Privacy Policy

1. Information We Collect

We collect information you choose to provide and limited technical data needed to operate the site securely.

• Contact and intake details: name, email address, phone number, topic of inquiry, and message content submitted through forms or sent to admin@hopescheros.org.
• Donor details: name, email, gift amount and frequency intent, employer matching information when provided, and mailing address if needed for acknowledgments.
• Volunteer and partner details: availability, skills, and organization affiliation when you offer to help.
• Technical data: IP address, browser type, device category, referring pages, and approximate location derived from IP, collected through server logs and analytics tools when enabled.
• Cookie preferences: whether you accepted our cookie banner, stored locally in your browser.

We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 through this website. Program referrals involving minors are handled through adult caregivers or authorized partners.

2. How We Use Information

We use personal information only for legitimate nonprofit operations, including:

• Responding to intake requests, program questions, and helpline notes reviewed by Principal Officer Walter Hutto or designated board volunteers;
• Processing donation intents, issuing tax acknowledgments under EIN 85-0567824, and completing employer matching-gift verifications;
• Coordinating volunteers, packing schedules, and partner deliveries in Lexington County;
• Improving website usability, measuring which program pages help families find support, and maintaining security;
• Complying with IRS, South Carolina charity, and other legal recordkeeping requirements (including Form 990-N years).

We do not use personal information for unrelated commercial marketing lists. Mission-related updates are sent only when you request them or when they are reasonably connected to a prior inquiry or gift.

3. Cookies & Analytics

We use essential cookies to remember cookie-consent preferences so the banner does not reappear every visit. With consent, we may use limited analytics (such as Google Analytics or comparable tools) to understand aggregate traffic patterns — for example, which program pages are visited most often — so we can keep intake paths clear for Lexington families.

Analytics tools may set first-party or third-party cookies and collect technical identifiers. You can decline non-essential cookies by not accepting the banner, and you may clear cookies through your browser settings. Google Ad Grants and similar advertising programs, if used, will follow applicable Google policies and this Privacy Policy“s disclosures about tracking and user choice.

We do not use cookies to sell advertising profiles of donors or beneficiaries.

4. Donor Privacy Guarantee

HOPE respects the trust of every contributor. We never sell, rent, or trade donor names, addresses, email addresses, or giving histories to third parties for their marketing purposes. Donor information is used to process gifts, issue tax receipts, fulfill designated requests (such as first-responder meal support), and provide stewardship updates you may reasonably expect.

Public crowdfunding platforms such as GoFundMe operate under their own privacy policies; when you give through those channels, their terms also apply. Our legal charity identity remains EIN 85-0567824 and SC Charity Public ID C48487361.

5. Third-Party Services

We may rely on carefully selected service providers to operate the website and receive gifts, including hosting providers, email delivery, payment processors (such as Stripe or PayPal when payment links are issued), mapping embeds (Google Maps), content delivery networks, analytics vendors, and public fundraising platforms. These providers process data only as needed to deliver their services and are expected to apply reasonable security safeguards.

Links to external sites (including GoFundMe or partner organizations) are provided for convenience. Their privacy practices are not controlled by HOPE, and you should review their policies before submitting information there.

6. Data Retention & Security

We retain personal information only as long as needed for the purposes described above or as required by law. Donation and tax acknowledgment records are kept for periods consistent with IRS and nonprofit accounting norms. Intake notes that are no longer needed for ongoing support are minimized or archived securely.

We apply administrative and technical safeguards appropriate for a small charity, including access limited to board officers and authorized volunteers, secure email practices, and HTTPS transport for this website. No method of transmission or storage is perfectly secure; if you believe your information was compromised in connection with HOPE, contact us immediately at admin@hopescheros.org.

7. CCPA/GDPR Rights

Depending on where you live, you may have rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), the EU/UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), or similar laws. Subject to applicable exemptions for nonprofit operations and legal retention, these rights may include:

• The right to know what personal information we collect and how we use it;
• The right to access a copy of personal information we hold about you;
• The right to request correction of inaccurate information;
• The right to request deletion of personal information, subject to gift-receipt and legal-record exceptions;
• The right to opt out of certain sales or sharing of personal information — noting that HOPE does not sell donor or visitor personal information;
• The right to withdraw consent where processing is based on consent (for example, non-essential analytics cookies);
• The right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority where GDPR applies.

To exercise these rights, email admin@hopescheros.org with the subject line “Privacy Request”and enough detail for us to verify your identity and locate your records. We will respond within a reasonable period consistent with applicable law.

8. Contact & Updates

Questions about this Privacy Policy, cookie practices, or personal-data requests may be directed to:

HOPE - A SC HEROS CHARITY - HAVE ONLY POSITIVE EXPECTATIONS
Principal Officer: Walter Hutto
250 Glenkirk Ln, Lexington, SC 29072 / Lexington, SC, USA
Email: admin@hopescheros.org
EIN: 85-0567824

We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect operational, legal, or technology changes. The “Last updated”date at the top of this page will change when revisions are published. Continued use of the website after an update constitutes notice of the revised policy for website visitors. Material changes affecting donors will be communicated through reasonable channels when required.