Privacy Policy

Introduction:
Help Learning (“we,” “us,” or “our”) is committed to respecting the privacy of our website visitors, donors, and other stakeholders. This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, and protect your personal information. It applies to information gathered through our website and any online or offline interactions you may have with us. By using our website or providing information to us, you agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, please do not use our site or services.

Information We Collect:

• Information You Provide: We may collect personal information that you voluntarily provide to us, such as your name, postal address, email address, phone number, and payment information. For example, you may provide personal data when you make a donation, subscribe to our newsletter, fill out a form, or contact us with an inquiry. Donors may also provide information such as donation amounts and payment details (note: credit card information is processed via a secure third-party payment processor and is not stored on our servers).

• Information Collected Automatically: When you visit our website, we may automatically collect certain technical information about your visit. This can include your IP address, browser type, device type, pages viewed, and referring website. We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to collect some of this information (see our Cookie and Tracking Notice for details on what data is collected and your choices).

• Information from Third Parties: We may receive information about you from third-party sources that help us update or supplement our records. For example, if you make a donation through a third-party fundraising platform, we might receive your name and contact information to acknowledge your gift.

How We Use Your Information:
We use personal information for the following purposes:

• To Process Donations and Provide Receipts: If you donate, we use your information to process your payment and to send you a donation receipt or acknowledgment letter for tax purposes (including any required statements about tax deductibility or the fair market value of goods/services provided, if applicable.
  
  We recommend that you retain these receipts for your records.

• To Communicate with You: We may use your contact information to send you newsletters, updates about our programs, fundraising appeals, event invitations, or other communications related to our mission. You will have the opportunity to opt out of marketing or fundraising emails at any time. We also use your information to respond to your inquiries, questions, or requests submitted via our website or other channels.

• To Improve Our Programs and Website: Information (including aggregated, non-identifiable data) is used to help us understand how users interact with our website, to measure the effectiveness of our outreach, and to improve user experience. We analyze website usage and traffic trends to refine our content and digital offerings.

• To Ensure Security and Compliance: We may use data to protect the security of our website, our operations, and our users. This includes detecting and preventing fraud, spam, or abuse. We also may use personal information to comply with legal obligations, such as maintaining donation records for tax and accounting purposes, or to enforce our agreements and policies.

• No Sale of Personal Data: We do not sell or trade your personal information to any third parties for their marketing or fundraising purposes. Your data is used solely for our nonprofit’s legitimate interests as described in this policy. We may share information with trusted service providers (such as our donation processing vendor, email distribution service, or cloud storage provider) for the sole purpose of carrying out our operations – and only under strict obligations of confidentiality and data security. These service providers are not permitted to use your information for any independent commercial purpose. In addition, we will never share or exchange our donor mailing list with other organizations without your explicit consent.

Donor Privacy and Preferences:
We deeply value the trust our donors place in us, and we prioritize donor privacy in accordance with nonprofit best practices. We will not sell, share, or trade donors’ personal information with any other entity, nor send donor mailings on behalf of other organizations. Donor information (such as names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, and giving history) is used only for purposes related to processing donations, communicating with donors about our activities, and internal analysis. We publicly acknowledge donors (for example, in an annual report or on our website) only with consent. Donors wishing to remain anonymous can indicate this preference at the time of their gift or by contacting us, and we will honor such requests. We also respect donor preferences for communication frequency and channel; if you tell us you only want to be contacted in certain ways (or not at all), we will update our records accordingly. If you opt in to a recurring donation or pledge, we will remind you of the schedule and amount of your contributions, and you may adjust or cancel at any time (see our Donation Terms for more on recurring gift policies).

Third-Party Websites and Tools:
Our website may include links to third-party websites or incorporate services and content hosted by third parties (for example, an embedded video player or social media share buttons). These external sites and services operate independently of Help Learning and have their own privacy policies. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party sites you interact with. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of external websites. We may also use third-party analytics tools (such as Google Analytics) to gather information about site usage; these tools set their own cookies to collect data (e.g., IP address and browsing info) and provide us with reports. This helps us understand website traffic and improve our content. However, these analytics providers do not receive personally identifiable information from us in the process. You can opt out of certain analytics tracking as described in our Cookie and Tracking Notice. Additionally, if you engage with us on social media platforms, your interactions there are governed by the privacy policies of those platforms.

Data Security:
We take reasonable administrative, technical, and physical measures to safeguard the personal information you share with us. For example, pages that collect payment information use encryption (such as SSL/TLS) to protect data in transit. We store donor and user information on secure servers with access controls. Only authorized personnel and contractors who need to process your information to fulfill their duties have access to your personal data, and they are required to keep it confidential. We regularly review our security procedures to maintain the integrity of our systems. However, please be aware that no data transmission or storage system can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. While we strive to protect your information, we cannot warrant absolute security. You share information with us at your own risk, and we urge you to take steps to keep your own information safe (such as not sharing your website passwords and using secure networks).

Data Retention:
We will retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this policy, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law. For example, we generally keep donation records for a number of years to comply with IRS and state recordkeeping rules and to maintain a history of your giving (which can help us with reporting and acknowledging cumulative contributions). When personal information is no longer needed, we will securely destroy or anonymize it. We periodically review the data in our possession and delete or depersonalize information that is no longer required for legitimate purposes. If you request deletion of your data (see Your Rights below), we will also securely erase your information from our active systems, except for data we are obliged to keep for legal or auditing reasons.

Your Rights and Choices:

• Unsubscribing from Communications: If at any time you prefer not to receive fundraising appeals, newsletters, or other promotional communications, you may opt out. To do so, you can click the “unsubscribe” link in any email you receive from us, or email us at [Contact Email] with a request to be removed from our mailing list. We will process such requests promptly. Please note that even if you opt out of marketing messages, we may still send you transactional or administrative communications (for example, a donation receipt or an important notice about your account) when necessary.

• Access and Correction: You have the right to request access to the personal information we hold about you. We will provide you with a copy of your data in a commonly used format, typically within a reasonable time frame. If you believe any of your personal information is inaccurate or incomplete, you have the right to ask us to correct it. We encourage you to keep your contact information current with us so we can communicate with you effectively.

• Deletion (Right to Erasure): You may request that we delete personal information we have collected from you. Upon a verified request, we will delete your information from our records, unless an exception applies. For example, we may retain information that we are required to keep for legal, tax, or accounting purposes, or information needed to complete ongoing transactions. If we must retain certain data, we will inform you and will securely isolate and protect that data from any active use.

• California Privacy Rights: If you are a resident of California, you have specific rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and its amendments. These include the right to know what categories of personal information we have collected about you, the right to know the sources and purposes of that collection, the right to request deletion of your personal information, and the right to opt out of the “sale” of your personal information. As noted above, we do not sell personal information. If you have any questions or requests regarding your California privacy rights, you can contact us at [Contact Email] or refer to our Cookie and Tracking Notice (which explains how to manage certain data collection). We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your privacy rights.

• European and International Users: If you are in the European Union, United Kingdom, or other regions with data protection laws (such as the GDPR), you may have additional rights regarding your personal data. These can include the right to object to or restrict processing of your data, and the right to data portability (to receive an electronic copy of the data you provided to us). Help Learning is the data controller for personal information collected through our U.S.-based website, but we will extend the same robust privacy protections to all users, regardless of location. We will only process your personal data when we have a legal basis to do so (for example, your consent for non-essential cookies or our legitimate interests in communicating with supporters). If you believe our processing of your personal data is not in compliance with applicable law, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with an appropriate supervisory authority in your jurisdiction. We invite you to contact us first at [Contact Email] so we can address your concerns directly.

• Cookies & Tracking: To learn more about how we use cookies and tracking technologies, and to set your preferences or opt out of certain types of data collection, please see our Cookie and Tracking Notice section below. There you will find information on how to manage cookies (including how to exercise opt-out rights for California residents and how we handle consent for EU users).

Children’s Privacy:
Protecting the privacy of minors is especially important. Our website and services are not directed to children under the age of 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 without parental consent. If you are under 13, please do not submit any personal information to us. In the event we learn that we have collected personal data from a child under 13 without verification of parental consent, we will take immediate steps to delete that information. If you are a parent or guardian and believe we might have information from or about a minor child, please contact us so that we can delete it. For teens between 13 and 18 years old, if you use our site or otherwise provide us information, please do so only with the involvement and permission of a parent or guardian. We comply with the U.S. Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and other applicable laws aimed at protecting children’s privacy.

Updates to This Policy:
We may update or revise this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. We will post any updates on this page with a new effective date. Changes will become effective when posted, unless otherwise required by law. If we make material changes to how we collect or use personal information, we will provide a prominent notice on our website or notify you directly (for example, via email if you have an email address on file with us) to seek your consent if required. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we are protecting your information.

Contact Us:
If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal information, please contact us at:

• Email: info@helplearning.org

• Phone: +447407882041

• Mailing Address: 8 Fernhead Rd, London, W9 3ET, United Kingdom

You may also contact us at this address or number to exercise your rights described above (such as requests for access or deletion of your data, or to opt out of communications). We will respond to privacy-related requests or inquiries as soon as reasonably possible, and no later than required by applicable law.

By staying engaged with Help Learning, you trust us with your information. We take that responsibility seriously and will work hard to keep your data secure and your privacy protected.