Privacy Policy

Zoeist, Inc. ("Zoeist," "we," "us," or "our") is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization incorporated in the State of Georgia (EIN: 33-2539843). We are committed to protecting the privacy and security of the personal information entrusted to us by our donors, volunteers, website visitors, and supporters. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you visit our website at zoeist.org (the "Site") or interact with our services.

By accessing or using the Site, you acknowledge that you have read and understand this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with the practices described herein, please do not use the Site.

1. Information We Collect

Personal Information You Provide

We collect personal information that you voluntarily provide when you interact with the Site, including but not limited to:

• Donation Information: When you make a donation, we collect your full name, email address, mailing address, phone number (if provided), and the donation amount. This information is necessary to process your gift, issue tax-deductible receipts as required by the Internal Revenue Service, and maintain accurate records for our annual Form 990 and Schedule B filings.
• Contact Form Submissions: When you contact us through the Site, we collect your name, email address, phone number (if provided), and the contents of your message.
• Recurring Donation Preferences: If you set up a recurring donation, we store your donation frequency and amount preferences alongside your contact information to manage your giving schedule.
• Mailing List & Communications: If you opt in to receive updates, we collect your email address and name to send newsletters, impact reports, and organizational updates.

Information Collected Automatically

When you visit the Site, certain information may be collected automatically, including:

• Device and Browser Data: IP address, browser type and version, operating system, device type, screen resolution, and language preferences.
• Usage Data: Pages visited, time spent on each page, referring URL, click patterns, and other interactions with the Site.
• Analytics Data: We may use third-party analytics services to help us understand how visitors use the Site. These services may collect anonymized or aggregated data about traffic patterns and user behavior.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

• Process Donations: To complete your donation transactions, issue IRS-compliant tax-deductible receipts, and send donation confirmation emails.
• Year-End Giving Statements: To generate and deliver annual giving summaries for your tax records, as required for 501(c)(3) compliance.
• Communicate With You: To respond to your inquiries, send thank-you acknowledgments, provide organizational updates, and share impact reports about how donations are used.
• Manage Recurring Donations: To process scheduled recurring gifts and notify you of upcoming charges, payment issues, or changes to your giving plan.
• Nonprofit Compliance: To maintain records required by federal and state regulations, including IRS Form 990, Schedule B, and Georgia Form C-200 filings.
• Improve the Site: To analyze usage trends, diagnose technical issues, enhance user experience, and optimize the functionality and performance of the Site.
• Prevent Fraud: To detect and prevent fraudulent transactions, abuse, or unauthorized access to the Site and our services.

3. Payment Processing & Stripe

All donation payments are processed securely through Stripe, Inc., a PCI DSS Level 1 certified payment processor. When you make a donation:

• Your credit card number, debit card number, or bank account details are entered directly into Stripe's secure payment form and are transmitted directly to Stripe's servers.
• Zoeist does not receive, process, store, or have access to your full payment card numbers. We only receive a confirmation of the transaction, including the last four digits of your card, the transaction amount, and a unique transaction identifier.
• For recurring donations, Stripe securely stores your payment method on their servers using tokenization. Zoeist does not store any payment credentials.
• Stripe's privacy practices are governed by Stripe's own privacy policy, available at stripe.com/privacy.

4. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

The Site may use cookies and similar technologies to enhance your browsing experience. Cookies are small text files stored on your device by your web browser.

• Essential Cookies: These are necessary for the Site to function properly, including maintaining session state during the donation process and preventing cross-site request forgery.
• Analytics Cookies: These help us understand how visitors interact with the Site by collecting anonymized data about page views, traffic sources, and user behavior.
• Preference Cookies: These remember your preferences and settings to provide a more personalized experience on return visits.

You can control or disable cookies through your browser settings. Please note that disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of the Site, particularly the donation process.

5. Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party services in the operation of the Site. Each service has access only to the information necessary to perform its designated function:

• Stripe: Payment processing for donations. Stripe receives payment card details directly and provides us with transaction confirmations. See Section 3 for details.
• SendGrid (Twilio): Email delivery for donation receipts, thank-you confirmations, year-end giving statements, and organizational communications. SendGrid processes your email address and name to deliver these messages on our behalf.
• Supabase: Secure cloud database hosting for donor records and site data. Data is stored with row-level security policies and encrypted at rest.
• DigitalOcean: Website hosting and content delivery. DigitalOcean may log standard server access information including IP addresses.

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to third parties for marketing purposes. We share your information only as described in this Privacy Policy or as required by law.

6. Data Retention

We retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law. Specifically:

• Donation Records: We are required by the IRS to retain records of charitable contributions for a minimum of seven (7) years. Donation records, receipts, and associated personal information will be retained for at least this period.
• Contact Form Submissions: Messages submitted through the contact form are retained for up to two (2) years unless ongoing communication warrants longer retention.
• Analytics Data: Aggregated and anonymized analytics data may be retained indefinitely for trend analysis and reporting purposes.

7. Children's Privacy

The Site is not directed to children under the age of 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you are a parent or guardian and believe that your child has provided personal information to us, please contact us immediately at [email protected]. If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a child under 13 without verified parental consent, we will take steps to delete that information from our systems promptly.

8. Data Security

We take the security of your personal information seriously and implement reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect it, including:

• All data transmitted between your browser and our servers is encrypted using TLS (Transport Layer Security) / HTTPS encryption.
• Payment processing is handled entirely by Stripe, a PCI DSS Level 1 certified provider, ensuring the highest standard of payment data security.
• Database access is protected by row-level security policies, ensuring that data access is restricted to authorized operations only.
• We regularly review our data collection, storage, and processing practices to guard against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction.

Despite our efforts, no method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

9. Your Rights

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have certain rights with respect to your personal information, including:

• Access: You may request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
• Correction: You may request that we correct any inaccurate or incomplete personal information.
• Deletion: You may request that we delete your personal information, subject to legal retention requirements (for example, IRS record-keeping obligations for donation records).
• Opt-Out of Communications: You may unsubscribe from non-transactional emails at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in any email or by contacting us directly. Please note that transactional emails (such as donation receipts and year-end giving statements) are required for compliance and cannot be opted out of.
• Data Portability: Where applicable, you may request a machine-readable copy of your personal data.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at [email protected]. We will respond to your request within thirty (30) days.

10. Georgia-Specific Disclosures

Zoeist, Inc. is registered as a charitable organization in the State of Georgia and complies with the Georgia Charitable Solicitations Act (O.C.G.A. § 43-17). The following disclosures are made in accordance with Georgia law:

• Zoeist, Inc. is a Georgia nonprofit corporation recognized as tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (EIN: 33-2539843).
• Financial information about Zoeist, including our most recent Form 990, is available upon request by contacting us at [email protected] or by calling (470) 964-6039.
• Georgia residents may obtain additional information about charitable organizations registered with the Georgia Secretary of State by visiting the Secretary of State's website or calling (404) 656-2881.
• Registration with the Georgia Secretary of State does not imply endorsement, approval, or recommendation by the State.

11. Do Not Track Signals

Some web browsers transmit "Do Not Track" (DNT) signals. Because there is no universally accepted standard for how to respond to DNT signals, the Site does not currently respond to DNT signals. We will continue to monitor developments in DNT technology and update our practices accordingly.

12. Links to Other Websites

The Site may contain links to third-party websites, including those of our payment processor and other service providers. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of these external sites. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party website you visit.

13. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or other factors. When we make material changes, we will update the "Effective Date" at the top of this page and, where appropriate, notify you via email or a prominent notice on the Site. Your continued use of the Site after any changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated Privacy Policy.

14. Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us:

This Privacy Policy was last updated on March 31, 2026.