Last Updated: 5/22/2024

The Vermont Foodbank (“Vermont Foodbank”, “our”, “us”, or “we”) is a U.S.-based charitable nonprofit organization. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, we use the information we collect to provide you with a better experience and fulfill our mission of gathering and sharing quality food and nurturing partnerships so that no one in Vermont will go hungry.

At the Vermont Foodbank, we value your privacy. This Privacy Notice (“Notice”) explains the types of personal information we collect or obtain when you use or access our website at https://www.vtfoodbank.org/ and when you make donations, volunteer, participate in events, or apply for or receive food assistance (collectively, our “Services”). This Notice also describes the reasons why we collect or obtain this information, how we may use the information, with whom we may share this information, how we safeguard this information, and more. We will not collect, obtain, use, or share personal information except as described in this Notice, unless you consent.

We encourage you to read this Notice carefully so you can understand our policies and practices regarding your personal information. Please also note that by choosing to access or use our Services, you agree to those policies and practices. If you do not agree with them, you may choose not to use our Services.

We may change this Notice periodically (see “Changes to this Notice,” below). You agree to any changes we make if you continue to access or use our Services after we make them. Please be sure to check this Notice periodically for any updates.

1. How We Collect or Obtain Information
   We collect or obtain several types of information in the following ways, depending on your use of our Services:
   • We may collect information from you directly, such as when you communicate with us, submit information on our website, participate in activities and events, provide direct donations, request or receive food assistance, or otherwise provide information during your use of our Services.
   • We collect some information automatically about your use of our website and the devices you use to access our website. We may use cookies and similar technologies to collect this information (see “Cookies and Other Tracking,” below).
   • We may collect information from third parties, such as service providers, to help us coordinate donations and volunteer efforts, communicate with you, and responsibly manage data. For example, our service providers include:
     • Alchemer Limited
     • Blackbaud, Inc.
     • Carr Engineering, Inc. aka Volunteer Hub
     • Google LLC
     • Microsoft Corporation
     • Classy, Inc.
     • CrowdStrike, Inc.
     • Feeding America
     • Jotform Inc.
     • Link2Feed Inc.
     • Meta Platforms, Inc. dba Facebook
     • Paylocity Corporation
     • PreventionPays Publishing dba Educational Message Services
     • Simon Solutions, Inc. dba Oasis
     • Sterling Infosystems Inc. also known as Sterling Volunteers
     • SurveyMonkey Inc.
     • Wye, LLC formerly known as eSoftware Professionals
     • Ziff Davis, Inc. dba iContact
   • We also may collect information that you choose to make publicly available, such as on social media.
2. Personal Information We Collect or Obtain
   The categories of information we may collect through your use of our Services may include the following:
   • Identifying and contact information including name, physical and mailing address, email address, phone number, race, ethnicity, sex, gender, age, date of birth, state residency, social security number, household information, education level, health history, allergies, income range, and any additional information you choose to share with us.
   • Financial information, such as payment information (e.g., credit card), if you provide it for the purposes of giving a donation.
   • Background information obtained from Sterling Infosystems, with your consent for a background check, if you wish to volunteer at certain food distribution events.
   • Technical information about your browser, device, and general location, etc.
   • Any other information you choose to provide to us (such as in an e-mail) or post on our website about yourself.
   • Non-personal information that may be linked to your personal information, including information about your use of our Services.

   We need this information in order to coordinate, carry out, and assist you with our Services, and to provide you information about us. Without it, we will not be able to provide food assistance programs, facilitate fundraising, provide you information about our news and events, or host special programs.

   Finally, you also may be asked to provide contact information and billing details to a third-party (such as Classy, Inc.) when you make a donation to the Vermont Foodbank. For any donations, we are able to access your contact information, financial information, and donation amounts.

3. Why We Collect, and How We Use, Personal Information
   We collect or obtain the information described above for a variety of purposes:
   • To achieve our mission of gathering and sharing quality food.
   • To process donations and engage in other fundraising.
   • To deploy and manage our volunteers.
   • To communicate with you about Vermont Foodbank activities.
   • To personalize your experience while using our Services, including on various devices you may use to access our Services. For instance, we may change the user interface on our website to be optimally viewed on a mobile device.
   • To understand, improve, and analyze usage trends, learning behaviors, and preferences of website users.
   • To market our projects, fundraisers, and other programs.
   • For particular purposes identified to you at the time we collect information from you.
   • For the purposes described below under “Cookies and Other Tracking” and “Sharing and Disclosure of Your Information.”
   • For legal, compliance, or safety reasons. We may use or share information to comply with applicable laws, rules, or regulations, including protecting the safety and rights of the Vermont Foodbank, recipients of our Services, and the general public.

   We may also use de-identified or aggregated information for product development and research including for the purposes of grant reporting; analyzing, improving, or marketing our Services; and demonstrating the importance of our Services in achieving our mission.

   The Vermont Foodbank is located and operated on servers located within the United States. You acknowledge that the Vermont Foodbank stores personal information in the United States for the purpose of performing our Services and for any other purpose for which you provide explicit, informed consent.

4. Cookies and Other Tracking
   When you use our website, we collect information from you by automatic means, including in the form of cookies or similar files. A cookie is a piece of data contained in a small text or electronic file that is stored in your browser or hard drive that allows us to recognize and remember things about how you use our website. This may include information about the pages you view, the links you click, and other actions you take on our website as well as information about your browser and online usage patterns such as IP address, browser type, browser language, referring/exit pages, pages viewed, and whether you opened an email. Additional information may be collected including information about the device(s) you use to access our website. We use these technologies to better display our website, save you time, and provide better technical support. We may also use the information to analyze website usage and for promotional purposes.Many internet browsers are set to accept cookies by default. If you prefer, you can usually choose to set your browser to remove or reject browser cookies or to prompt you before accepting cookies. Please note that choosing to remove or reject cookies might limit your use of our website.Our website currently uses the following types of cookies:
   • • Session Cookies – These are temporary cookies that remain in the cookie file of your browser until you close the browser. These cookies are automatically placed on your browser by the server software.
     • Analytics Cookies – Our website uses third-party cookies, such as Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager cookies, for the purposes of recording the time of your first visit, the time of your most recent visit, and the time of your current visit. These cookies may record your browsing data including: preferences, device type, geolocation, the page(s) you visit on the website, how long you stayed on the website, how you located our website, and analytical data regarding your use of the website.
     • Third-Party Cookies – We use third-party service providers to create and distribute information on our behalf about our programs. These companies may also employ cookies and action tags. These cookies are provided or placed by the following third parties:
       • Google
       • Facebook
       • doubleclick.net
       • YouTube

   Please also note that our website is not designed to respond to “do not track” signals or similar requests from browsers.

5. Sharing and Disclosure of Personal Information
   Vermont Foodbank takes great care to protect personal information you provide us. We do not sell your personal information to third parties.The information we collect and/or obtain about you (see “Information We Collect or Obtain,” above), along with any inferences we may draw from that information, may be shared with the following third parties in the course of providing our Services or administering our programs:
   • With vendors, consultants, data processors, other service providers, and volunteers working on our behalf on a confidential basis. We work with these third parties to assist us in processing payments, reporting metrics, keeping records, communicating with you, other software processing purposes, and for delivering our Services.
   • With certain nonprofit or commercial organizations, so that they may contact you about products, services, or other offers that we think would be of interest to you.
   • With the State of Vermont to assist you with applying for food assistance programs, like SNAP (3SquaresVT) and the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP), or other programs and sources of support, with your consent.
   • For legal or compliance purposes, which may include sharing personal information where reasonably necessary to protect the security and safety of our users or Services, when required or permitted by law (such as in response to legal process), or in the event of any transfer of our business or Services (such as through a change of control or a sale of our assets).

   In addition, we may share your information with other third parties at your direction or upon your consent.

   As explained in the “Cookies and Other Tracking” section above, we also share information with Google, Facebook, doubleclick.net, and YouTube for marketing and analytics purposes.

   We also may share de-identified or aggregated information, which does not reasonably identify any individual, for the purposes outlined earlier in this Notice.

6. Notice Regarding Children’s Privacy
   We do not knowingly collect personal information directly from children under the age of 13 without the consent of their parents or guardians. However, we recognize and appreciate that our food assistance programs are provided to children under 13 and that children under 13 have the ability to share information with us through our website (such as by signing up for our newsletter). Our hope and intention is that any information collection regarding children under 13 will occur only with the knowledge and consent of the child’s parent or guardian. If we discover or are notified that we have received information from a child under 13 without the necessary consent as required by applicable law, we will immediately delete the information from our servers and instruct any third parties with whom we have shared the information to do so as well. If you believe we have obtained a child’s information without the appropriate consent, please contact us immediately using the information below in “How to Contact Us.”
7. Access, Correction, and Deletion of Your Information
   To learn what personal information we have about you, and to update, correct, or delete that information, please contact us as indicated in the “How to Contact Us” section below. We reserve the right to verify your identity before responding to a request, which may include, depending on the sensitivity of the information you are requesting and the type of request you are making, verifying your name, email address, phone number, or other information. Your rights and our responses may vary based on your state or country of residency. Please note that you may be located in a jurisdiction where we are not obligated, or are unable, to fulfill a request. In such a case, your request may not be fulfilled. Alternatively, you may have the right to request access or to update or review your information, request that it be deleted or anonymized, or object to or restrict us from using it for certain purposes.We maintain your personal information for only as long as reasonably necessary to provide our Services or to satisfy our legal obligations, after which your information will be deleted. We are under no obligation to store such personal information indefinitely and disclaim any liability arising out of, or related to, the destruction of such personal information.Nevada Residents: Although we do not sell your information, Nevada law allows you to direct us not to sell your “covered information” (as defined under Nevada law) to any person who licenses or sells that information to additional persons, by contacting us at the designated email address provided in the “How To Contact Us” section below.
8. Opt-Out of Communications
   From time to time, we may send you emails or mailings with information about programs and projects we think you may enjoy learning more about. If you do not wish to receive emails or other communications from us, please let us know by contacting us as indicated in the “How To Contact Us” section below. You can also unsubscribe following the instructions at the bottom of our emails. Please note that you will not be able to unsubscribe or opt-out of certain types of messages regarding your donation or technical notices.
9. Protection of Your Information
   We maintain reasonable safeguards in order to protect your personal information from accidental or unauthorized access, use, disclosure, alteration, destruction, or loss. These safeguards include technological measures such as encryption, multi-factor authentication, and password protection; administrative measures such as information access limitations, employee training, periodic risk assessments, auditing, and contractual obligations for third parties to retain confidentiality; and physical measures such as access restrictions. However, no security measures are perfect. Please note that we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us. Please take special care in deciding what information you send to us via email or for support help. Once we receive your transmission of information, we make commercially reasonable efforts to ensure the security of our systems.
10. Changes to this Notice
    We may update this Privacy Notice from time to time to reflect changes to our practices or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. Whenever we make any changes to this Notice, we will update the “Last Updated” date above and will notify users on our website home page. We encourage you to check our Privacy Notice often to always be up-to-date on the current version and to review any updates we have made.
11. How to Contact Us
    If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about this Privacy Notice or our privacy practices, or if you would like us to update information we have about you or any preferences you might have given us, you can reach us here:Vermont Foodbank
    33 Parker Road
    Barre, Vermont 05641
    info@vtfoodbank.org