German Cultural Foundation Privacy Policy
Effective Date: September 1, 2026
Name and Contact Information of the Organization
The organization responsible for the collection and processing of personal information described in this Privacy Policy is:
German Cultural Foundation
Location: 1123 Auraria Pkwy Ste 100, Denver, CO 80204
Website: www.germanculturalfoundation.org
Email: info@germanculturalfoundation.org
Overview
The German Cultural Foundation is a Colorado nonprofit corporation dedicated to preserving, celebrating, and sharing German culture, heritage, language, and community. We value your privacy and are committed to protecting the personal information entrusted to us. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, when we may share it, how long we retain it, and what choices you have regarding your information.
This Privacy Policy applies to our website, www.germanculturalfoundation.org, our newsletter and email communications, membership programs, event registrations, donations, contact forms, social media pages, and other Foundation activities.
Information We Collect
1. Membership Information
When you become a member of the Foundation or interact with our membership system, we may collect:
l Personal Details: name, email address, phone number, and mailing address
l Membership Data: membership level or status, renewal information, membership history, payment history, and related records
l Communication Preferences: email preferences, newsletter preferences, event notifications, and other communication settings
l Event Participation: event registrations, attendance records, guest registrations, and program participation information
l Other Information: additional information reasonably necessary to manage memberships, provide member services, or administer Foundation programs.
2. Event Registration and Program Information
When you register for or attend Foundation events, programs, meetings, cultural activities, educational programs, or community gatherings, we may collect:
l Registration Details: name, email address, phone number, mailing address, registration status, and guest registration information
l Attendance Information: event participation records, check-in information, and program participation information
l Payment Information: payment status and payment-related information processed securely through third-party payment processors
l Special Requirements: dietary restrictions, accessibility needs, or other event-related information where applicable
l Other Event Information: information reasonably necessary to administer the event, communicate with attendees, or support safety, accessibility, and program operations.
3. Website, Contact Form, and Newsletter Information
When you visit our website, use our contact form, subscribe to our newsletter, or communicate with us by email, we may collect:
l Contact Information: name, email address, phone number, and message content
l Newsletter Information: email address, first name, and last name
l Technical Data: IP address, browser type, device information, pages visited, date and time of visit, referring websites, and similar technical information
l Cookies and Tracking Information: usage data, email engagement data, signup activity, and similar information used to operate and improve our website, forms, and communications.
4. Donation and Payment Information
When donations, membership payments, event payments, or other payments are accepted, we may collect:
l Donor or Payer Information: name, email address, phone number, and mailing address
l Transaction Information: donation amount, payment amount, payment date, donation date, payment status, giving history, and receipt information
l Communication Preferences: donor communication preferences and marketing opt-in choices
l Other Payment Information: information reasonably necessary to process payments, issue receipts, maintain records, and comply with legal, tax, accounting, and audit obligations.
Payment information may be processed by WildApricot, AffiniPay / 8am, credit card processors, or other third-party payment processors. The Foundation does not intend to store full credit card numbers directly.
Donors should not be automatically added to the Foundation’s newsletter or marketing communications without clear notice or an opt-in checkbox. Transactional communications, such as receipts, payment confirmations, renewal notices, or donation acknowledgments, may be sent as necessary.
5. Photography, Video, and Media
The Foundation may photograph, film, or record events, programs, and community activities. Photos, videos, and recordings may include identifiable images, voices, names, or likenesses of attendees, participants, speakers, guests, volunteers, and other individuals present at Foundation events.
By attending, entering, or participating in a Foundation event, program, or activity, attendees acknowledge and agree that the Foundation may photograph, film, record, use, reproduce, publish, display, distribute, and otherwise use photos, videos, recordings, names, images, voices, and likenesses captured at the event.
Such materials may be used by the Foundation for newsletters, website content, social media, promotional materials, event recaps, grant materials, archival records, educational materials, fundraising materials, and other Foundation-related purposes, without additional notice or compensation.
For events involving minors, photo, video, and participation permissions may be handled through parents, guardians, schools, teachers, partner organizations, or event registration forms, as appropriate.
How We Use Your Information
1. Operational Purposes
The Foundation may use personal information for the following purposes:
l Membership Administration: to process memberships, renewals, member records, member communications, and related services
l Event Management: to organize events, send invitations, manage registrations, process payments, track attendance, and communicate with attendees
l Communications: to send newsletters, event updates, cultural program information, organizational announcements, and mission-related communications
l Fundraising: to send fundraising communications where appropriate and where proper notice or opt-in is provided
l Financial Management: to process payments, membership dues, event fees, donations, receipts, accounting records, and financial reporting
l Program Development: to evaluate participation, improve programs, plan future events, and support Foundation operations
l Website and Contact Forms: to respond to inquiries, provide requested information, maintain communication, prevent misuse, and support administration
l Security and Compliance: to protect systems, prevent fraud or misuse, maintain records, and comply with legal, tax, accounting, audit, insurance, and regulatory obligations
l Mission Advancement: to further the Foundation’s charitable, educational, and cultural mission.
2. Newsletter, Email Tracking, and Communications
The Foundation uses Mailchimp for newsletter and email communications. Mailchimp email communications may include technologies that help us understand whether emails are opened, which links are clicked, and how recipients interact with Foundation communications. This information may be used to improve the relevance and effectiveness of our communications.
You may unsubscribe from Foundation marketing emails at any time by using the unsubscribe link included in our emails or by contacting info@germanculturalfoundation.org. Even if you unsubscribe from marketing emails, the Foundation may still send non-marketing communications where appropriate, such as membership notices, event confirmations, payment receipts, donation acknowledgments, renewal notices, or other administrative messages.
3. Member Directory and Networking
The Foundation maintains a member directory feature available through Wild Apricot. See, https://www.wildapricot.com/. By default, certain information (name, email, title, and role) may be visible to other active members. Members have complete control over what information is displayed and can hide or limit the visibility of their personal information through their Wild Apricot profile privacy and security settings.
Information Sharing and Disclosure
1. Our Non-Sharing Commitment
The Foundation does not sell, rent, lease, trade, or share membership lists, volunteer lists, event registration lists, mailing lists, donor information, or personal information with third parties for their independent marketing or fundraising purposes.
2. Trusted Service Providers
The Foundation may share personal information with trusted third-party service providers who assist with Foundation operations. These may include:
l WildApricot: membership management, event registration, payments, renewals, automated communications, and member records
l Mailchimp: newsletter and email marketing services
l Google Workspace: Gmail, Google Drive, and related Google tools for email, document storage, internal records, and organizational administration
l Microsoft 365 and OneDrive: document storage, file sharing, communications, internal records, and organizational administration;
l Canva: design, marketing, event, and communications materials
l Squarespace: website hosting, website management, forms, and related website services
l AffiniPay / 8am and Other Payment Processors: secure credit card and payment processing
l Instagram and LinkedIn: social media communications and community engagement
l Generative artificial intelligence tools for drafting, editing, summarizing, planning, research, administrative support, and other internal activities, subject to the limits described in this Privacy Policy.
These service providers may process personal information according to their own terms, privacy policies, security practices, and contracts with the Foundation.
3. Authorized Personnel
Personal information may be accessed by authorized Foundation personnel, board members, volunteers, contractors, and service providers who need access to perform Foundation-related work.
Access to Foundation records is limited to individuals and providers who need access for Foundation-related purposes.
4. Legal Requirements
The Foundation may disclose personal information where required or permitted by law or in the good-faith belief that such disclosure is necessary to:
l Comply with legal processes, subpoenas, warrants, court orders, or government requests
l Protect the rights, property, or safety of the Foundation, its members, event attendees, donors, volunteers, or the public;
l Investigate potential fraud, misuse, security issues, or violations of Foundation policies;
l Enforce agreements or policies;
l Maintain accounting, tax, audit, insurance, legal, or organizational records
Third-Party Applications and Services
The Foundation uses third-party platforms and services for day-to-day operations. Each third-party service may have its own privacy policy, terms, cookies, tracking technologies, security practices, and data practices. Key third-party services may include:
WildApricot;
Mailchimp;
Google Workspace, including Gmail and Google Drive
Microsoft 365
OneDrive
Canva
Squarespace
AffiniPay / 8am
Instagram
LinkedIn
Generative Artificial Intelligence Tools
The Foundation is not responsible for the privacy practices, security, or content of third-party platforms or services. Users are encouraged to review the privacy policies of any third-party services they use.
The Foundation’s website, Squarespace website tools, Mailchimp signup pages, WildApricot pages, email tools, payment processors, and other service providers may use cookies, pixels, tracking links, server logs, or similar technologies.
These technologies may collect or process information such as:
IP address
Device and browser information
Pages visited
Session information
Email open activity
Email link clicks
Signup activity
Event or membership interactions
Payment or transaction-related activity
General engagement with Foundation communications.
Where required by applicable law, the Foundation may request consent for certain cookies or tracking technologies. Users may also disable or limit cookies through browser settings. If cookies are disabled, some website features, signup forms, membership tools, event registration features, or payment features may not function properly.
Social Media
The Foundation may maintain profiles or pages on third-party social media platforms, including Instagram and LinkedIn.
Users who interact with the Foundation through social media, including by following Foundation pages, liking or commenting on posts, sending messages, sharing content, or participating in social media activity, may have personal information processed by the relevant social media platform. The Foundation may receive limited information from social media platforms, such as usernames, profile information, comments, messages, engagement activity, or other information that users choose to make available through those platforms.
The Foundation may use social media interactions to communicate with the public, share Foundation news, promote events and programs, respond to inquiries, and support community engagement. Social media platforms are operated by third parties and have their own privacy policies, terms, cookies, tracking technologies, and data practices. The Foundation is not responsible for the privacy practices, security, or content of third-party social media platforms. Users are encouraged to review the privacy policies and settings of any social media platforms they use.
Children’s Privacy and Minors
The Foundation may host or participate in programs and events involving families, students, or minors. The Foundation does not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 online without appropriate consent where required. If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a child under 13 without appropriate consent, we will take reasonable steps to delete such information.
When programs involve minors, the Foundation may rely on parents, guardians, schools, teachers, or partner organizations to provide appropriate permissions and participation information. For events involving minors, photo, video, and participation permissions may be handled through parents, guardians, schools, teachers, partner organizations, or event registration forms, as appropriate. If a parent or guardian believes that a child or minor has provided personal information to the Foundation without appropriate consent, they may contact info@germanculturalfoundation.org.
Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence Tools
The Foundation may use generative artificial intelligence tools to support drafting, editing, summarizing, planning, research, administrative work, and other internal activities.
The Foundation does not intentionally submit sensitive donor, member, payment, children’s, or highly personal information into generative AI tools unless necessary, authorized, and handled responsibly.
The Foundation does not use generative AI tools to make legally significant decisions about individuals.
Your Privacy Rights
1. Access and Correction
You may request access to the personal information the Foundation maintains about you. You may also request that the Foundation correct inaccurate or outdated personal information. As a Wild Apricot user, you can review and update your profile information by logging into your account. For additional assistance, contact us at info@germanculturalfoundation.org
2. Deletion and Opt-Out
You may:
Unsubscribe from non-essential marketing communications using the unsubscribe link in Foundation emails
Request removal from certain mailing lists
Update your communication preferences
Request correction of inaccurate information
Request deletion of certain personal information by contacting the Foundation directly.
The Foundation does not use personal information to make legally significant decisions based solely on automated processing.
3. Membership Directory Control
Members can control their visibility in the member directory through their WildApricot profile settings, including the ability to hide or limit information visible to other members.
4. Privacy Requests
For requests related to accessing, correcting, deleting, restricting, objecting to, or updating your personal information, or to withdraw consent where applicable, please email info@germanculturalfoundation.org with “Privacy Request” in the subject line.
The Foundation will respond to privacy requests within a reasonable period and as required by applicable law. The Foundation may need to verify the identity of the person making the request before responding.
Please note that some requests may be limited where the Foundation is required or permitted to retain or process information for legal, financial, accounting, tax, audit, insurance, security, dispute-resolution, contractual, or organizational recordkeeping purposes.
Data Security
The Foundation strives to implement appropriate technical, administrative, and organizational measures to protect personal information against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, loss, misuse, or destruction. Our security measures may include:
l Secure data transmission through encrypted connections
l Restricted access to personal information on a need-to-know basis
l Regular security assessments of our systems and service providers
l PCI-compliant payment processing for financial transactions
However, no method of transmission over the internet or method of electronic storage is entirely secure, and the Foundation cannot guarantee absolute security.
1. Accountability and Vendor Management
The Foundation seeks to maintain reasonable internal privacy and data-management practices, including limiting access to personal information, reviewing service provider practices where appropriate, and maintaining records reasonably necessary to understand what personal information is collected, where it is stored, who may access it, and how it is used.
Where appropriate, the Foundation relies on the privacy, security, and data-processing terms of its third-party service providers, including providers that process information on the Foundation’s behalf.
Data Retention
The Foundation retains personal information for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy, comply with applicable laws and regulations, maintain records, resolve disputes, enforce agreements, and support Foundation operations. Specific retention practices may include:
Membership Records: retained during active membership and for a reasonable period afterward for legal, financial, accounting, audit, organizational, and recordkeeping purposes
Event Records: retained as reasonably necessary for event administration, accounting, insurance, historical, legal, future planning, and organizational purposes
Donation and Payment Records: retained as required or permitted for tax, accounting, audit, legal, donor-relations, and recordkeeping purposes
Newsletter Records: retained while the subscription is active, including unsubscribe records to honor opt-out requests and prevent accidental re-subscription
Contact Form and Email Records: retained as reasonably necessary to respond to inquiries, maintain organizational records, comply with legal obligations, or support Foundation operations
Photo, Video, and Media Records: retained as reasonably necessary for communications, promotional, archival, historical, reporting, grant, legal, or organizational purposes.
If the purpose for retaining personal information no longer applies, the Foundation may delete, anonymize, restrict, or archive the information in accordance with applicable law and reasonable recordkeeping practices.
International Visitors
The Foundation is based in Colorado, United States. Its website, programs, communications, and services are primarily intended for individuals in the United States.
However, individuals outside the United States, including individuals in Germany or the European Union, may interact with the Foundation. If a person provides information from outside the United States, that information may be transferred to, stored in, or processed in the United States or in other locations where the Foundation’s service providers operate. Because the Foundation and its service providers are based in the United States, information provided from outside the United States will be received and handled in the United States.
The Foundation aims to handle personal information in a transparent and responsible manner and will respond to privacy requests as required by applicable law.
Changes to This Privacy Policy
The Foundation may update this Privacy Policy periodically to reflect changes in its practices, technology, legal requirements, or other factors. When changes are made, the effective date above will be updated. Material changes may be posted on the Foundation’s website or communicated through other appropriate means.
Contact Information
Questions, requests, or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy or the Foundation’s privacy practices may be directed to:
German Cultural Foundation
Website: www.germanculturalfoundation.org
Email: info@germanculturalfoundation.org
For privacy-related requests, please email info@germanculturalfoundation.org with “Privacy Request” in the subject line.