the expressed wishes of any supporter who does not want his/her name used in any promotional material, wishes their name removed from solicitation lists, or wishes to have their gifts or services be anonymous.
- We will collect, use and share information about our supporters among employees and volunteers only on a needs-to-know basis and for the sole purpose of carrying out EFN’s mission.
A Donor Bill of Rights
- The right to be informed of the organization’s mission, of the way the organization intends to use donated resources, and of its capacity to use donations effectively for their intended purposes.
- The right to be informed of the identity of those serving on the organization’s governing board, and to expect the board to exercise prudent judgment in its stewardship responsibilities.
- The right to have access to the organization’s most recent financial statements.
- The right to be assured their gifts will be used for the purposes for which they were given.
- The right to receive appropriate acknowledgment and recognition or to remain anonymous if desired.
- The right to be assured that information about their donations is handled with respect and with confidentiality to the extent provided by law.
- The right to expect that all relationships with individuals representing organizations of interest to the donor will be professional in nature.
- The right to be informed whether those seeking donations are volunteers, employees of the organization, or hired solicitors.
- The right to have the opportunity for their names to be deleted from mailing lists that an organization may intend to share.
- The right to freely ask questions when making a donation and to receive prompt, truthful, and forthright answers.