Donor Privacy Policy

The following Confidentiality and Privacy Policy and Procedures was developed by Indian River Habitat for Humanity (IRHFH) and adopted by the Board of Directors. This set of policies and procedures formally documents IRHFH’s policy for ensuring the privacy and confidentiality of information that IRHFH utilizes in carrying out its development activities.

Donor Privacy Statement

Indian River Habitat for Humanity respects the privacy of its donors and adheres to the Donor Bill of Rights as established by the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy (AHP), the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), and the Giving Institute: Leading Consultants to Non-Profits. We protect personal information. We do not rent, sell or trade our mailing lists. Name, address and other information provided by a donor will be used appropriately to provide information on IRHFH activities including special events or fundraising needs and to acknowledge donations. If at any time a donor wishes to not be acknowledged, to receive less mail, or wishes to be removed from any of our communications, they may do so by contacting us by phone at (772) 562-9860 and we will gladly accommodate the request.

Confidentiality Statement

IRHFH strongly believes in protecting the privacy of its donors and prospective donors and the confidentiality of information concerning them. Donor records and other donor information are highly confidential and protected by organizational policy. The use of information for political or commercial purposes is strictly prohibited. Appropriate action, including but not limited to actions that may lead to termination of employment, will be taken against persons or entities that voluntarily violate these policies. Any individual, institution, agency, or other entity deemed to have voluntarily violated these policies, or deemed to have voluntarily jeopardized the confidentiality or privacy of any individual or organization affiliated with IRHFH, by the inappropriate use of information provided in accordance with this policy will not be permitted access to information in the future.
Professional Standards and Privacy Practices

All employees, members of the board of directors, members of the board of advisors, and fundraising volunteers will read and abide by the Confidentiality and Privacy Policy and Procedures. The Confidentially and Privacy Policy and Procedures will be automatically provided to new employees, board members and volunteers who are engaged in fundraising activities who will sign an acceptance and agree to abide by the policy.

Restricted information includes donor giving histories, personal, financial, and/or legal information that is publicly available and collected during the prospect research process or provided by the donor or prospect himself/herself. Safeguards are to be in place to ensure that the information is not disclosed or shared more widely than is necessary to achieve the purpose for which it was gathered. We also take measures to ensure that the accuracy and integrity of this information is maintained, to the extent necessary.

Donors are provided with an opportunity to be anonymous and to request that their name and/or the amount of their gift not be publicly released. Donors who request anonymity, whether for gift amounts or for themselves, will be publicly acknowledged as “anonymous.” Information on anonymous donors will be flagged prominently as “anonymous” in all paper files and computer records.

Individual Donor Records

Individual donor records, whether in hard copy or electronic form, are the property of Indian River Habitat for Humanity. These records contain specific information pertaining to those individuals important to the development efforts of IRHFH. The following safeguards have been adopted to protect donor and prospective donor privacy:

1. Individual donor records are to be kept in a secure desk or file drawer that will be locked outside of normal work hours.
2. Employees and volunteers who have access to the donor database are required to log-out of the database whenever they will be away from their computer for 5 minutes or more and at the end of each workday.
3. Bank and credit card information will not be maintained electronically or in hardcopy format. Any credit card information received is to be blocked out after the gift is processed.
4. It is the responsibility of each staff member, board member, and volunteer to submit only appropriate and relevant information for inclusion in files.
5. Access to the donor database is maintained and authorized by the Development Manager and development staff. Security rights to the database are maintained by the Development Manager on a need to know basis.
6. In general, restricted or sensitive donor information will not be provided via email. IRHFH will utilize a secure file transfer site to relay fundraising reports to volunteer fundraisers and board members who have a need to know.
7. Paper documents containing confidential donor information are to be shredded when no longer needed.
8. Volunteer fundraisers who receive donor reports to gauge their fundraising effectiveness are to keep the reports and any other donor information in a locked file in their home. When the report is no longer relevant to the fundraiser’s efforts, the report is to be disposed of through shredding.
9. IRHFH’s accountant, as well as external auditors and any regulatory agency personnel and people operating pursuant to legal process that may be conducting audits, reviews, or other investigations, may require access to all hard copy and electronic files in the development records in order to conduct their work. They will be granted access within reason to accomplish the necessary task under the discretion of the President/CEO.

Information Requests from External Sources

1. External sources requesting information such as the media may be given access to public or published information at the discretion of the President/CEO.
2. Only public information will be released and only if not coded “anonymous,” “no contact,” or “unlisted.”
3. Proprietary restricted information such as research profiles, action reports, financial records and giving histories will not be released under any circumstances unless consent is provided by the donor or such information is required to be produced pursuant to court order.
4. All media requests related to donors are forwarded to the President/CEO.
5. Outside consultants and vendors such as direct mail firms, mailing houses, publication publishers, and database screening firms, which have access to donor records and information will be bound by this confidentiality policy and required to sign the IRHFH confidentiality agreement.

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 ensure that philanthropy merits the respect and trust of the general public, and that donors and prospective donors can have full confidence in the nonprofit 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 acknowledgement and recognition.
6. To be assured that information about their donation 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.
10. To feel free to ask questions when making a donation and to receive prompt, truthful and forthright answers.