YOU’RE A TREASURE TOO
Our Easy to Understand Privacy System
We use the word “Treasure” to describe the people we serve. We don’t think of them as scavengers, or beneficiaries, or users of our services. The people we serve are God’s Treasures. In the same way, the people who support the ministry are not just donors, you are Treasures too. Out of both an obligation and out of a sense of honor, we treat your information with great care.
The basic idea
We keep track of just enough information to serve you as a treasured donor. We never offer stored data to any outside organization on any terms, ever. The only exception is when disclosure is required by law. To date, this has never been required.
Donor records
We keep track of your giving and your visits to our ministry so that we can do three things: Thank you for your gifts (including statements for tax deductions), manage sponsorships and other auto-giving, and to keep you up-to-date with occasional messages about what’s going on in the ministry. Here’s what we store: Basic demographics (name, addresses, and personal data that allow us to greet you in a friendly way when we interact), Records of your giving and communication with us, Records of your visits. For donors who have visited the ministry we may also have a photo of you. We’ll happily share with you a printed record of everything we store about you if you ask. You can ask us to correct it if it is wrong.
The cookie monster
We don’t use “tracking cookies” to know where you’ve been online nor to record that you’ve been here online. We do use cookies to keep your experience consistent as you move from page to page on our web site.
A third party
Our donation processing is managed by Frontera Business Services. They’re donor’s too and they even helped us to come up with these privacy standards. They have access to your records for this purpose. They act on our behalf to process your donations and adhere to our standards.
Please stop!
If you choose to donate, you cannot opt out of record keeping. We want to send you records of your transactions and we must show paper trails to auditors. If you’re not a donor, you can ask to be digitally forgotten, and we’ll erase what we have stored on your request. We’re happy to accommodate opt-out for things like informational mailings, and some personal information. Just ask.
What about my banking information?
The most secure way to give is by credit card online. In this scenario, your credit card data goes directly to the credit card company and is not stored on our systems. Some donors give by automated checking account deduction. Our partners at Frontera can see your banking information to manage your giving, but no one else can see it. When you give by check, all of your banking information is printed at the bottom of the check for all to see. We have physical controls to limit access to these checks, of course.