Donor Privacy

PWW maintains the highest level of respect for the privacy of its donors. In furtherance of our commitment to honor your privacy and your rights, we have developed this Donor Privacy Policy to guide our staff and volunteers on how they may, and may not, use your personal information.

What Information We Collect

We only collect personal information when you, as an email subscriber and/or donor, voluntarily shares it to us. Providing data is required in these contexts in order for us to process donations, requests, and to respond to inquiries. We only use personal information collected from donors and subscribers for the purposes of processing payments, communicating about PWW, sharing fundraising opportunities, and/or other operations of PWW. Collected information may include name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, donation amount, donor comments, and any other personal information directly provided to us by the donor/subscriber (“Donor Data”). For donations by check, Donor Data may also include the data visible on the check.

Personally identifiable and financial information (including donation amounts) that you enter as part of the website’s online donations, fundraising, and/or contact forms is strictly confidential and will not be shared with any other organization.

Donors/subscribers are able to opt-out of communications, at any time, by updating their email preferences in PWW email messages or by contacting PWW (info@purewaterfortheworld.org or by phone: 802.747.0778).

How We Use Information

Donor Data may be used for these kinds of purposes:

  • Distributing receipts and thanking a donor for donation(s).
  • When responding to a question/inquiry, personal information provided is used to respond.
  • General communications. Informing donors about fundraising activities, project updates, organizational updates, stories, and other activities of PWW.
  • Internal analysis: I.e. research and analytics.
  • Reporting to applicable government agencies as required by law.
  • Surveys, metrics, and other analytical purposes.
    • Surveys: Visitors may volunteer to participate in an online survey on the website or via email. Individuals may choose to disclose responses or not. All personal details provided will be confidential and stored on secure servers and will only be used to improve the organization.

We do not publish, sell, trade, rent or exchange Donor Data. We may use available information, in aggregate, to supplement the Donor Data to improve the information we use to drive our fundraising and communications efforts. We allow donors the option to have their name publicly associated with their donation or to remain anonymous as part of the online donation process.

We use data gathered for payment processors and other service providers only for the purposes described in this policy.

Third-Party Platform Policies

We will never sell or share your details with other organizations or companies. The only exceptions are the trusted service providers that we use to conduct business. These providers only use your information under the express direction of PWW and do not have rights to use it for their own purposes.

Opting Out

We strive to keep you updated about the work PWW is doing and demonstrate the impact your support is creating in the lives of children and families being helped by PWW’s work. We keep you informed by providing updates by email. You may request to opt-out of these updates by contacting info@purewaterfortheworld.org or simply unsubscribe from an email message.

Website

You can navigate our website without telling us who you are and without sharing any personal information, unless you self-select to sign up for PWW email communications. The information we collect from a website visit is generic in nature. With a goal to continue to improve our site for visitors, we collect your Internet service provider, the browser and type of machine you are using (mobile, tablet, computer), your location (i.e. city, state, country), and the date and time of the interaction. This information enables us to evaluate how people are using our site and to improve your experience.

Outside Links

This site may contain hypertext links to other websites. PWW is not responsible for the privacy policies, practices or content of these websites. If you accessed the PWW website from a third party site, we are not responsible for the privacy policies and practices of that site and recommend you check their policies, should you have questions.

Other Disclosures

We may disclose information when required by law, when needed to protect our rights, privacy, safety, property, donors, or users, and when necessary to enforce our terms of service.

Data Retention

We seek to retain donor-related information only as needed to fulfill the purposes described in this policy unless a longer retention period is required by law or regulations. For example, tax laws in the United States and the State of Vermont require PWW to keep contact information and contribution level of donors on file.

Security

We are committed to protecting donor personal information from unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. To help prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy, and ensure the correct use of information, we employ electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard information collected.

Among other things, we utilize a range of security practices, including measures to secure web access to sensitive data and undertake efforts to address security vulnerabilities for various tools and databases. We secure our machines with mandated encryption protocols to secure user/company data. We use industry accepted tools and techniques such as SSL and two-factor authentication to protect against unauthorized access to our systems. All sensitive information is stored in secure repositories both in-house as well as secure cloud-based, encrypted web apps. Donor financial information is strictly limited to PWW administrative staff. All electronic programs are password protected on secure servers.

Contact Us

If you have concerns or questions about this Donor Privacy Policy or requests about the status and correctness of your donor data, please email info@purewaterfortheworld.org or write to:

Pure Water for the World, Inc.
PO Box 55
Rutland, VT 05702


We Support the Donor Bill of Rights.

Philanthropy is based on voluntary action for the common good. It is a tradition of giving and sharing that is primary to the quality of life. To assure that philanthropy merits the respect and trust of the general public, and that donors and prospective donors can have full confidence in the not-for-profit organizations and causes they are asked to support, we declare that all donors have these rights:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. To have access to the organization’s most recent financial statements.
  4. To be assured their gifts will be used for the purposes for which they were given.
  5. To receive appropriate acknowledgment and recognition.
  6. To be assured that information about their donations is handled with respect and with confidentiality to the extent provided by law.
  7. To expect that all relationships with individuals representing organizations of interest to the donor will be professional in nature.
  8. To be informed whether those seeking donations are volunteers, employees of the organization or hired solicitors.
  9. To have the opportunity for their names to be deleted from mailing lists that an organization may intend to share (currently, Pure Water for the World does not share donor names).
  10. To feel free to ask questions when making a donation and to receive prompt, truthful and forthright answers

The text of this statement in its entirety was developed by the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), Association for Healthcare Philanthropy (AHP), Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), and the Giving Institute: Leading Consultants to Non-Profits.


We Support the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR):

You have the following rights regarding PWW’s processing of your information:

  • Right to be informed. You may ask what data about yourself is being processed and why.
  • Right to access. You may request access to the personal information we have about you.
  • Right to rectification. You may ask to modify/update your personal data if the information we have is inaccurate.
  • Right to erasure. You may request we erase all of your data from our systems, even if you have given us prior consent.
  • Right to restrict processing. You may request that we not use your data, though we have it stored.
  • Right to data portability. You may obtain a copy of your  personal information, in a usable electronic format, and transmit it to a third party.
  • Right to object. You may object to our contacting you. 
  • Rights in relation to automated decision-making and profiling. You may request that we not include your personal data in automated profiling or analysis.

Updates

If we determine a need to change the Donor Privacy Policy, any and all changes will be reflected on this page.

NOTE: If you want any of the information described above, please contact the Pure Water for the World, Inc. office.