Donor Privacy Policy

Effective July 17, 2019

The Capital Area Humane Society (CAHS) strives to protect the privacy of all donors who make contributions to our organization. This policy outlines our donor privacy practices and includes the Donor Bill of Rights as created 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 reserve the right to change this Donor Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will note the most recent date of revision at the top of this policy.

Donor Information

CAHS collects and maintains the following types of donor information in a secure database when it is voluntarily provided.

  • Contact information such as name, street address, telephone number, and e-mail address
  • Giving information and history
  • Records of attended events, mailed and emailed communications, and special requests for giving and program information
  • Personal information provided by the donor in the form of comments and suggestions

How it is Used

The Capital Area Humane Society is committed to treating donor information as confidential. However, CAHS may release personal information if required to do so by law (i.e. Internal Revenue Service).

When you do provide CAHS with personal information, it is used to produce receipts and acknowledgements for your donations; to update you on organizational news, programs, and events; to share the impact you have made on our organization; to better understand your giving interests in support of our mission; to analyze overall donor giving patterns; and in an attempt to make accurate budget predictions.

Donor information is shared with select staff members, board members, volunteers, and consultants on a confidential, need-to-know basis.

List Sharing

The Capital Area Humane Society does not rent, share, sell, or trade donor information, nor do we send mailings to our donors on behalf of other organizations. When information is sent utilizing a mailing service, the vendors we employee have access only to the donor information needed to perform their function and are contractually prohibited from using it for other purposes.

Discontinuing Contact Upon Request

The Capital Area Humane Society communicates with donors with respect to their expressed preferences, whenever possible. CAHS will discontinue or change the method used to contact any person upon that person’s oral or written request made to the organization.

Upon a personal request, or a request by an authorized representative, that the Capital Area Humane Society discontinue further contact, a record will be created in our secure database to ensure that no further contact is made with the person.

This policy does not prohibit contact by an individual or group voluntarily soliciting on behalf of CAHS, even if the person being contacted has requested to be placed on the “do not contact list”.

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.

Questions

We understand and respect the importance of donor privacy and philanthropic rights. If you have any comments, questions, or concerns about this policy, please contact Jamie Matwiczyk, Director of Development, at (517) 626-6060 ext. 120 or [email protected].

For a PDF version of this policy, please click here.