Privacy Policy/FAQ
Donor Policy
The American Initiative for SOF is committed to protecting the privacy of our donors. We may collect personal data about donors for a number of reasons:
∙ To administer and maintain accounts relating to donations
∙ To facilitate fundraising
∙ To communicate with donors and prospective donors concerning the organizations
programs and services
∙ To comply with legal and regulatory requirements.
Such personal information may include: name, address, phone number, email address, and credit card number when a donor voluntarily provides it to the foundation. In addition, the American Initiative keeps a record of each donor’s giving history. This information is kept on file for IRS purposes and is also used by the organization to analyze overall giving patterns in order to make more accurate budget projections.
Safeguards
Protocols are in place to safeguard donor information, including:
∙ Physical measures, including locked filing cabinets and restricted access to offices
∙ Limiting access on a “need to know” basis
∙ Technological measures, such as the use of passwords for database access and encryption for
online giving
The American Initiative does not sell or trade donor’s personal information, nor does the organization send donor mailings on behalf of other organizations. Individual records are kept only as long as necessary to fulfill the purpose for which they were collected and to comply with applicable laws.
Protecting your information
We understand that no matter how we collect your information, we have a responsibility to protect it. We take that responsibility seriously. We build security into our website features and donation processing from the ground up to help protect data from unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction.
We’re always looking for threats and take reasonable steps to respond to those threats, protecting the information users share with us. Of course, no method of Internet transmission or data storage can provide guaranteed protection to your information. If anything should ever happen to your information, we’ll let you know as soon as we can and try our best to make it right. The American Initiative is based in the United States and the information we collect is governed primarily by U.S. law.
Privacy Policy
TheAmericanInitiative.com (collectively, “American Initiative”, “us” or “we”) understand that your privacy is important to you. We are committed to respecting your privacy and protecting your personal data, which is any information that is capable of identifying you as an individual person.
Information we collect
The American Initiative collects personal data in the course of its business activities. We also collect personal data on certain areas of the Sites when you register to make donations or volunteer through the American Initiative Portals, register for newsletters and alerts, sign up for conferences and events, and/or participate in public user posting areas (such as bulletin boards, discussion forums and surveys). The personal data collected varies and may include information that you provide, such as your name, mailing address, e-mail address, telephone number, fax number, and background information required to donate.
Use of information
The American Initiative uses your personal data to fulfill your requests for information, process your requests to participate in conferences and events, personalize content that you view or receive on the Sites, evaluate and improve our services, distribute newsletters and alerts to you, recruit and evaluate job applicants, analyze the Sites’ performance and functioning, publish your letters to the editor or comments, prevent fraud, enforce our terms of use, comply with all applicable laws and corporate reporting obligations, enforce organizational agreements, and accomplish other purposes you may initiate or request. In some situations, the collection of personal data may be required for the operation of the Sites. We may keep any of your personal data on file and use it to contact you.
The American Initiative and its service providers may use first and third party Cookies and Other Tracking Technologies, including web beacons, to manage our Sites and our services and collect analytics about how you use them.
The legal basis by which we process your personal data
Our processing of your personal data for the purposes mentioned above is based:
- in part, on our legitimate interests in promoting and protecting The American Initiative, building and maintaining relationships, recruitment, and providing our services;
- in part, on your consent, for example if to register to make a donation, apply to receive newsletters, or for business purposes that support web operations such as understanding and enhancing the quality of your experience on our web-sites;
- in part, to comply with the law, when certain information is necessary to satisfy our legal or regulatory obligations.
Contact Through Emails
You also may decide to send us personally identifying information, for example, in an electronic mail message containing a question or comment, or by filling out a Web form that provides us this information. We use personally identifying information from email primarily to respond to your requests. We may forward your email to other employees who are better able to answer your questions. We may also use your email to contact you in the future about our programs that may be of interest.
We want to be very clear: We will not obtain personally identifying information about you when you visit our site, unless you choose to provide such information to us. Providing such information is strictly voluntary. Except as might be required by law, we do not share any information we receive with any outside parties.
If you sign up for one of our email lists, we will only send you the kinds of information you have requested. We won’t share your name or email address with any outside parties.
FAQs
Where does my money go?
The American Initiative collects donations to support and fund business initiatives (Events, organizational development and support, and providing services for selected service groups).
What qualifies as special operations?
Special forces and special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations (Military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, trained, and equipped forces, manned with selected personnel, using unconventional tactics, techniques, and modes of employment). To include but not limited to Firefighter and special unit police forces.
Does it matter how many years I have been a firefighter / policeman / operator?
No, time in service is not a factor as long as you are active duty.
If I’m receiving help for other sources, can I still qualify?
Yes! The American Initiative is here to help regardless of any outside support you may already be receiving or applying for.
Are you partnered with any other foundations / charities ?
Not at this time.
What percentage of my donations go to the company?
At this time, The American Initiative for SOF requires 100 percent of the donations to support donation initiatives, growth, and organizational development.
Can donations be made in person (hosted events / donation sites)?
YES! At all events and booths you will be able to donate in person.