Our Commitment to Privacy

FAMILY LIFE MINISTRIES, INC. (Family Life) has created this privacy statement in order to demonstrate our firm commitment to privacy. The following discloses the, information gathering and dissemination practices for the website www.familylife.org.

Information Automatically Logged

Family Life uses the user’s IP address to help diagnose any problems with its server, track illegal activity for law enforcement, and to administer its website. Family Life collects non-personally identifiable information about the user and the user’s computer to improve the Family Life website.  That information includes the computer’s hardware, software, location, etc.

Cookies

Family Life may use cookies to make sure the user doesn’t see a notification repeatedly.

Registration Forms and Order Forms

Some of Family Life’s site’s registration forms and order forms require users to give contact information (such as their name, email, and postal address), financial information (such as bank account or credit card numbers), unique identifiers (such as user name, password, etc.), and demographic information (such as zip code, age, or income level).  Contact information from the forms is used to ship purchases, log purchases, and credit gifts to Family Life. The user’s contact information is also used for contacting purposes when necessary. Users may later opt-out of receiving future mailings/emails from Family Life; see the choice/opt-out section below. Financial information that is collected is used to check the user’s qualifications for registration and to bill the user for products and services.  Demographic and profile data is also collected on the Family Life website.

Surveys

Family Life’s online surveys ask users for contact information (email address) and demographic information (zip code, age, or income level).  Contact information from surveys is used to ship information about Family Life, and to send promotional material.  The user’s contact information is also used to get in touch with the user when necessary.

Contests and Online Auctions

Family Life runs contests and online auctions on its website in which the user’s contact information (such as name and email address), and demographic information (such as zip code, age, or income level) are gathered.  Contact information from contests and online auctions is used to ship prizes, information about Family Life, and promotional material from other ministry partners to those who have participated in the contest or online auction. The person’s contact information is also used to get in touch with the individual when necessary. Users may later opt-out of receiving future mailings/emails from Family Life; see the choice/opt-out section below.

External Links

This site contains links to other sites. The Family Life website is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such websites.

Public Forums

The Family Life site makes comment sections available to its users. Users should remember that any information that is disclosed in these areas becomes public information and the user should exercise caution when deciding to disclose personal information.

Security

This site has security measures in place to protect the loss, misuse, and alteration of the information under Family Life’s control.

Children’s Guidelines

The wording in this section is meant to comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, which gives parents control over the information that websites are allowed to collect from their children. Family Life cares about children and understands that they have special privacy needs.

Therefore, the following privacy policy has been adopted regarding children:

Family Life…

  • WILL NOT knowingly collect, use, or distribute to third parties personally identifiable information without prior verifiable parental consent
  • WILL NOT give the child access to unmonitored email accounts or other services that would give the child the ability to publicly post or otherwise distribute personally identifiable information without prior verifiable parental consent
  • WILL NOT entice the child to divulge more information than is needed to participate in any activity, game, or service
  • WILL only use the online contact information (such as email) to respond directly to the child’s request on a one-time basis and not use that information to re-contact the child for other purposes, when verifiable parental consent is not obtained
  • WILL request the name or online contact information of a parent for the purpose of obtaining verifiable parental consent or providing parental notification
  • WILL respond more than once directly to a specific request from a child (such as in the case where a child requests a newsletter subscription) and will not re-contact the child for other purposes. Family Life will use our best efforts to provide parental notification, which will include the nature and intended use as well as an opportunity for the parent to prevent the use of the information and participation in the activity.
  • WILL provide the parent a description of the specific types of a personally identifiable information collected from their child upon request. Family Life will allow the parent to refuse further use or future online collection of personally identifiable information and provide a way for a parent to obtain any personally identifiable information collected from their child.
  • WILL provide notice to children in age appropriate terms of what personally identifiable information is to be collected.
  • WILL seek to not provide any links to websites that are unsuitable for children.
  • WILL encourage children to get their parent’s permission before sharing personal information online.

Choice/Opt-Out

The Family Life website provides users the opportunity to opt-out of receiving promotional/marketing information from Family Life or any associated ministry partners:

  • Users can send emails to mail@familylife.org. This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots; to view it, JavaScript needs to be enabled.
  • Users can send mail to Family Life, PO Box 506, Bath, NY 14810-0506.
  • Users can call Family Life at 607-776-4151.

Donor Privacy Policy

Contributions from and sales to individual partners of Family Life, as well as corporations, foundations and bequests, make up a substantial portion of the support and budgetary needs of the ministry.  Family Life believes that the relationship with its contributors is the highest expression of a mutual commitment to the mission of Family Life:  to impact lives with the message of hope found in Jesus Christ.  Family Life finds it imperative that it binds and upholds this donor privacy policy in protection of that sacred relationship with those that support Family Life.

This privacy policy applies to collection of information, including information collected on the Family Life website or through any other business activity.  By submitting information to Family Life or any of its employees, the user consents to the terms and conditions of the policy and to the processing of personal information for the purposes stated below.

Examples of that information:

  • Name, address, phone number, email address
  • Giving information
  • Information on events attended, publications received, and special requests for program information
  • Information provided by the donor in the form of comments and/or suggestions

Personal Information

“Personal Information” is information that identifies the donor personally, such as the examples above.  Family Life collects and stores the personally identifiable information provided.

Below are examples of ways in which information may be collected:

  • When the donor requests information via an email address identified on Family Life’s website or otherwise contacts Family Life in person, by phone or by email, with a question. The donor’s information may be collected in order to respond to the inquiry.
  • When the donor registers for a Family Life event.
  • When the donor makes a contribution to Family Life via the website, over the phone, or by mailing in a check.
  • There may also be other instances/examples that have not been fore-mentioned.

Use and Disclosure of Personal Information:

  • Donor information is maintained in a secure database.
  • Family Life WILL NOT sell, trade, or share the donor’s personal information or its donor lists (collected on the website or through any other business activity) with anyone else.
  • Family Life WILL NOT send the donor mailings on behalf of other organizations unless requested by the donor.
  • Family Life WILL only share the donor’s personal information if given specific permission to do so by the donor.
  • Family Life WILL collect payment information, billing address, and other information necessary to process a donation or event registration.
  • Family Life WILL use the donor’s information to comply with the law or in the good-faith belief that such action is necessary to conform to the requirements of the law or comply with legal process served upon Family Life, protect and defend our rights, or act in urgent circumstances to protect the personal safety of others.
  • Family Life WILL use the donor’s personal information to protect against potential fraud. For verification purposes with third parties, the information collected in the course of processing a gift, event registration, or other donation may be shared.  If the donor uses a credit or debit card on Family Life’s website, Family Life may use card authorization and fraud screening services to verify that the card information and address matches the information that the donor supplied and that the card being used has not been reported lost or stolen.
  • The donor has the right to review information that has been collected about him/her. To review that information, please write to Family Life, ATTN: Chief Operating Officer, P. O. Box 506, Bath, NY 148104

Except as described in this Privacy Policy or at the time information is requested, Family Life does not otherwise disclose donor information to any third parties.  Further, Family Life will not sell or trade the donor’s personally identifiable information to any third parties.

Donor Bill of Rights

Family Life agrees with the Donor Bill of Rights, which was 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.

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, with the perfect example being Christ Himself.  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 organization and causes they are asked to support, Family Life will follow specific guidelines as outlined below.

Family Life declares that all donors have the right…

  • 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.
  • 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.
  • To have access to the organization’s most recent financial statements.
  • To be assured their gifts will be used for the purposes for which they were given.
  • To receive appropriate acknowledgement and recognition.
  • To be assured that information about their donation is handled with respect and with confidentiality to the extent provided by law.
  • To expect that all relationships with individuals representing organizations of interest to the donor will be professional in nature.
  • To be informed whether those seeking donations are volunteers, employees of the organization or hired solicitors.
  • To have the opportunity for their names to be deleted from mailing lists that an organization may intend to share.
  • To feel free to ask questions when making a donation and to receive prompt, truthful and forthright answers.