Privacy Policy

The Stepping Stones Foundation may gather technical information about you, including browser type, IP address, the domain from which you are visiting, pages visited and other activities on the Websites (including search terms used), device type, and time and date of visit. We may also receive information about your current location if permitted by your browser settings. We may use technologies such as “cookies” and “pixel tags” to collect such information to improve website functioning and user experience. Most areas of the Websites will function without cookies, but cookies are required for some sections and are recommended for an optimal experience. Cookies and pixel tags are sent automatically to your browser from a Web server and stored on your computer’s hard drive. These enable us to remember such things as items in your shopping cart and also allow for personalization of the visitor experience. You can set your browser to refuse all or some cookies or to alert you when websites set or access cookies. “Pixel tags” are small, embedded images in emails or webpages. These are used to determine the website sections visitors view and whether an email was opened. Personal information is not collected by these technologies. They gather information in the aggregate that allows us to analyze website traffic, improve website content, navigation, personalization, and online and offline marketing and communications based on visitor interests.

The Stepping Stones Foundation sends email and mail to visitors of the Websites who subscribe to receive specified communications. We will not share your contact information, including email addresses, with any third parties for any purposes. Recipients may opt out at any time by following the “unsubscribe” instructions included in the email message or by emailing office@steppingstones.org.

The data that you provide and records of transactions are kept in secure databases. Data collected is used for (i) the purpose for which it was provided, which varies by transaction type, and (ii) to improve the Websites, operations, and communications. Please refer to individual pages such as, “Contact Us,”, “Donate,” “Volunteer,” event registration pages, surveys, “Shop,” and archive-related requests, to see the types of information collected. Survey participation is voluntary and can be on an anonymous basis unless otherwise specified. We never sell, rent, or share your information or survey data with third parties for third-party marketing purposes. To best serve visitors and subscribers, we combine or supplement the information we collect with outside publicly available information from reputable sources.

When you make a donation, purchase, or reservation, The Stepping Stones Foundation requests information necessary to process the transaction, including full name, address, telephone number, email address, and debit/credit card number. Card information will be temporarily stored on a secure server and used only for processing the online transaction. Your contact information will be retained for our records and, for donations, it will also be used to acknowledge your gift, record your donor listing preferences (anonymous, etc.) for our publications, and to properly acknowledge any honorees you have designated. We do not share your contact information with other organizations for any purpose.

We make every reasonable effort to ensure the security of transactions that occur on our Websites. To maintain data accuracy, prevent unauthorized access, and ensure the correct use of information, we have put appropriate procedures in place to safeguard the information we collect.

The security of your personal information is important to us, but remember that no method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

If you are located outside of the United States, you acknowledge and agree that, by visiting the Websites or providing us with your personal information, including for the purpose of engaging in an online transaction with us through our online store, your personal information may be processed in the country in which it was collected and in other countries, including the United States, where laws regarding processing of personal information may be less stringent than the laws in your country. By providing your data, you consent to such transfer. You may request changes, deletions, and copies of your information at any time.

The Stepping Stones Foundation takes care to protect the safety and privacy of children and will not knowingly collect personal information from children under thirteen years of age. If a child under thirteen years of age submits personal information to us and we learn that the personal information is the information of a child under thirteen years of age, we will attempt to delete the information as soon as possible. If you believe that we might have any personal information from a child under thirteen years of age, please contact us at office@steppingstones.org.

Stepping Stones is an independent non-profit organization. We generally do not receive contact information updates from other organizations pertaining to their membership. To keep your information current with us, please use the contact us page form (hyperlink) or email office@steppingstones.org

If you submit a personal comment, correspondence, photograph, archival item or other content and expressly consent to allow us to publish it, we may include it (in whole or in part), and any personal information you have authorized to us to publish, on the Site and in digital and print publications, in accordance with the consent granted.

If you submit personal information to us on behalf of someone else, you ensure and certify that you have their authorization and consent to provide us with their personal information.

We may disclose personal information if required to do so or in the good-faith belief that such disclosure is necessary to (i) protect and defend our rights or property, the Site or its users, and/or (ii) act under emergency circumstances to protect the personal safety of our personnel, volunteers, website users, visitors to our property, or others.

Pursuant to a subpoena, court order, governmental inquiry, or other legal process or as otherwise required by law, or to protect our rights or the rights of third parties, we may disclose your personal information to proper authorities. This may include disclosure for the purpose of protecting against misuse or unauthorized use of our Websites, to limit our legal liability, or to protect our rights or to protect the rights, property, or safety of visitors of the Websites or the public.

Third-party service providers who process your personal information in connection with the use of the Site and/or in connection with attending our events may not automatically delete the information upon request.

We may take photographs at our events. (Every effort is made to protect anonymity in photographs or related text.) You may withdraw consent at any time.

As you interact with the Websites, we may automatically collect technical data about your equipment and browsing behavior. We collect this and other personal information by using cookies, tracking, and similar technologies. We engage reputable third-party vendors to help us manage Websites, process online and offline transactions, and manage communications and data. We receive technical data from analytics providers such as Google Analytics set up on our site to help us improve user experiences. Google Analytics may use information about your visits to the Websites and other sites to personalize advertisements for goods and services.
Please see Google’s Privacy and Terms at https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites for more information about how data is collected and processed in connection with the Google Analytics service. We and our third-party vendors or providers use analytics data for a variety of purposes such as to improve the design and content of our Websites, or to help us learn things like what pages most interest our visitors. We require our vendors to maintain the confidentiality of the information to which they are provided access, and restrict them from using or disclosing such information in any way without express authorization of The Stepping Stones Foundation.

Some web browsers may transmit “do-not-track” (“DNT”) signals to mobile applications with which the user communicates. We currently do not change our tracking practices in response to DNT settings in your web browser.

Our third-party partners, such as web analytics companies and third-party ad networks, may collect information about you and your online activities over time and across our services and other online properties. These third parties may not change their tracking practices in response to DNT settings in your web browser and we do not obligate these parties to honor DNT settings. We utilize Google Analytics for our web analytics and you can opt out of your usage data being included in our Google Analytics reports by visiting https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

When clicking links to third-party sites, apps, and social media platforms (“Third-Party Sites”) from the Websites, please note that using those links may allow Third-Party Sites to collect or share your data. The Stepping Stones Foundation does not endorse or control Third-Party Sites. Each may be governed by its own terms of service and privacy policy. The Stepping Stones Foundation encourages you to read such Third-Party Sites’ privacy policies and terms to understand how they process information as those are not covered by this policy. Third-Party Sites’ own policies may be subject to change. You are solely responsible for all liability for any damages or other harm, whether to yourself or third parties, resulting from your use of Third-Party Sites. We are not responsible for the data collection and privacy practices employed by Third-Party Sites and recommend that you review their privacy policies. You are reminded to take all protections necessary when accessing Third-Party Sites, particularly when downloading or purchasing from Third-Party Sites.

The Websites may offer integrated tools and other social sharing features that let you share actions you take on the Websites with Third-Party Sites and vice versa, including with Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Google. Using these features makes it possible for you to share information with individuals or the public, depending on the settings you establish with the Third-Party sites that provide the social sharing feature. Users are solely responsible for maintaining their preferred settings on Third-Party Sites they choose to use. We may use analytics tools provided by Third-Party Sites to help us understand how our followers use such Third-Party Sites’ social media features and to better improve our own use of such Third-Party Sites. Third-Party Sites linked to by the Websites may collect tracking and user information such as device identifiers.

The Stepping Stones Foundation receives aggregated statistical information from Third-Party Sites about the performance of our posts and promoted content, such as numbers of views and geography of viewers. The provided data is aggregated by Third-Party Sites. For more information about the purpose and scope of data collection and processing, please visit the privacy policies of the respective Third-Party Sites at the following links:

• Facebook and Instagram
• Google
• LinkedIn
• Twitter

We may share your information with contracted third parties that perform confidential services on our behalf, including those that carry data storage providers and banking partners.