Reports, Policies & Public Inspection Files

Donor Privacy Policy

Purpose

This privacy policy articulates the principles, actions and beliefs of Friends of PBS Wisconsin with regard to the information collected, retained and used related to some of our primary supporters, including our donors, volunteers, and prospects.

This policy is intended to guide the actions of the Friends of PBS Wisconsin employees, volunteers, contractors and authorized representatives.  This information includes:

  • Personal information obtained from donors, volunteers and prospects through pledge cards, letters, surveys, applications, and other forms, in writing, in person, by telephone, or electronically (e.g. name, address, employer, birth date, credit card number, family members, interests, etc.)
  • Individual information may also be collected about donors, volunteers and prospects’ present and past giving history, volunteer activity, committee service, information from public documents and reports, and any other interactions an individual may have had with Friends of PBS Wisconsin.

Policy

We value our donors, volunteers and prospects (hereafter referred to as our “supporters”) and take their privacy seriously. We will respect the privacy of the personal and organizational information that we are privileged to have about our supporters. Our commitment to respect the privacy of our supporters extends to how we obtain, use, protect and share information about them. This privacy policy is intended to be applied in conjunction with related Friends of PBS Wisconsin policies.

Principles, Actions, and Beliefs

  1. We respect all requests to remain anonymous.
  2. We do not sell or rent our donor information to any organization or individual.
  3. We may exchange some of our supporters’ names and postal addresses – nothing else – with carefully selected nonprofit educational, cultural, health and social service organizations in the communities we serve. We will not exchange donor information with any political candidate, party, or committee or with a 501(c)(4) advocacy group.
  4. We may provide supporter information to other public broadcasting organizations or research organizations hired by or working on behalf of PBS Wisconsin for the purpose of donor research that will help support PBS Wisconsin or for providing station member benefits.
  5. We will always provide an “opt-out” procedure for donors and others who request to be excluded from mailings, phone calls, or electronic communications. Supporters may contact PBS Wisconsin at any time at (800) 422-9707 and we will gladly accommodate your preferences, which will remain in effect until changed by you.
  6. We will hold strictly confidential all information concerning supporters, including names, addresses, names of beneficiaries, nature and value of estates, amounts of provisions or gifts, etc., unless a Page 1 of 2 supporter grants permission to use selective information for purposes of referral, testimonial, example, recognition, or publicity.
  7. We have procedures in place to limit access to information to those employees and volunteers who need to know such information in order to fulfill our mission.
  8. We educate our employees and volunteers on the importance of protecting the privacy and security of confidential personal and organizational information.
  9. We contractually require any person or organization providing services to Friends of PBS Wisconsin to protect the confidentiality of supporter information.

Friends of PBS Wisconsin: Our Commitment to Donors

We are committed to:

  1. Informing our donors about PBS Wisconsin’s mission, the way we intend to use donated resources, and our capacity to use donations effectively for their intended purposes.
  2. Publishing the names of people who serve on the Friends of PBS Wisconsin’s governing board and upholding the expectation that the board will exercise prudent judgment in its stewardship responsibilities.
  3. Providing access to PBS Wisconsin’s most recent financial statements.
  4. Using our donors’ gifts for the purposes for which they were given.
  5. Giving donors appropriate acknowledgement and recognition or honoring their request to remain anonymous if desired.
  6. Handling donor information with respect and with confidentiality to the extent provided by law.
  7. Ensuring that all relationships with individuals representing organizations of interest to the donor will be professional in nature.
  8. Informing donors if PBS Wisconsin representatives seeking donations are volunteers, employees of the organization or hired solicitors.
  9. Removing donors from our mailing lists if requested.
  10. Addressing all questions from donors with prompt, truthful and forthright answers.