Privacy Statement

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston (SVdP) knows that you care how information about you is used and shared, and we appreciate your trust that we will do so carefully and sensibly. This notice describes our privacy policy. By visiting www.svdphouston.org, or through social media correspondence (such as SVdP ‘s Facebook profile, LinkedIn page, Instagram, YouTube, or TikTok account), you are accepting the practices described in this Privacy Policy.

 

The Simple Version

We use your contact information for in-house purposes only, and do not share any information about you with third parties. Registration and donations made through our website also opt you into our e-newsletter and email listserv, from which you can unsubscribe at any time.

 

What Personal Information Does SVdP Gather?

Information You Give Us

We receive and store any information you enter into our website or give us in any other way. This includes subscribing to our e-newsletter or email listserv, purchasing materials or other products, donating to us, or submitting a form (such as a comment) on our website. We ask for personal information so that we can fulfill your request and return your message. If you choose not to provide any of that information, we may not be able to fulfill your request or complete your order, but you will still be free to browse the other sections of the websites owned and administered by SVdP.

 

From time to time, we will send you e-mail announcements with updates or urgent needs, products, and services from SVdP and partner advertisers and affiliates. The quality news and information on www.svdphouston.org and in our e-newsletter and other communications are supported by philanthropic revenue, and a controlled program of e-mail communication is an important element of our online fundraising. We limit the amount of advertising you receive. On occasion, we will send solicitations to your e-mail, cell phone, or postal mailbox, as permitted by law. Some demographic data, volunteered through our annual surveys, are used statistically to provide our Development team with an accurate profile of our overall constituency. We never make any personal data collected from these surveys or gifts available to outside parties.

 

Social Media & Comments

SVdP uses social media such as website comments, and networks like Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, or TikTok, to engage supporters in dialogue. As mentioned above, SVdP makes use of data collected via these functions on our website. On other networks, we abide by the terms and conditions of that website/service and reserve the right to use those networks for marketing purposes. Comments made on www.svdphouston.org and SVdP‘s social media accounts are reviewed and published at our discretion, and through the use of these functions, you accept that SVdP is permitted to edit, moderate, and reuse comments for in-house promotional materials. Promotions and advertising are not permitted in this medium, nor is derogatory or hateful speech.

​

How Secure Is Information about Me?

 All computers that receive or store personal information are secured by firewalls and other security measures. Additionally, sensitive data such as credit card numbers are encrypted using SSL and other industry standard measures, to provide an additional level of security.

 

How Do We Collect Your Information?

Personal data is collected when online guests provide SVdP with details when becoming a customer or donor. This provides us with account data based on purchases or donations. We may also collect personal information given voluntarily when contacting us on our website, submitting writing content, advertising requests, downloading an e-book, and/or while registering for a webinar. When you visit our website, we may collect information about your visit such as your IP address and the pages you visited and when you subscribe and access our content, we may collect information on when and how you did so.

​

What Do We Do With the Information We Gather?

We may use the information that you provide and that we gather for the following purposes:

 

• To Provide Services to You: We use your information to fulfill online orders, to enable you to view the content on our website, and to interact with all of the features and services available on our site. We also may use your non-personal information to send and process connection requests.

• For Customer-Service Purposes: When we communicate with you, we may do so through the e-mail address that you provide to us, notices to your inbox, texts to your phone, and other means available as allowed by law. The types of communications may include reminders about upcoming events or urgent philanthropic needs.

• To Personalize Your Services: We may use information provided by the user to further personalize the content and information we may send or display to you via email services, and to otherwise personalize your experiences. We may use your information to notify you about employment opportunities, news, and other opportunities from institutions that may be relevant to your interests.

• For Marketing and Promotional Purposes: SVdPUSA may use your information, such as your e-mail address, to send you news and newsletters, to provide special offers about products and services, or to otherwise contact you about products or information we think may interest you. We also may use the information that we learn about you to assist us in advertising our services on third-party websites.

• To Improve Our Site and Services: To better understand how users access and use our site and services, to improve our site and services, and respond to user desires and preferences.

​

What Types of Communication Will You Receive?

Occasionally we may send announcements about SVdP events, products, or urgent philanthropic needs to the mailing list. We do not rent or sell our e-mail lists, although we may occasionally send an announcement, event, product offering, or philanthropic solicitation that we think may be of interest on behalf of a partner.

 

You have choices about the types of communications you receive from us and third parties. They may include the following:

 

• Newsletter

• Vincentian reflections via email or text

• Personalized emails form SVdP’s staff

• Marketing information and emails

• Nonprofit resources

• Webinar promotions

• Donor appeals

• SMS Messaging

​

With Whom We Share Information

 Your personal information will not be sold, traded, or rented outside the Society. Your personal information may be shared with our trusted service providers and sponsors only to the extent required to fulfill purposes outlined above. We will only provide information submitted by our online users via submission forms for accessing exclusive site content such as educational material downloads or recorded webinars.

 

Non-personal information may be shared with third parties for the purpose of soliciting philanthropic support, or for the purpose of improving our web services, conducting data analysis or other business purposes. This information may be combined with information we collect from other sources, to the extent that the information remains anonymous.

 

How We Use Information We Collect

 Your personal data may be used to provide and improve our services and to meet any binding contractual or legal obligations. For example, to analyze and improve the website functionality and services, such as technical or security purposes and to improve the customer experience. Your personal data may also be used to market and sell our services, including communicating with you about same or similar philanthropic opportunities. You will always have an easy and free way to opt-out of receiving such communications.

 

Notice to Non-U.S. Users

SVdP is based in the United States. Use of your information by SVdP is intended for use only within the U.S. and its territories. If you use our site and our services, your information will be stored in the United States. However, we may use third-party service providers that are located outside of the United States. Content and use of that content is intended to conform to United States law and practices. Use outside the United States is at your risk, and you agree to comply with all applicable laws and use or nonuse of content.

 

Third-Party Links

Our Site and Services may contain links to third-party sites. Any access to and use of such links to advertisers are not governed by this policy, but instead is governed by the privacy policies of those third-party websites. SVdP is not responsible for the information practices of such third-party sites.

 

Security

We use industry-standard security tools and measures, as well as internal guidelines and organizational procedures to prevent information misuse and data leakage. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means and procedures to protect the information, which considerably reduce the risks of data misuse, we cannot guarantee that our systems will be absolutely safe. If you become aware of any security vulnerability or potential data breach, please contact us immediately at info@svdphouston.org or 713-741-8234, and we can take appropriate steps to address it.

 

Conditions of Use and Revisions

If you have concerns about privacy at the www.svdphouston.org site or any of our websites, please send us a description of your concern at info@svdphouston.org, and we will try to resolve it. Changing business practices and circumstances may require that we make changes to this privacy policy from time to time. Any changes will be reflected on this website. We reserve the right to change these terms. All changes are effective immediately and could apply to all access to and use of the site thereafter. Your continued use of the site following changes will be conclusively deemed as acceptance of any new changes to our terms and conditions. We encourage you to check this page so you may be aware of any changes, as they are binding.

 

Contacting Us

 

You may contact us with questions about our privacy policy at any time. Our postal address is:

 

Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston

2403 Holcombe

Houston, TX 77021

 

We can be reached via e-mail at info@svdphouston.org or 713-741-8234. Thank you so much.