Privacy Policy

Last Updated:  05.08.26

Maine Community Foundation (“MaineCF,” “us,” “our,” “we,”) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting it through our privacy practices as described in this Privacy Policy. Since its founding in 1983, the MaineCF has been committed to maintaining the confidentiality, integrity, and security of personal information entrusted to us by current donors, potential donors, officers and staff of nonprofit agencies who approach us for funding, and the people they serve.

This Privacy Policy outlines the personal information we collect, how it is used, and the choices you have with regard to your personal information. This Privacy Policy applies to the personal information we collect through our website (https://www.mainecf.org) and any other website owned or social media used by us that posts a link to this Privacy Policy (collectively our “Services”).

Please read this Privacy Policy carefully to understand our policies and practices regarding your personal information. Use of our Services indicates your consent to the practices described in this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with the practices described in this Privacy Policy, you should not use any of our Services. This Privacy Policy may change from time to time (see “Changes to Our Privacy Policy”) and your continued use of our Services after we make changes is deemed to be acceptance of those changes.

THE INFORMATION WE COLLECT AND WHY

The table below describes the information we collect, why we collect the information, and the sources of the information. In general, we will use your information for the purposes for which you provide it, such as administering your fund or grants, facilitating transactions, or responding to inquiries.  We may also send you communications about programs, events, and opportunities that we think may be of interest to you.

Data Category Purpose Sources
Contact information and identifiers – e.g. name, email address, physical address, phone number, employer if applicable, job title, etc. We use this data to communicate with you, and market to you. We obtain this information directly when you contact us or use our services.

 
Commercial information – e.g. payment information, purchasing history, donations, etc. We may use this information to process your donations and purchases, to analyze other data we collect, and to develop new services. We may also use this information to protect our own rights and interests, such as resolving any disputes. We obtain this information when you visit our Services, make donations, and when you provide us with this information.
Individual characteristics – e.g.  date of birth, voter affiliation, and residency.

 

 We use this information to provide you with our services. We obtain this information when you provide it to us and through third party providers.
Internet activity and device information that is not user specific – e.g. general audience locations, type of devices accessing the site, etc. We may use this data to learn more about how our users interact with our services online, develop new services, and for security and fraud prevention purposes. We obtain this information when you visit our Services and through other digital properties. We also use cookies and other online technologies when you interact with our websites and the websites of our partners and affiliates. (See Cookies and Tracking Technologies below.)

 
Communications between you and us—e.g. email and chat messages, etc. We may use this information to respond to requests from you, provide you with services, market to you, develop services, and for security and fraud prevention purposes.

 

 You provide us with this information when you communicate with us.

 

We may combine your information collected through our Site with information collected from publicly available sources to perform research and analysis concerning donors and potential donors and their interests.

We do not sell, share, or trade your information, including donors’ names, with other entities and we do not send mailings to our donors on behalf of other organizations.

This policy applies to all personal information, whether we collect it online or offline.

MaineCF will keep your information as long as required to deliver our services, to evaluate current or prospective donors, or as may be required by law or regulation.

WITH WHOM WE SHARE THIS INFORMATION

Except as set out in this Privacy Policy, MaineCF does not disclose your personal information to any third parties. We do not disclose your information to third parties in exchange for money. We may, however, share your personal information in the following circumstances:

  • Donor verification. In general, we do not make your personal information available to anyone other than our staff and agents. We may make personal information available to third-party providers that help ensure our donor lists are accurate, such as verification of addresses and vital records.
  • Service Providers. We may share your personal information with third-party service providers who perform services on our behalf. For example, we may hire other companies to handle donation processing, provide data storage, assist in marketing, web hosting, fulfillment services, and so forth. Our Service Providers are required to maintain the confidentiality of your personal information and to use it only for the purposes of providing the requested service.

We will not share your opt-in to an SMS campaign with any third party for purposes unrelated to providing you with the services of that campaign. We may share your Personal Data, including your SMS opt-in or consent status, with third parties that help us provide our messaging services, including but not limited to platform providers, phone companies, and any other vendors who assist us in the delivery of text messages.

  • Other. We reserve the right to share your personal information if required or permitted to do so by law. We reserve the right, without notice, to disclose and use personal information and non-personal data in special circumstances, including to enforce this Privacy Statement or other Terms, to protect MaineCF’s or another party’s property or rights, to protect the safety of any one, to protect against fraud, and for other reasons we determine in good faith are necessary, appropriate or required by law, legal process, law enforcement, or regulatory authorities. If we ever merge with or otherwise consolidate with another organization, your personal information may be shared or transferred as part of our assets.

YOUR CHOICES

In this section, we describe the rights and choices available to all users.

Access or Update Your Information. If you have registered for an account with us, you may review and update certain personal information in your account profile by logging into the account.

Text message communications. We use text messaging to communicate with you about your service. Normal messaging rates apply and the frequency of messages may vary. Mobile Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages.

No mobile information will be shared with third parties/affiliates for marketing/promotional purposes. All other categories exclude text messaging originator opt-in data and consent; this information will not be shared with any third parties.

Opt-out of text message communications. You may opt-out of text messaging at any time by replying to any message with STOP or contacting us at info@mainecf.org. This will end the communications from that particular phone number. You may continue to receive service-related and other non-marketing text messages from other phone numbers managed by MaineCF, and you may opt out of those in a similar fashion.

Opt-out of marketing communications. You may opt-out of marketing-related emails by following the opt-out or unsubscribe instructions at the bottom of the email, or by contacting us at info@mainecf.org. You may continue to receive service-related and other non-marketing emails.

Cookies. Most browser settings let you delete and reject cookies placed by websites. Many browsers accept cookies by default until you change your settings. If you do not accept cookies, you may not be able to use all functionality of the Service and it may not work properly. For more information about cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set on your browser and how to manage and delete them, visit https://www.allaboutcookies.org. We use Google Analytics to help us understand user activity on the Service. You can learn more about Google Analytics cookies at https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection/analyticsjs/cookie-usage and about how Google protects your data at https://policies.google.com/privacy. You can prevent the use of Google Analytics relating to your use of the Service by downloading and installing a browser plugin available at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

Advertising choices. You can limit use of your information for interest-based advertising by:

  • Browser settings. Blocking third-party cookies in your browser settings.
  • Privacy browsers/plug-ins. By using privacy browsers or ad-blocking browser plug-ins that let you block tracking technologies.
  • Platform settings. Google offers opt-out features that let you opt-out of use of your information for interest-based advertising:
  • Ad industry tools. Opting out of interest-based ads from companies participating in the following industry opt-out programs:

You will need to apply these opt-out settings on each device from which you wish to opt-out.

Do Not Track. Some Internet browsers may be configured to send “Do Not Track” signals to the online services that you visit. We currently do not respond to “Do Not Track” or similar signals. To find out more about “Do Not Track,” please visit https://www.allaboutdnt.com.

Choosing not to share your personal information. Where we are required by law to collect your personal information, or where we need your personal information in order to provide the Service to you, if you do not provide this information when requested (or you later ask to delete it), we may not be able to provide you with our services. We will tell you what information you must provide to receive the Service by designating it as required at the time of collection or through other appropriate means.

Links to Third Party Sites

Our Services may include third-party advertising and links to other websites. We do not have access to or control over the privacy practices, cookies or other features that advertisers and third-party sites may use, and the information practices of these advertisers and third-party websites are not covered by this Privacy Policy. We accept no responsibility or liability and makes no representations about the policies of these third parties. It is your responsibility to read these third parties’ privacy policies before visiting their site or choosing to share information with them.

Data Security

We have implemented measures designed to secure your personal information from accidental loss and from unauthorized access, use, alteration, and disclosure. However, the safety and security of your information also depends on you.

Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Although we take measures to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of your personal information transmitted through our Services. Any transmission of personal information is at your own risk. We are not responsible for the circumvention of any privacy settings or security measures contained on our Services.

Children Under the Age of 13 and Minors

Our Services are not intended for children under 13 years of age. No one under the age of 13 may provide any information, personal or otherwise, to or on any of our Services. However, any parent or legally authorized representative of a minor (including but not limited to a minor under age 13), in connection with providing consent for health care or research-related purposes may submit information, personal or otherwise regarding such minor, on behalf of the minor. If it is determined that we received personal information that was submitted directly by a child under 13 without verification of parental consent, the information will be deleted. If you believe we might have any information submitted by, from, or about a child under 13 without parental consent or verification, please contact us at info@mainecf.org.

Changes to Our Privacy Policy

If changes to this Privacy Policy are made, we will notify you by revising the date on this Privacy Policy.

We encourage you to stay informed about our privacy practices by reviewing the Privacy Policy whenever you interact with us. In certain cases, we may provide you with additional notice of changes to this Privacy Policy. Any change to this Privacy Policy will be effective immediately and your continued use of our Services indicates your consent.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or would like to request access to your personal information, please contact us at: info@mainecf.org or by mail at 245 Main Street, Ellsworth, ME 04605-1613.