Privacy Policy

APRIL 2013

The United Way of Greater Stark County (United Way) respects the privacy of our donors and is committed to protecting the personal information that we gather and maintain regarding those donors. As such, the United Way’s Board of Directors adopted the following Donor Privacy Policy (Policy) which guides our staff and volunteers on how they may and may not use donors’ personal information. The Policy applies to the collection of donor information from any source: physical pledge cards, on line pledges, our website, electronic communications, registration for an event or fundraiser or by any other means.

United Way collects, retains and uses donors’ information such as: name, address, telephone numbers, email address, spouse’s name, donation amount, designations, donor history, contributions and limited demographic information.

The United Way uses a third party online payment processing service with high levels of security. United Way does not store, nor does it have access to, credit card information, bank account numbers, or other account data sent to the payment processing service as part of an online donation, purchase or registration. Credit card numbers, provided by donors through electronic means, are not retained by United Way employees, nor do they have access to them.

Credit card numbers provided by donors through any physical forms or via telephone to authorized United Way employees are securely transmitted to the third party online payment processing service and are then destroyed.

United Way uses donor information for the following purposes:

  • To administer and maintain records relating to donations.
  • To facilitate fundraising.
  • To communicate with donors about the United Way.
  • To distribute receipts to donors.
  • To bill donors for unpaid pledges.
  • To thank donors for their support.
  • To provide information used in internal analysis.
  • To comply with legal or regulatory requirements.

United Way will not use donor information in the following manner:

  • United Way will not sell or trade donors’ information with anyone else.
  • United Way will not send mailings to donors on behalf of other organizations.
  • United Way will not share donors’ personal information with any third parties unless given specific permission to do so by the donors.

United Way may utilize outside vendors for various purposes related to United Way’s business.  Such vendors may be given donors’ information for such use.  These vendors sign a confidentiality agreement and are prohibited from using this information for any other purposes.

To make our website more useful to donors, volunteers and the general community, United Way’s server automatically collects information when someone visits the website. This information includes, but is not limited to IP addresses, date and time of the visits, pages visited and click streams.

United Way may, at times, publically recognize the receipt and purpose of donors’ gifts. Such recognition is always with the donors’ prior knowledge and consent. The United Way honors all explicit requests from donors who choose to remain anonymous.

United Way reserves the right to change the Policy at any time, but only with approval of its Board of Directors. The latest Policy will always be posted on the United Way’s website. For changes to the Policy that may be materially less restrictive on the use or disclosure of a donors’ personally identifiable information, United Way will obtain donors’ consents before implementing the change by sending notices to donors and by placing a prominent notice on United Way’s website.

Data on donors and donation amounts may be aggregated and stripped of all identifying information for reporting purposes including grant applications, trend analysis, reporting requirements and any applicable government filings without explicit consent of the donors. United Way has initiated various safeguards and policies to protect donors’ information. These include, but are not limited to:

  • Physical measures such as locked filing cabinets and restricted access to offices.
  • Controlled access to data.
  • The use of passwords and encryption.
  • A written Records Retention Policy.
  • Use of data base event logging.

The United Way has also adopted a Donor Bill of Rights which is attached as part of the Policy.

Questions regarding the Policy or any other aspects of the use of donors’ information should be directed to Beth Hensley, Vice President of Marketing and Communications at (330) 491-9957 or by email »