Privacy policy

Draft for counsel review. Confirm each bracketed item, the analytics choice and the list-sharing position before launch.

Who we are

Shared Purpose Initiative ("we," "us," "the Initiative") is a Virginia nonprofit corporation organized to operate as a social welfare organization. We educate residents of Northern Virginia about local growth, taxes and public services. This policy covers this website and the email, text and event programs we run.

What we collect

Information you give us

When you sign up for updates, contact us, volunteer, sign a letter or petition, or contribute, we collect what you provide: typically your name, email address, ZIP code, and sometimes your phone number, mailing address, locality, employer and occupation, and the content of your message. Where the law requires it for contributions, we also collect occupation and employer.

Information collected automatically

Like most websites, our hosting provider records basic technical information when you visit, such as your IP address, browser type, the pages you view and the time of your visit, for security and to keep the site running. [We use privacy-respecting, cookie-free analytics that do not track you across sites. / We do not use analytics.] We do not use advertising trackers or third-party advertising cookies.

Cookies

This site uses only the cookies needed to make it work, such as remembering a form you started. Links to other websites, including news articles in our Data Bank, take you to sites with their own privacy practices.

How we use it

• To send you the updates you asked for, and to let you know about hearings, decisions and research in your area.
• To respond to your questions and requests.
• To deliver letters, petitions or public comments you sign to the officials they are addressed to. When you sign one, your name and locality go with it.
• To process contributions and meet our legal and reporting obligations.
• To understand how the site and our programs are used, so we can improve them.

What we don't do

We do not sell, rent or trade your personal information. We do not share your information with other organizations for their own marketing. [Counsel: confirm the position on sharing lists with affiliated organizations and vendors, and state it here plainly.]

Who we share it with

We use service providers to send email and text messages, host this site, process payments and manage our contact lists. They may handle your information only to provide those services to us. We may disclose information when the law requires it, to protect our rights or safety, or with your consent. Information we are legally required to report may become public through government filings.

Email and text messages

You can unsubscribe from our emails at any time with the link in any message. If you opt in to text messages, message and data rates may apply; reply STOP to end messages and HELP for help. We will not send you texts unless you opt in.

Contributions and payments

Contributions are processed by a third-party payment processor. We do not store your full card number. Contributions are not tax-deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes.

Your choices and rights

You can ask us what information we hold about you, ask us to correct it, or ask us to delete it, subject to any records we are required to keep. Contact us using the details below and we will respond within 45 days. Nonprofit organizations are not covered by the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act, but we honor these requests as a matter of practice.

Children

This site is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has given us information, contact us and we will delete it.

Security and retention

We take reasonable steps to protect your information, including limiting who can access it. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure. We keep your information for as long as you are on our lists or as long as the law requires us to keep records, and then we delete or anonymize it.

Changes to this policy

When we change this policy we will post the new version here with a new effective date. If the change is significant, we will tell our email list.

Contact

Shared Purpose Initiative