Privacy Policy
SCOPE; INTRODUCTION
The Thirst Project, Inc. (“TTP”; “we”; “us”) is committed to safeguarding your privacy. This Privacy Policy – effective as of the above date – governs your access to and use of the website https://thirstproject.org/ and all pages combined within it that are owned or operated by TTP, including but not limited to text, content, photographs, video, audio, graphics, and services therein (collectively, the “Site”).
TTP adheres to a rigid policy for protecting the privacy of personally identifiable information collected though our Site. TTP is committed to the highest standards of integrity in all fundraising efforts and to the ethical collection, retention, and use of personally identifiable information of our donors and Site users.
This Privacy Policy describes TTP’s policies and procedures on the collection, use, and disclosure of information collected from you via this Site. Please read this Privacy Policy carefully before using the Site, and please consult it regularly. By accessing or using the Site or its services (including but not limited to donating online to TTP), you signify your acceptance of all provisions of this Privacy Policy, in addition to our terms of use (“Terms”), available at https://thirstproject.org/terms. If you do not agree to this Privacy Policy and/or our Terms, you should elect not to visit the Site.
CHANGES TO PRIVACY POLICY
TTP reserves the right to change this Privacy Policy at any time at its sole discretion. Such changes will be effective immediately upon posting them to the Site. Your use of the Site after such changes have been posted shall constitute your acceptance of all provisions in the revised Privacy Policy.
COLLECTION OF PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION
“Personally Identifiable Information” is data that can be used to uniquely identify or contact you. We may request that you voluntarily provide us with certain Personally Identifiable Information in order to engage in certain activities on our Site. For example, when you sign up for TTP’s newsletter, create an account with us, or contact TTP via the Site, we may request Personally Identifiable Information from you, such as your name, email address, birthdate, and phone number.
Additionally, the Site may also place a “cookie,” or small file, in the browser of a user’s computer. This cookie may collect your IP address and/or assign a user a unique number that allows TTP to save information that you voluntarily provide so that it does not need to be reentered.
When a donor gives to The Thirst Project, the donor’s complete contact information is collected in its most complete form exactly as it is provided by the donor. This information can include the donors’ name, mailing address, email address, phone number, donation amount(s) and history, and check number(s) (if donations are made by check). In many cases, donors do not provide some of these pieces of information and The Thirst Project only collects and stores the information given by the donor. The overwhelming majority of the donations that The Thirst Project receives are online donations processed through Classy. Once a donation is received by Classy, Classy then sends the information to our database, Salesforce. This entire process is fully encrypted and secured end-to-end with both platforms. This information is only ever used to inform the preparation and delivery of donation tax receipts for the donor and to send future correspondence to the donor via email, text message, phone calls or mail. Such future correspondence is limited to organization reporting and program updates and fundraising requests. Every email clearly identifies where a donor may request to “Unsubscribe” from said correspondence. At any time a donor may elect to do so. Similarly, every text message clearly shows donors how they may “Opt Out” of all future text message correspondence. A donor may elect to do so at any time. It is The Thirst Project’s policy to never share any of this information with any outside party. Similarly, it is The Thirst Project’s policy to never sell any of this information with any outside party. All of this information is housed in only one location, and that is the organization’s Salesforce database. Salesforce uses a security application called Salesforce Shield to protect this information. Salesforce limits exposure of data to the users that act on it. Salesforce works together with The Thirst Project to protect our data from unauthorized access from outside our organization and from inappropriate usage by our users. Our limited users must provide authentication each time they utilize the database. Our users are only allowed to see the data set that is absolutely necessary for each user’s job. Similarly, The Thirst Project uses Shield Platform Encryption, giving our data an added layer of security while preserving critical platform functionality. It enables us to encrypt all donor data at rest, and not just when transmitted over a network. We monitor our database’s security daily. At any time, donors may request a report of their profile and all data stored by emailing info@thirstproject.org
DONATIONS
If you choose to donate to TTP via the Site, we may request additional Personally Identifiable Information from you, such as your name, mailing address, email address, phone number, school, graduation year, and birthday. As part of your donation to TTP, you may be asked to provide your credit card information. We do not store or retain your credit card information; we use a secure third-party service provider to process your credit card information. For that reason, you may be asked to accept the third party processor’s privacy policy or other terms as a condition of submitting your donation to TTP online. The third-party processor is not permitted to store, retain, or use billing information except for the purpose of credit card processing on TTP’s behalf.
Our Site also may offer you the opportunity to donate anonymously. If you elect to do so, your donation information will be shared only with our third party processor; the processor will share only the amount of your donation with TTP, and none of your other Personally Identifiable Information.
THIRD PARTY SERVICES
TTP does not permit third parties to collect Personally Identifiable Information from a user through the Site without the user’s consent. However, our Site may provide links to services provided by third parties, including, for example, allowing you to create a personalized fundraising page, or to connect with us through Facebook. Any information collected by a third party service is governed by the third party service’s policies which may substantially differ from ours, and may allow the third party service to share your information with TTP. Please review the policies of the relevant third party service before submitting your information. To the extent that we receive Personally Identifiable Information about you from third party services, we will treat such information as described in this Privacy Policy.
CHILDREN UNDER THIRTEEN (13) YEARS OF AGE
TTP does not knowingly collect or solicit Personally Identifiable Information from anyone under the age of thirteen (13) through the Site. If we become aware that we have collected Personally Identifiable Information through the Site from a child under the age of thirteen without verified parental consent, we will delete that information from our records.
While TTP is exempt from compliance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 as a non-for-profit organization exempt from federal income tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, we take children’s privacy seriously, and encourage users and their parents to review our Privacy Policy and Terms to understand our information collection practices.
USE OF PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION
TTP may use the Personally Identifiable Information that it collects via the Site amongst its employees, agents, affiliates, contractors, and service providers in order to:
- contact you regarding information relevant to TTP’s business, products, or services;
- engage in ordinary business, fundraising, marketing, and relationship-building communications with you; and/or
- help us operate, analyze, develop, deliver, maintain, and improve our products, services, content, advertising, and communications.
We may also disclose Personally Identifiable Information we collect from you to additional third parties to the extent necessary or appropriate to: (1) comply with the law or respond to a subpoena, court order, government request, or other legal process; (2) protect the interests, rights, safety, or property of TTP, its employees, agents, and affiliates; (3) enforce this Privacy Policy or our Terms; (4) act in connection with a merger, acquisition, liquidation, reorganization, divestiture, or dissolution of TTP or its affiliates, or (5) address fraud, security, technical issues, or otherwise operate the Site or its infrastructure systems properly.
RETENTION OF PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION
We will retain the Personally Identifiable Information that we collect for the duration required to fulfill the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, unless a longer retention period is required by law. We may store Personally Identifiable Information in locations outside the direct control of TTP (for example, on servers or databases collocated with hosting providers). We may also transfer or assign such information in the course of a merger, acquisition, liquidation, reorganization, divestiture, or dissolution of TTP or its affiliates.
TTP also keeps a record of each donor’s giving history on file for IRS purposes, to analyze giving patterns, make more accurate budget projections, and solicit future donations. TTP does not share its donor file with any other party or organization.
SECURITY OF PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION
TTP uses commercially reasonable efforts to safeguard the privacy and integrity of any Personally Identifiable Information collected though our Site. Please note however that transmissions made via the Internet cannot be made absolutely secure. TTP does not represent, warrant, or guarantee that your Personally Identifiable Information will be protected against unauthorized access, loss, theft, misuse, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. Similarly, TTP disclaims liability for disclosure of Personally Identifiable Information submitted through the Site due to errors in transmission or unauthorized acts of third parties. TTP makes no representations or warranties regarding the sufficiency of our security measures to prevent unauthorized access or interception by third parties.
COLLECTION OF NON-PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION (TRACKING; ANALYTICS)
Like most websites, we may automatically collect certain usage information from you through the Site, including through the use of Google Analytics. This information may include, for example, the number and frequency of visitors to the Site, which URL you just came from, which URL you go to next, or what browser you are using. We use such data only in the aggregate. This collective data helps us determine how much our visitors use parts of the Site, and helps us perform internal research on our users’ demographics, interests, and behavior to better understand and serve you. This usage data may be shared with third parties, but will not personally identify you.
DO NOT TRACK REQUESTS
Our Site does not respond to Do-Not-Track requests.
GOVERNING LAW; INTERNATIONAL USERS
You agree that your use of this Site, this Privacy Policy, our Terms, and any controversy, claim, or dispute relating thereto, shall be governed in all respects by the laws of the State of California, excluding its conflicts of law rules. Any dispute relating to this Site, our Privacy Policy, or our Terms shall be resolved solely in the state or federal courts located in Los Angeles, California, whose jurisdiction and venue to which you hereby expressly consent. In addition, you hereby waive the right to bring or participate in any claim against TTP, its employees, agents, or affiliates, as a class action, consolidated, multi-district, or collective action, or private attorney general action. If TTP prevails against you in any arbitration or proceeding concerning this Privacy Policy or our Terms, we shall be entitled to recover our legal costs, including attorneys’ fees, in addition to all other available legal and equitable relief.
TTP and the Site are operated in the United States. If you are located outside of the United States, please be aware that any information you provide will be collected in or transferred to the United States. By using the Site and/or providing TTP with your information, you consent to that collection and transfer.
ENTIRE AGREEMENT; SEVERABILITY
This Privacy Policy together with our Terms constitutes the entire agreement between you and TTP, superseding any other written or oral agreements or understandings. If a Court finds any provision of this Privacy Policy or our Terms to be invalid or unenforceable, that provision shall be enforced to the maximum extent possible and the remaining provisions shall remain in full force and effect.
CONTACT US; OPT-OUT AND REMOVAL REQUESTS
To review the Personally Identifiable Information that TTP has collected from you or your child through the Site, request corrections to or removal of that information from our records, opt out of receiving marketing emails from TTP, or inquire about our Privacy Policy or Terms, please contact Luke Romick, Vice President of Marketing at Thirst Project, ATTN: Luke Romick, 5482 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1903, Los Angeles, CA 90036, or via email at luke@thirstproject.org.
Requests to opt-out of receiving mobile messages and marketing emails from TTP will be honored within 10 business days of our receipt of your request. For more information regarding our mobile messages, please email Luke at luke@thirstproject.org. Requests to remove Personally Identifiable Information collected from you or your child via the Site which are properly submitted as indicated above will be honored within 10 business days our receipt of your request, unless doing so would conflict with TTP’s legal obligations or unless TTP can otherwise anonymize or render invisible the information to prevent individual identification of the user. Note that removal may not ensure complete or comprehensive removal of the information from the Site or TTP’s records.