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Donor Privacy Policy

SIECUS: Sex Ed for Social Change (“SIECUS,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) is committed to protecting the privacy and security of donor information and to being transparent about how that information is collected, used, disclosed, and safeguarded. This donor privacy policy (“Policy”) applies to the collection of information, including information collected on our website, by mail, or other offline methods. By submitting your information to us or any of our staff, you consent to the terms and conditions of the policy and to our processing of personal information for the purposes stated below.

In addition to this Policy, please review our general Privacy Policy.

I. Personal Information
“Personal Information” is information that identifies you personally. Examples of donor data collected include, but are not limited to:

  • Contact information: name, mailing address, email address, phone number
  • Payment and/or billing information: credit or debit card number (if provided), bank account (if applicable), billing address
  • Giving history: donation amounts, dates, type of gift, campaign designation
  • Preference data: how you wish to be contacted, recognition preferences, areas of interest
  • Event data: event registrations, tickets, attendee lists
  • Technical/website data: IP addresses, browser type, device type, pages visited, cookies
  • Other information you choose to provide (comments, suggestions, memos, dedications)

We endeavor to collect only the information necessary to fulfill our mission, manage donor relationships, and comply with legal or tax requirements. From time to time, we may collect personal information from you in ways not described above. You have the right to review information that we have collected about you. To review that information, please contact us in writing at development@siecus.org.

We collect personal information through a variety of means, for example:

  • When you give a gift (online, by mail, by phone, at events) or register for a fundraising event.
  • When you contact us via email, phone, physical mail, or through forms hosted by SIECUS.
  • Through your interactions with our website, including via cookies, analytics or other tracking technologies (see Section 4).
  • When you voluntarily provide additional information (e.g. your interests, preferences, feedback).

No credit card numbers or financial account information is transferred to us from the third-party service providers collecting your payment information or stored in our systems. To the extent any donations are processed through a third-party service provider, your information will only be used for the purposes necessary to process the donation.

II. Use and Disclosure of Personal Information
We use donor information for several legitimate purposes, including but not limited to:

  • Processing your donation or event registration and issuing acknowledgments and tax receipts
  • Communicating with you about our programs, events, solicitations, and news (based on your preferences)
  • Stewardship and donor recognition (e.g. naming in a report, unless you request anonymity)
  • Internal analysis, research, and reporting to improve our operations and fundraising effectiveness
  • To protect our legal interests or rights and to comply with legal, tax, or regulatory requirements
  • Preventing fraud, unauthorized transactions, or other unlawful activity
  • Fulfilling contractual obligations with third-party providers, if necessary
  • For those purposes which you have given consent

We do not use donor information for purposes materially inconsistent with what is stated in this policy unless we inform you and, when required by law, obtain your consent.

We do not sell, rent, trade, or lease donor personal information to external parties for fundraising or marketing purposes, nor will we send you mailings on behalf of other organizations.

However, we may use, share or disclose donor information in limited circumstances, as described below:

  • Service providers and vendors. We may share donor information with third parties we retain to assist with operations (e.g. payment processors, email platforms, customer relationship manager [CRM] providers, data hosts). Those providers are contractually bound to safeguard the data and use it only for the restricted purpose of providing the contracted service.
  • Legal requirements/ protection of rights. We may disclose donor information if required by law, legal process, court order, subpoena, or governmental regulation; or to protect the safety, rights, property or security of the Organization, donors, or others.
  • Organizational changes. In connection with a merger, acquisition, reorganization, or sale of assets, donor information may be transferred subject to confidentiality commitments and to the extent permissible by law.
  • Anonymous/aggregated data. We may share anonymized, aggregated data for research, reporting, or marketing, in which individual identities are not revealed.
  • Public recognition. Unless you request anonymity, your name (but not necessarily the donation amount) may appear in donor recognition lists, annual reports, or event materials. If you wish to remain anonymous, please indicate so when you donate or contact us.
  • Donor consent. In rare cases, with your explicit permission, we may share your information with third parties for specific campaigns or co-marketing you expressly opt into.
  • Mailing List. We automatically add all donors to our mailing list. We may send you communications about our fundraising, programming, and other activities by e-mail, text, phone, or mail. You may opt out of our mailing list at any time by contacting us at development@siecus.org or clicking the “unsubscribe” link in e-mails or replying “STOP” in response to texts.
  • Publication of Donations. In certain circumstances, we may be required to disclose the names of certain donors:
    • Donations above a certain threshold may be reported to the IRS
    • Donors may be listed in our annual report or in other public-facing communications
    • Grant applications may require a list of top donors
      Notwithstanding the foregoing, to the extent permissible by applicable law, we will honor a donor’s request for anonymity. We will not publish the specific amount of any donor’s gift without the permission of the donor (unless otherwise provided, donors of testamentary gifts are deemed to have granted permission).

If you do not wish to be listed in public-facing documents, including but not limited to our annual report, please notify us when making your donation or e-mail your request to development@siecus.org. Grant applications are not considered public-facing documents. If you wish to opt out of future sharing or communications, we will process your request promptly.

III. Donor Access, Correction, and Deletion
We subscribe to the Donor Bill of Rights, which includes ethical principles such as respect for donor privacy, informed consent, and full accountability. Our policies and practices seek to uphold those principles.
You have rights regarding the information we hold about you:

  • Access and review: you may request to review the personal information we maintain about you.
  • Correction and update: you may ask us to correct or update inaccurate or incomplete information.
  • Deletion or removal: you may request that we delete your personal data or remove you from mailing or solicitation lists, subject to certain limitations (e.g. legal retention obligations, ensuring audit trails, tax recordkeeping).
  • Withdraw consent: if you previously opted in to certain communications or sharing, you may withdraw consent for future use.

You may choose to opt out of certain uses of your information:

  • You can decline to have your name or details shared publicly (i.e. remain anonymous).
  • You can opt out of future communications such as mail, email, phone, or solicitation.
  • You can decline third-party co-marketing or sharing (if applicable).

To exercise any of these rights, please email us at development@siecus.org or write to us at SIECUS, 4315 50th St NW, Suite 100, PMB 460, Washington, DC 20016. We will respond to your request within a reasonable timeframe and in compliance with applicable law.

IV. Cookies, Tracking and Website Analytics
Our website may use cookies, tracking, and analytics tools to collect data about how visitors use the site. This includes:

  • Cookies/browser cookies
  • Web beacons/pixel tags
  • Analytics services (e.g. Google Analytics or similar)
  • IP logging, device/browser metadata

Such data is generally collected in anonymized or aggregated form to help us understand website usage, improve user experience, and optimize engagement. We do not use these tools to identify individual donors unless they have explicitly interacted with the site (e.g. logged in or made a donation).

You may disable cookies in your browser settings, but please note that doing so might reduce functionality on certain pages (e.g. donation forms).

If you are under 13 years of age, please do not provide personal information on the site. We do not knowingly collect information from children under 13 without parental consent (in compliance with COPPA). If we learn that personal info has been collected from a child under 13, we will promptly delete it.

V. Security, Retention, and Safeguards
We use commercially reasonable administrative, physical, and technical safeguards to protect your personal information against unauthorized access, use, alteration, or destruction. These may include:

  • Encryption (e.g. SSL/TLS) for data transmission
  • Secure hosting environments and firewalls
  • Access controls, role-based permissions, and internal confidentiality rules
  • Secure destruction or anonymization of data when no longer needed
  • Contractual obligations for third parties to maintain data security
  • Regular review, audits, and updates to our security practices

However, no security measures are perfect or impenetrable, and we cannot guarantee absolute security of our databases or the databases of third parties with which we may share your personal information, nor can we guarantee that the information you supply will not be intercepted while being transmitted over the internet. In the event of an unauthorized data breach, we will comply with applicable legal and regulatory obligations (including notifying affected donors or authorities when required) and take steps to mitigate harm.

We maintain donor information for as long as needed for operational, legal, or tax purposes (for example, to comply with record-retention laws). When data is no longer required, we securely delete, anonymize, or destroy it.

VI. Changes to the Policy and Notice
We reserve the right to revise this Policy as needed (for example, to reflect changes in technology, legal requirements, or organizational practices). When we do, we will update the “Last Updated” date and post the revised version on our website. Changes will be effective immediately upon being posted. To the extent permitted by applicable law, your personal information is governed by the Policy in effect at the time we collect the information. Please refer back to this policy on a regular basis.

If we make material changes that reduce your rights under this policy or allow new uses of your data, we will provide notice (e.g. via email or prominent notice on our site) and, where required by law, seek your consent.

This Policy was last updated on November 4, 2025.