Privacy Statement

Thank you for visiting www.mssmn.org. We respect every visitor’s right to privacy and are committed to protecting that privacy by adhering to standards of security, fairness, and integrity.

MSS is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.

eTrac is a registered mark of MSS.

Donor Privacy Policy

MSS respects the privacy of all donors and prospects. We believe in safeguarding personal donor information. Donor names, addresses and any other personal information provided will be used only by MSS to inform donors and prospects of activities including program updates and outcomes, special events, and funding requests. If at any time a donor chooses not to receive these communications, the individual can remove their name from the agency’s mailing list by contacting the Development office. We follow best practices and standards, including those developed by the Association of Fundraising Professionals, the Charities Review Council, and Guidestar.

MSS may publish a list of the names of donors in our annual report which is available on our website. If donors choose to remain anonymous they will not be published in this report.

Electronic\Paper Personal Records 

Donor information is maintained in a secured database; only authorized personnel have access to this information and only for appropriate business purposes.

MSS collects and maintains the following types of donor information:

•    Contact information such as name, address, telephone number and 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 suggestions

This confidential information is kept on file for IRS purposes.  It is also used to analyze overall giving patterns in order to make more accurate budget projections, as well as to understand donors’ interests in our mission and to update them on the organization’s plans and activities. 

Mailing Lists

MSS does not rent, sell, give away, or trade our donor lists or any information contained on those lists.  Donor information is used by the agency for charitable purposes only as described above and will not be used by any entity outside of the agency.  To review personal information collected and/or request changes, the Development office should be contacted by phone or email.

Authorized Release of Information

MSS may be legally required to disclose information on occasion.  MSS complies with all applicable legal requirements and standards.

Privacy Notice

MSS respects your concerns about privacy and values the trust you have placed in us. This Privacy Notice describes the types of personal information we collect, how we may use that information, and with whom we may share it.  Our Privacy Notice also describes the measures we take to protect the security of the information.  In addition, we describe the choices you can make about how we use the information you provide to us.  We tell you how you can update your contact information, remove your name from our mailing list, or answer any questions you may have about our privacy practices.

What types of information does MSS collect and use about me and how does MSS use the information?

This website is hosted by Squarespace. Squarespace collects personal data when you visit this website, including:

  • Information about your browser, network and device

  • Web pages you visited prior to coming to this website

  • Your IP address

Squarespace needs the data to run this website, and to protect and improve its platform and services. Squarespace analyzes the data in a de-personalized form.

We collect and use information about you to communicate with you about our products, services, promotions, programs, and events, and to customize our communications in those areas. We also collect information to improve your website experience, enable you to make donations to MSS, and enable you to stay informed on legislative issues important to MSS. Here are the ways we obtain information about you and the types of information we obtain. We also tell you how we use the information.

Personal Data

This website collects personal data to power our site analytics, including:

  • Information about your browser, network, and device

  • Web pages you visited prior to coming to this website

  • Your IP address

This information may also include details about your use of this website, including:

  • Clicks

  • Internal links

  • Pages visited

  • Scrolling

  • Searches

  • Timestamps

We share this information with Squarespace, our website analytics provider, to learn about site traffic and activity.

Cookies

This website uses cookies and similar technologies, which are small files or pieces of text that download to a device when a visitor accesses a website or app. For information about viewing the cookies dropped on your device, visit About the cookies Squarespace uses.

Customer Accounts

If you create a customer account on this website, we collect personal information to improve our checkout experience and customer service.

This information may include your:

  • Billing and shipping address(es)

  • Details about your orders (for example, your shirt size)

  • Email address

  • Name

  • Phone number

We share this information with Squarespace, our website hosting provider, so they can provide website services to us.

Marketing Emails

We may send you marketing emails, which you can unsubscribe from by clicking the link at the bottom of the email. We share your contact information with MailChimp, our email marketing provider, so they can send these emails on our behalf.

Order and Account Emails

We may email you with messages about your order or account activity. For example, we may email you to tell you that:

  • You’ve created a Customer Account

  • Your Customer Account password has been reset or updated

  • You’ve made a purchase

  • Your order has shipped

It’s not possible to unsubscribe from these messages.

We share your contact information with Squarespace, our website hosting provider, so they can send these emails to you on our behalf.

Purchasing on Our Website

When you buy something on this website, we collect personal information from you to fulfill the order. We may collect information like your:

  • Billing and shipping address

  • Details relating to your purchase (for example, your shirt size)

  • Email address

  • Name

  • Phone number

We share this information with Squarespace, our online store hosting provider, so that they can provide website services to us.

As you go through checkout, this site may auto-complete your shipping and billing address by sharing what you type with the Google Places API and returning suggestions to you to improve your checkout experience.

Fonts

This website uses font files from Google Fonts and Adobe Fonts. To properly display this site to you, servers where the font files are stored may receive personal information about you, including:

  • Information about your browser, network, or device

  • Your IP address

Contact Us Link.  If you contact us via our website, we may ask you for information such as your name, address and email address so we can respond to your questions or comments.  Unless you consent, we do not retain this information except to respond to your inquiries.

Participate in Contests and Sweepstakes. When you sign up to participate in one of our contests or sweepstakes, you may provide us with information such as your name or email address. We may use the information to enter you in the contest or sweepstakes and contact you if you win. Also, unless you previously asked us not to send you our newsletter, we will add your email address to our newsletter list. If you do not want to receive information about MSS, you may choose not to participate in our contests and sweepstakes.

Other Ways We May Use Information.  You may provide us with survey information to help us learn more about your preferences.  We maintain information you provide to us in our database to provide you with the information, goods, or services you have requested.

How does MSS update its Privacy Notice?

MSS’s products, services, promotions, and programs will change over time. This Privacy Notice will be updated periodically to reflect those changes and corresponding changes in our information practices. Whenever we revise this Privacy Notice, we will change the date on the notice to indicate when the revisions were made. We reserve the right to change our information practices and the terms of this Privacy Notice, and to apply the changed practices to all information we have about you.

Does the MSS website contain links to other websites?

The MSS website may contain links to other websites that operate independently of MSS and are not under our control. We provide links to those sites solely for your convenience and information. Those sites have their own privacy notices, which we suggest you review if you visit any linked sites.  MSS is not responsible for information that is provided by those sites or for any other use of the sites.

How can I update my contact information?

Please email info@mssmn.org to indicate that you want to change the contact information we have for you. Please email us from the email address we would have on file so we can verify ownership.

Will I receive email from MSS?

We will send you email if you have provided us with your email address and have asked us to communicate with you this way. You may choose to unsubscribe at any time.

What if I prefer not to receive communications from MSS?

MSS will cease contact upon an oral or written request. If possible, please send such requests to the development office:

Attn: Shannon Brumbaugh
Director of Development
900 Ocean St. Saint Paul MN 55106
sbrumbaugh@mssmn.org
651-793-4126

The Donor Bill of Rights

The Donor Bill of Rights 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. 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 organizations and causes they are asked to support, we declare that all donors have these rights:

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

Last updated January 28, 2020