Privacy Policy

Effective November 16, 2023

United Way of Southwest Louisiana (sometimes referred to as “UWSWLA”, “us”, or “we”) is a Louisiana nonprofit organization focused on improving life in Allen, Bearegard, Calcasieu, Cameron and Jeff Davis parishes. This Privacy Policy (“Policy”) explains how we collect, use, store, and disclose personal information about you. This Policy applies to information we collect when you access or use our website, mobile application and other online services (collectively, the “Services”) and when you visit our offices, attend our events, or otherwise interact with us as described below. We may provide separate or supplemental notices (“Notices”) about our privacy practices, in which case the Notices will prevail over this Policy in the event of conflict or inconsistency between the provisions of the Notices and this Policy.

We collect the following types of personal information:

  • Information you provide, whether in person or online, when you become our donor or volunteer, access our Services, register for our newsletter, programs, or events, and interact with us through social media platforms or otherwise. Such personal information includes names, addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses, month and day of birth and donation dates/amounts and specific requests made by donors/volunteers (i.e., requests to remain anonymous or to be excluded from certain communications);
  • Information provided by others to support our mission, such as personal information collected from our partners and service providers, including payment processors, or organizations we partner with to support our mission. If you are an employee who has opted to become a UWSWLA donor through your employer’s partnership with us, your employer may provide your personal information to us;
  • Information we obtain from third parties, such as a site or platform provider, about the use of our Services, such as usage, viewing, technical, and device data, including your browser or device type, unique device identifier, and IP address;
  • Location information, including precise or approximate location information provided by a mobile or other device interacting with one of our Services, or associated with your IP address or other online or device identifier, where we are permitted by law to process this information; and
  • Information about children: We respect the privacy of children, and do not intentionally collect personal information from children under the age of 13. Should we become aware that such information has been inadvertently collected, we will take steps to promptly remove it from our records. If you believe that we have collected personal information about a child without parental consent, please contact us, so that we may delete the information. If you are over the age of 13 and wish to participate in our Summer of Service Initiative, we require the consent of your parent or legal guardian before processing your personal information. Please refer your parents to the Note to Parents and Guardians About Our Privacy Policy, below.
  • Sensitive Information: Unless we specifically request or invite it, we ask that you not send or otherwise disclose to us your racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or other beliefs, health, criminal background, or trade union membership.  In those cases where we may request or invite you to provide the foregoing information, we will only do so with your express consent, in accordance with applicable law.  Where you provide us with such information without request from UWSWLA, we reserve the right (but do not have any obligation) to remove it from our records.

We use the personal information we collect from and about you for various business purposes including:

  • Communicating with you to provide services and programs, and to support our mission;
  • Sending newsletters and other communications to keep you informed;
  • Responding to your queries, comments, or requests;
  • Contacting you about donations, events, programs, and volunteer and advocacy opportunities;
  • Processing donations and sending tax receipts;
  • Analyzing and improving our programs and services to better serve Southwest Louisiana;
  • Maintaining, monitoring, analyzing, and improving our Services;
  • Detecting, investigating, and preventing security incidents and other malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity and protecting our rights and property;
  • Protecting the health, safety, and vital interests of our personnel and others; and
  • Complying with our legal and regulatory obligations.

We have put in place technical and organizational safeguards designed to protect your personal information against loss, misuse or unauthorized access, alteration, or unintentional destruction. These safeguards include limiting access to personal information and storing personal information on servers and computers believed to be secure. However, no security controls are 100% effective, and we cannot ensure or warrant the security of your personal information. If we believe the security of your personal information in our possession or control may have been compromised, we may seek to notify you by email, and you consent to our use of email as a means of such notification.

We do not sell or rent personal information to third parties. We may disclose your personal information as follows or as otherwise described in this Policy:

  • To our affiliates for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy;
  • To vendors, consultants, professional advisors, and other service providers that need access to your personal information to provide services to us;
  • To organizations with which we partner for joint community impact programming (e.g. program applications or enrollment);
  • To third parties in connection with, or during negotiations of, any merger, financing, divestiture, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution, or other sale of UWSWLA’s assets or acquisition of all or a portion of our business to another organization; and
  • When we believe to be necessary or appropriate: (i) under applicable law, (ii) to comply with legal process; (iii) to respond to requests from government or regulatory authorities; (iv) to enforce our terms and conditions; (v) to protect our operations or those of any of our affiliates; (vi) to protect our rights, privacy, safety, or property, and/or that of our affiliates, you, or others; and (vii) to allow us to pursue available remedies or limit the damages that we may sustain.
  1. Opting Out of Promotional Communications: By using our Services, including donating or completing any forms or otherwise providing personal information to us, you agree to opt-in to our promotional communications. 
    To request changes to your communication preferences visit “manage preferences” at the bottom of United Way emails. If you opt-out, we may still send you non-promotional communications, such as those about your donations or our ongoing business relations.
  2. Note to Parents and Guardians About Our Privacy Policy: UWSWLA  presents, Summer of Service, a program for teenagers that supports our mission. We expect that children and parents will use our Services online together so they can jointly learn about UWSWLA. If your teenager elects to submit their personal information to the Services in connection with Summer of Service, you hereby give consent for UWSWLA to process your teenager’s personal information for the purposes described in this Policy.
  3. Cookies: Like many organizations, our Services use “cookies” to help make sure the Services are meeting the needs of their users and to help us make improvements.
    What are cookies? Cookies are bits of text that are placed on your device when you visit certain websites.  We may use cookies set by us on our website to tell us, for example, whether you have visited us before or if you are a new visitor.  We use third-party cookies set by our service providers to collect information about how visitors use the Services, including how long you spend on each page, and how you got to the Services.  We do not use data collected by cookies to identify who you are.
    How do we use cookies? We use cookies for a number of reasons, like helping us see which features are most popular, counting visitors to a page, improving our users’ experience, and keeping our services secure. The cookies we use generally fall into one of the following categories:
     

    Categories

    Why we use these cookies

    Technical

    These cookies are essential for our Services to function properly. Like the other cookies we use, technical cookies may be either first-party or third-party cookies.

    Security

    We use these cookies to help identify and prevent security risks.

    Performance

    We use these cookies to collect information about how you interact with our Services and to help us improve the Services.

    Analytics

    We use these cookies to help us understand and improve our services.  For example, we use third-party cookies set by our service provider, Google Analytics, to collect information about your online activities in connection with our Services. 

    Your choices: Although most browsers and devices accept cookies by default, their settings usually allow you to clear or decline cookies. You can refuse our use of some or all cookies by turning off the use of cookies in your web browser.  If you use your browser settings to block all types of cookies you may not be able to access all or parts of our Site or functionality may be limited.  You can set your browser to notify you before you receive a cookie, giving you the chance to decide whether to accept it.  You can also set your browser to turn off cookies. 
    Changing your internet browser settings can prevent the use of cookies.  Each browser has a different procedure for disabling the use of cookies.  The Help function within your browser should tell you how.
    You may visit http://www.aboutcookies.org to review information on how to control cookies on a variety of browsers. You will also find details of how to delete cookies from your computer and other general information about cookies.
    Google Analytics: You may visit https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout for information on how to opt out of Google Analytics cookies. To learn more about Google’s privacy practices, you may visit https://www.google.com/analytics/learn/privacy.html
    “Do Not Track” Signals: We do not track our Site’s visitors over time or across third party websites to provide targeted advertising, and therefore we do not respond to Do Not Track (DNT) signals at this time. However, some third-party sites do keep track of your browsing activities when they serve you content, which enables them to tailor what they present to you. If you are visiting such websites, you can learn more about “Do Not Track” by visiting www.allaboutdnt.com.

  4. Disclaimer of third-party websites and services: The Services may contain links to other websites and services administered by third parties. This Policy does not apply to the privacy practices of other websites or services. We encourage you to read the privacy policies on the other websites you visit.

We may amend this Policy from time to time to reflect our activities. If we make changes, we will notify you by revising the date at the top of this Policy, and in some cases, we may provide you with additional notice (such as by adding a statement to our website homepage or sending you a notification). We encourage you to review this Policy frequently to stay informed about our information practices and the choices available to you.

You may contact us any time if you have questions or concerns about this privacy policy or our privacy practices at liveunited@unitedwayswla.org or by writing to us at:

ATTN: Marketing - privacy policy
815 Ryan Street
Lake Charles, LA 70601

Supporter Information Collection and Use
Protecting the confidentiality of personally identifiable information of our online and offline supporters, whether giving monetary or non-monetary contributions, will continue to be a top priority of United Way of Southwest Louisiana. Except as stated herein, United Way of Southwest Louisiana will not disclose, sell, share, trade, or rent any personally identifiable data collected through our website, offline, or by other means. This information is used by your company’s payroll administrator (for payroll deductions), United Way of Southwest Louisiana, or a secure online merchant bank (for credit cards & e-checks) for the purpose of executing the transaction. United Way of Southwest Louisiana may use your information for other purposes necessary to conduct our business, including communications to make you aware of how your donations are being spent, events, newsletters, general information or other opportunities to support United Way of Southwest Louisiana.

United Way of Southwest Louisiana may, from time to time, contract with outside vendors to conduct supporter research for internal purposes. All outside vendors contracting with United Way of Southwest Louisiana will sign a non-disclosure agreement stating that supporters’ personally identifiable data will not be used for any purpose other than projects commissioned by United Way of Southwest Louisiana. United Way of Southwest Louisiana will not send, or contract outside vendors to send, mailings to supporters on behalf of other organizations.

United Way of Southwest Louisiana may also share supporter personally identifiable data with its affiliate agencies. We will also release personally identifiable data about supporters, if necessary, in order to comply with valid legal processes such as a search warrant, subpoena, or court order. United Way of Southwest Louisiana reserves the right to use all information, including supporter personally identifiable data, at its disposal and to share this information with internet service providers and other third parties as necessary to investigate any incident of misuse or abuse of its site, server, or information systems.

Other Web sites that you may link to from our site, including our partners’ Web sites, maintain their own privacy policies. United Way of Southwest Louisiana is not responsible for the privacy practices of other Web sites or affiliate agencies. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of Web sites or affiliate agencies before providing them with any of your personally identifiable information.

Opt-out
You are given the opportunity to ‘opt-out’ of having your personally identifiable data used for communication purposes. You can select to opt-out on any of our email, registration, or donation forms. You may also email us at liveunited@unitedwayswla.org

Credit Card and Bank Account Information
United Way of Southwest Louisiana appreciates the great trust you place in us when you share with us your credit card or bank account information. Protecting this information is a responsibility we do not take lightly. As such, United Way of Southwest Louisiana regularly reviews its procedures and systems for compliance with federal regulations and Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS).

Your Security
We take every precaution to protect the safety and security of your transaction both online and off-line. We use a high-grade encryption and the https security protocol, SSL, to communicate with your browser software. This method is the industry standard in security protocol, helping to keep your personally identifiable data as secure as possible.

While we use SSL encryption to protect sensitive information online, we also protect user-information off-line. Only United Way of Southwest Louisiana authorized employees are granted access to personally identifiable data. All servers on which personally identifiable data is stored are kept in a secure environment.

Changes to Privacy Policy
If we change our privacy statement, we will post those changes prominently so that you will always know what information we gather, how we might use that information, and whether we will disclose it to anyone.

Communication
Please feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns you may have by emailing us at liveunited@unitedwayswla.org

Welcome to our website at https://unitedwayswla.org ,which includes our content, features, and everything else you see and do here (“the Site”). The Site is provided by United Way of Southwest Louisiana, a Louisiana nonprofit organization (“UWSWLA”). By using the Site, you’re agreeing to these Terms and Conditions (“Terms”). If you disagree with any part of these Terms, please don’t use the Site. Our Privacy Policy explains how we handle your personal information.

Acceptance

You can use the Site if you agree to these Terms. By using the Site, you represent to us that you’ve read and agree to these Terms (including, without limitation, your indemnity obligation contained in section 6, below, and the Warranty Disclaimers, Limitation of Liability, and Class Action Waiver contained in section 7, below),  and are old enough to do so (at least 18, or 13-17 with parent or guardian’s permission).

General Terms of Use

  1. Ownership by UWSWLA: All rights, titles, and interests in the Site are owned by UWSWLA or its licensors. Any use other than as specifically allowed under these Terms, including modification, distribution, or replication, without prior written consent from UWSWLA is strictly prohibited.
  2. Accuracy of Information: We aim to provide accurate information on the Site, but we can’t guarantee it. So, your reliance on any information found on the Site is at your own risk.
  3. Access and Geographic Limitations: The Site is managed from the United States and is not intended to subject us to non-U.S. jurisdiction or other laws. UWSWLA may restrict access from specific regions or to specific users at its discretion. Our Site may be most relevant to users in Southwest Louisiana.
  4. License to Use: You’re granted a limited, non-exclusive license to access the Site for personal, non-commercial purposes. You may link to our public pages, though UWSWLA reserves the right to require removal of such links.
  5. Prohibited Uses: Your use of and access to the Site are conditioned upon your compliance with the terms set forth herein. You must not use the Site in violation of any applicable laws, rules, or regulations, or in a manner that could harm us or any third party. Specifically, you shall not: (i) infringe upon intellectual property rights, (ii) transmit unsolicited commercial electronic mail; (iii) disseminate defamatory materials; (iv) engage in fraud; (v) use data mining, robots, scraping, or similar data gathering or extraction methods; or (vi) violate, attempt to violate, or facilitate the violation of the Site’s security or integrity. Except as expressly provided herein, no part of the Site, including, but not limited to, the underlying code, may be reproduced, republished, copied, transmitted, or distributed in any form or by any means.

Newsletter

  1. Registration to Receive Newsletters
    1. Eligibility: Only individuals 18 years or older in the U.S., or those with parental consent, can register for our Newsletters.
    2. Providing Accurate Information: Registration requires accurate, complete details as prompted during the process. You agree to provide current, accurate and complete information about yourself as prompted by the registration form.
    3. Email Verification: An email might be sent for verification. Action might be needed to finalize registration.
    4. Unsubscribe: You can stop receiving newsletters by using the “Unsubscribe” link or contacting us.

Links to Third Parties

The Site may feature links to third-party websites. UWSWLA bears no responsibility for such third-party websites and any issue arising from any of them should be directed to the relevant third-party site.

Indemnification

You agree to hold harmless, indemnify, and release UWSWLA, and its licensors and suppliers, and each of their and UWSWLA's respective officers, directors, members, employees, representatives, and agents, and any respective successors and assigns (collectively, “the Covered Parties”) arising from your use of the Site or violation of these Terms. This indemnification obligation will survive the termination of these Terms and your use of the Site.

 If you are a California resident, you waive California Civil Code Section 1542, which says: “A general release does not extend to claims which the creditor does not know or suspect to exist in his favor at the time of executing the release, which if known by him must have materially affected his settlement with the debtor.” If you are a resident of another jurisdiction, you waive any comparable statute or doctrine.

Warranty Disclaimers, Limitation of Liability, Class Action Waiver

  1. Warranty Disclaimers: YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT YOUR USE OF THE SITE IS AT YOUR OWN SOLE RISK, AND THAT THE SITE IS PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS,” “WHERE IS,” “AS AVAILABLE,” “WITH ALL FAULTS” BASIS. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE COVERED PARTIES EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES AND CONDITIONS, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, REGARDING THE SITE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF MERCHANTABILITY, MERCHANTABLE QUALITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, NONINFRINGEMENT, SATISFACTORY QUALITY OR ARISING FROM A COURSE OF DEALING, LAW, USAGE, OR TRADE PRACTICE, OR REGARDING SECURITY, QUIET ENJOYMENT, RELIABILITY, TIMELINESS AND PERFORMANCE. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, THE COVERED PARTIES DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, RESPONSIBILITY AND LIABILITY FOR ANY LOSS, INJURY, CLAIM, LIABILITY, OR DAMAGE OF ANY KIND RESULTING FROM, ARISING OUT OF OR ANY WAY RELATED TO (i) ANY ERRORS IN OR OMISSIONS FROM THE SITE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO TECHNICAL INACCURACIES, INACCURACIES ON THE SITE, AND TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS, (ii) ANY THIRD PARTY WEBSITES OR CONTENT THEREIN DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY ACCESSED THROUGH LINKS POSTED ON THE SITE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY ERRORS IN OR OMISSIONS THEREIN, (iii) THE UNAVAILABILITY OF THE SITE OR ANY PORTION THEREOF, (iv) YOUR ACCESS TO OR USE OF THE SITE, (v) VIRUSES OR OTHER DAMAGING FACTORS, OR (vi) YOUR USE OF ANY EQUIPMENT OR SOFTWARE IN CONNECTION WITH THE SITE.
  2. Limitation of Liability: In no event shall the Covered Parties be liable for any indirect, special, incidental, consequential, exemplary or punitive damages arising from, or directly or indirectly related to the use of, or the inability to use, the Site, materials and function related thereto, including, without limitation, loss of revenue, or anticipated profits, or lost business, data or sales, or cost of substitute services, even if UWSWLA or its representative or such individual has been advised of the possibility of such damages, REGARDLESS OF ANY NEGLIGENCE OR FAULT OF ANY OF THE COVERED PARTIES, AND WHETHER OR NOT APPRISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. Some jurisdictions do not allow the limitation or exclusion of liability, so some of the above limitations may not apply to you. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AGGREGATE LIABILITY OF ANY OF THE COVERED PARTIES RELATED TO YOUR USE OF OR ACCESS TO THE SITE, BE GREATER THAN TEN DOLLARS ($10.00). YOU AGREE THAT THIS LIMITATION OF LIABILITY REPRESENTS A REASONABLE ALLOCATION OF RISK AND IS A FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENT OF THE BASIS OF THE BARGAIN BETWEEN THE COVERED PARTIES AND YOU. YOU UNDERSTAND THAT THE SITE WOULD NOT BE PROVIDED WITHOUT SUCH LIMITATIONS.
  3. Class Action Waiver. YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT YOU WILL ONLY BE PERMITTED TO PURSUE CLAIMS AGAINST THE COVERED PARTIES ON YOUR OWN BEHALF, NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION OR PROCEEDING.

Modification

We might update these Terms. Check the “Last Updated” date above to see when we last made changes. Continued access to and use of the Site by you will constitute your acceptance of any changes or revisions to the Terms.

Termination

UWSWLA expressly reserves the right to terminate the use of, or to refuse to permit the use of, the Site by any person or entity, at the sole discretion of UWSWLA, for any reason or no reason at all, and without prior notice. Upon any such termination or suspension, your right to use the Site will immediately cease. If UWSWLA terminates or suspends your use of the Site, you hereby waive any claims against UWSWLA or the Covered Parties with respect to such termination or suspension. In the event of termination, any rights or obligations, your indemnity obligations related to use of the Site, shall survive such termination.

Governing Law, Jurisdiction

You agree that any dispute arising out of or in connection with the Site, these Notices and Terms and our Privacy Policy is governed by and construed in accord with the laws of the State of Louisiana without reference to choice of law principles, and U.S. federal and state courts located in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana are the exclusive forum and have sole jurisdiction for any dispute.

Miscellaneous

These Terms incorporate by reference any notices contained on the Site and constitute the entire agreement regarding your use of and access to the Site, but shall not be construed to, create any partnership, joint venture, employer-employee, agency, or franchisor-franchisee relationship between you and UWSWLA. If any provision of these Terms or the Privacy Policy is unlawful, void or unenforceable, that provision will be severable from the remaining provisions and will not affect their validity and enforceability. UWSWLA’s failure to enforce any provision on any occasion is not and should not be construed as a waiver of such provision.

Contact Us

To contact us with any questions or concerns in connection with these Terms, or the Site, please email us at: liveunited@unitedwayswla.org

Contact the Louisiana Legislative Auditor (LLA) Hotline if you suspect the misappropriation (theft), fraud, waste or abuse of public funds by anyone. Toll-free: 1-844-50 FRAUD (503-7283)