Donor privacy and confidentiality policy

Your trust and confidence are important to us. The purpose of this policy is to state the position of the Scott’s House on donor confidentiality and donor anonymity and will guide the actions of the Board of Trustees, the CEO and staff and committee members who may serve Scott’s House, regarding the rights of donors and potential donors to confidentiality regarding their transactions with Scott’s House.

Scott’s House recognizes that the operation of the hospice house requires the maintenance and management of extensive donor and prospect records. Donor records often contain sensitive information that has been shared with or developed by Scott’s House staff on a confidential basis. “Records” means all files, including electronic data, containing information on donors or prospective donors to the Scott’s House.

Information about donors and donations is handled with respect and confidentiality. Employees and volunteers of the Scott’s House are not permitted to use this information for any purpose other than to carry out the services they are performing for the benefit of the Scott’s House.

Policies
Confidentiality of records

The CEO shall be responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of donor and prospect records and will ensure that all staff have clear direction regarding the confidentiality of records through the establishment of appropriate operating procedures. He/she may, in his/her discretion, make all or part of any record available to staff members or volunteers if essential to them in executing their responsibilities. Disclosure decisions will honor the wishes of donors related to disclosure unless a larger legal issue is related. Scott’s House will not sell, share, or trade your personal information for third party fund raising or marketing purposes. Scott’s House does not sell its mailing lists.

Scott’s House’s auditors are authorized to review donor and prospect records as required for the purposes for which they are engaged. Gift agreements are considered “strictly confidential information” and are not public documents. Particulars of a gift agreement will not be shared with the general public unless the donor has granted permission to do this.

Publication of donor names

The names of donors may be listed in the Scott’s House’s annual report, on the website and/or in similar public relations communications. Exceptions will be made for any donor who specifically requests anonymity.

Scott’s House will not publish the specific amount of any donor’s gift without the permission of the donor.

Donors making gifts to Scott’s House by bequest or other testamentary device are deemed to have granted such permission, unless otherwise noted.

Honor/memorial gifts

The names of donors of memorial or honor gifts may be released to the honoree, next of kin or individual(s) designated by the immediate family, unless otherwise specified by the donor. Gift amounts are not to be released without express consent of the donor.

Anonymous gifts

The CEO is authorized to accept anonymous gifts to the Scott’s House.

Kinds of information

The Scott’s House defines “personal information” as information that can be used to distinguish, identify or contact a specific individual. It does not include publicly available information such as business contact information, names, addresses and telephone numbers as published in public sources, such as telephone directories. Credit card information is handled by a secure third-party host and used only to process payment initiated by a person contacting the Scott’s House. This information is not stored by Scott’s House.

How we use it

Scott’s House collects, uses and discloses personal information concerning our donors for the following reasons:

  • To establish a relationship and communicate with donors
  • To understand who our donors are and how we may improve our services to meet their preferences and expectations
  • To process a donation (e.g. a credit card transaction)
  • To issue a tax receipt
  • To recognize contributions
  • To meet requirements imposed by law

How we protect your information

To learn more about how the Scott’s House protects your information, please refer to the privacy policy.