Privacy & Policies

Last Updated: November 1st, 2025

1. Introduction and Scope

This Privacy Policy describes how GivePulse, Inc., a Delaware corporation, collects, uses, and protects your personal information when you use our civic engagement platform. GivePulse connects individuals, nonprofits, educational institutions, and businesses to drive social impact through volunteerism and service-learning, serving over 650,000 groups with more than 10 million verified impacts logged across North and Central America.

Our Services include volunteer management, event coordination, impact measurement, fundraising tools, and educational partnerships. This Policy applies to all interactions with our platform, whether accessed through www.givepulse.com, mobile applications, APIs, or third-party integrations.

Geographic Scope: We operate primarily in North and Central America but serve users globally, complying with applicable privacy laws including CCPA/CPRA, GDPR, FERPA, COPPA, and other relevant regulations.

Contact Information: For privacy questions, contact us at [email protected] or

GivePulse, Inc.

14205 N Mo Pac Expy

Ste 570, PMB 220196

Austin, Texas 78728-6529

United States

2. Information We Collect

Information You Provide: When you create an account, we collect personal information including your name, email address, phone number, and profile preferences. For organizational accounts, we also collect entity details, tax-exempt status, and banking information for donation processing.

Volunteer and Event Data: Through platform use, we collect volunteer applications, event participation records, service hours, and impact contributions. We implement additional safeguards for volunteer data, including limiting access to authorized personnel and anonymizing data when possible, for reporting purposes.

Third-Party Integrations: When you connect social media accounts or other third-party services, we collect profile information and contacts you choose to import.

Payment and Financial Information:

For Organizations Setting Up Donations and Events: When you set up donation campaigns or ticketed events on GivePulse, our payment processors (including but not limited to Stripe, Authorize.net, Network for Good, PayPal, and PayPal Giving Fund) collect and maintain information related to your withdrawal of funds. This includes:

  • Bank account information for fund withdrawal (the “Withdrawing Account”)

  • Tax identification numbers and organizational verification details

  • Transaction records and fee disclosures

  • Automated tax receipt generation information

For Donors and Event Participants: When you donate to campaigns or purchase event tickets through GivePulse, our payment processors collect:

  • Credit card details and payment method information

  • Billing addresses and contact information

  • Transaction history and donation records

  • Tax receipt information where applicable

Payment Processor Relationships: By setting up donations or ticketed events, you agree to the processing, use, transfer, or disclosure of data by our Payment Processors pursuant to their applicable terms. We maintain current links to all payment processor terms for easy reference and ensure:

  • All applicable payment processor fees are clearly disclosed before implementation

  • Organizations can choose whether fees are deducted from donations or paid separately

  • Donors are clearly informed about fee structures

  • Tax receipt information is automatically provided where applicable

Data Security: Payment processing data is handled according to PCI DSS standards and the respective privacy policies of our certified payment processor partners. We do not store complete credit card information on our servers. These payment processors maintain their own privacy policies that govern how they handle payment data, and we encourage you to review their respective privacy policies for information about their data practices.

Automatic Collection: We automatically record information from your device, its software, and your activity using the Services. This may include:

  • Device Information: Your device’s Internet Protocol (IP) address, browser type and version, operating system, and device identification numbers

  • Usage Data: The web pages you visited before coming to our website, information you search for on our website, locale preferences, and mobile carrier information

  • Activity Records: Date and time stamps associated with transactions, system configuration information, metadata concerning your uploaded files, and other interactions with the Service

  • Platform Analytics: How you navigate through volunteer opportunities, organizational profiles, event registrations, and impact tracking features

This information helps us maintain platform security, improve our civic engagement tools, and provide personalized volunteer opportunity recommendations. We use cookies and similar technologies for authentication, analytics, and user preferences.

Special Protections: For users aged 13-17, we require parental consent and implement enhanced data protections. Educational records are processed in compliance with FERPA requirements.

3. Educational Records (FERPA Compliance)

When educational institutions use GivePulse for service-learning programs or academic credit tracking, student records may be subject to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

Directory Information: Unless students opt out through their institution, we may publicly display: name, volunteer activities, service hours, and community event participation. Students can opt out by contacting their educational institution directly.

Student Rights: Students have the right to:

• Inspect and review their educational records within 45 days

• Request corrections to inaccurate information

• Control most disclosures of their records

• File complaints with the U.S. Department of Education for FERPA violations

Contact your educational institution’s registrar to exercise these rights.

Disclosure Limitations: We share educational records only with school officials who have legitimate educational interests, with student consent, or as permitted under FERPA exceptions (directory information, health/safety emergencies, legal orders). We do not disclose records for commercial purposes.

Record Keeping: We maintain disclosure records and work with institutions to provide annual FERPA rights notifications to students. For FERPA questions, contact your institution or email [email protected] with “FERPA Inquiry” in the subject line.

4. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

What Are Cookies: We use cookies to collect information and improve our Services. A cookie is a small data file that we transfer to your device when you visit our platform. Cookies help us provide you with a better user experience and enable certain features of our civic engagement platform.

Types of Cookies We Use:

Persistent Cookies: We use persistent cookies to save your registration ID and login password for future logins to the Service, making your experience more convenient and allowing you to access your volunteer activities and organizational connections without repeatedly entering credentials.

Session ID Cookies: We use session ID cookies to enable certain features of the Service, to better understand how you interact with our platform, and to monitor aggregate usage and web traffic routing on the Service. These cookies are essential for maintaining your session while you navigate between volunteer opportunities, events, and impact tracking features.

Analytics Cookies: We use third-party analytics services to understand platform usage patterns, measure the effectiveness of our civic engagement tools, and improve our services. These cookies help us analyze how users interact with volunteer opportunities, organizational profiles, and community impact features.

Cookie Management: You can instruct your browser, by changing its options, to stop accepting cookies or to prompt you before accepting a cookie from the websites you visit. However, if you do not accept cookies, you may not be able to use all aspects of the Service, including volunteer registration, event management, and personalized opportunity recommendations.

Web Beacons and Email Tracking: Our platform and emails may contain electronic images known as web beacons (sometimes called single-pixel gifs) that are used along with cookies to:

  • Compile aggregated statistics on how our platform is used

  • Measure the effectiveness of our volunteer engagement features and community impact campaigns

  • Track which emails and links have been opened by recipients

  • Gauge the effectiveness of our communications regarding volunteer opportunities, organizational updates, and fundraising campaigns

  • Analyze user engagement with our civic engagement tools and services

This allows us to improve our platform’s effectiveness in connecting volunteers with meaningful opportunities and helping organizations measure their community impact while maintaining appropriate privacy protections for our civic engagement community.

Third-Party Analytics: We use analytics services that may place their own cookies on your device to track website performance and user behavior patterns. These services help us understand how users engage with our volunteer matching system, organizational tools, and impact measurement features while maintaining appropriate privacy protections for our civic engagement community.

Do Not Track Signals: Our platform does not currently respond to “Do Not Track” browser signals, but you can control tracking through your browser settings and our cookie preferences.

5. How We Use Your Information

Core Platform Operations: We use your information to provide account management, facilitate volunteer connections, coordinate events, and measure community impact. Your profile displays your first name and last initial publicly, with additional information you choose to include.

Impact Measurement: We track and verify volunteer service hours, generate impact reports, and support research on civic engagement effectiveness. Data is anonymized when possible for reporting purposes while maintaining additional safeguards for sensitive volunteer information.

Educational Services: For educational partnerships, we support service-learning programs, track student participation, and facilitate academic credit management in compliance with FERPA requirements. Educational institutions retain ownership of their curricula and assessment materials.

Financial Services: We facilitate charitable giving through certified payment processors, generate tax documentation, and ensure compliance with charitable solicitation laws.

Communications: We use your contact information for essential service notifications, security alerts, and administrative messages. With your consent, we may send marketing communications, which you can opt out of at any time.

Security and Compliance: We process information to maintain platform security, prevent fraud, comply with legal obligations, and fulfill user rights requests under applicable privacy laws.

6. Information Sharing and Disclosure

Public Information: Your basic profile information (first name and last initial) is publicly visible to facilitate volunteer connections. You control what additional information to include in your public profile. Volunteer opportunity listings may be distributed through third-party widgets to expand community engagement opportunities.

Service Providers: We share information with trusted service providers including payment processors, cloud infrastructure providers, and analytics services. All service providers are bound by appropriate security and confidentiality requirements.

Organizational Connections: We facilitate information sharing between volunteers and organizations to enable effective community engagement, including volunteer applications, service records, and communication coordination. For educational institutions, we share student information only with authorized personnel in compliance with FERPA requirements.

Legal and Safety: We may disclose information when required by law, to protect our rights and users' safety, or in response to valid legal process. For charitable organizations, we support compliance with solicitation laws and regulatory requirements.

Business Transfers: In the event of a merger, acquisition, or business transfer, user information may be transferred with advance notice and continued privacy protections.

No Sale of Personal Information: We do not sell personal information to third parties for commercial purposes. We may share anonymized, aggregated data for research and civic engagement studies.

7. Data Retention

Standard Retention: Upon account termination, we retain personal information for 90 days to allow for account reactivation. After this period, data is deleted or anonymized except as required by law or for legitimate business purposes.

Organizational Records: For nonprofit organizations and educational institutions, we retain volunteer records and service hour data for up to seven years to support reporting and compliance requirements. Financial records are retained per payment processor requirements and applicable regulations.

Educational Records: Student information is retained per institutional policies and FERPA requirements, with educational institutions maintaining primary control over retention periods.

User Control: You may request earlier deletion of your personal information by contacting us at [email protected]. We implement automated deletion processes and conduct regular reviews of retention schedules.

8. Your Privacy Rights and Choices

Account Management: You can review, update, correct, or delete personal information in your registration profile by contacting us at [email protected] or by editing your profile directly. For organizational accounts, administrators can make changes to organization and event information 24 hours a day through the platform.

Account Deletion: If you would like us to deactivate or delete your GivePulse account, contact us with the subject “Deactivate Account” or “Delete Account” and we will accommodate your request unless we have legal obligations or legitimate business reasons to retain the information. Note that comments posted via the platform may remain publicly viewable after account deletion.

Communication Preferences: You can opt out of marketing communications, newsletters, and promotional materials at any time by following unsubscribe instructions in emails or updating your notification preferences. You cannot opt out of essential service-related communications necessary for platform operation.

Profile Visibility Control: You can select which personal information to include in your public GivePulse profile beyond the required first name and last initial. You can review and revise your profile information at any time to control your public visibility.

European Economic Area (EEA) Rights: If you reside in the EEA, you have additional rights under GDPR including the right to request copies of your information, update inaccurate data, restrict processing, object to processing, delete your information, and transfer your data to third parties. Contact us at [email protected] to exercise these rights, and we will respond within the legally required timeframe.

California Privacy Rights: California residents have rights under CCPA including the right to request deletion of personal information and disclosure of information we collect, use, disclose, and sell during the preceding 12 months. We do not sell personal information and will not discriminate against you for exercising your privacy rights.

Third-Party Account Connections: You can disable connections between your GivePulse account and third-party social networking services at any time by accessing the “settings” section of the platform. Note that your relationship with third-party service providers is governed by your agreements with those providers.

9. California Privacy Disclosures

Information We Collected (Past 12 Months): We collected the following categories of personal information from California residents:

  • Identifiers: Name, email address, phone number, IP address, and account usernames

  • Personal Information: Contact details, emergency contacts, and educational background

  • Commercial Information: Volunteer event registrations, donation history, and organizational engagement

  • Internet Activity: Website usage, search history, and platform interaction data

  • Geolocation Data: General location information for volunteer opportunity matching

  • Professional Information: Organizational affiliations, volunteer skills, and work background

  • Inferences: Volunteer preferences and community interests derived from your activity

Sources of Information: We collected this information directly from you, from connected social media accounts, from other users who invite or reference you, through automatic collection technologies, and from our payment processing partners.

Why We Collect Information: We use personal information to provide our civic engagement platform services, facilitate volunteer connections, send communications, maintain security, analyze platform usage, comply with legal requirements, and process payments and donations.

Information Sharing: We share personal information with service providers (hosting, analytics, communications), payment processors (Stripe, PayPal, etc.), nonprofit organizations for volunteer coordination, educational institutions for service-learning programs, other platform users through public profiles, and legal authorities when required by law.

No Sale of Personal Information: We do not sell personal information and have not sold personal information in the past 12 months.

Your Rights: California residents can request to know what information we collect, request deletion of personal information, and will not face discrimination for exercising these rights. Contact [email protected] to exercise your rights.

10. European Privacy Rights (GDPR)

Legal Basis for Processing: Under GDPR, we process your personal information based on the following legal grounds:

  • Contract Performance: To provide our civic engagement platform services, manage your account, and facilitate volunteer connections as outlined in our Terms of Service

  • Legitimate Interests: For platform security, fraud prevention, service improvement, and analytics where our interests don't override your privacy rights

  • Consent: For marketing communications, optional data sharing, and connecting third-party social media accounts

  • Legal Compliance: To meet regulatory requirements, respond to legal requests, and support charitable solicitation compliance

  • Vital Interests: In rare cases where processing is necessary to protect someone's life or physical safety

Your Rights Under GDPR: As an individual in the European Economic Area, you have the following rights:

  • Right of Access: Request copies of your personal information and details about how we process it

  • Right to Rectification: Correct inaccurate or incomplete personal information

  • Right to Erasure: Request deletion of your personal information in certain circumstances

  • Right to Restrict Processing: Limit how we use your personal information in specific situations

  • Right to Data Portability: Receive your personal information in a structured, machine-readable format or transfer it to another service

  • Right to Object: Object to processing based on legitimate interests, including direct marketing

Data Transfers Outside the EEA: When we transfer your personal information outside the European Economic Area, we use Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission or other appropriate safeguards to ensure your information receives adequate protection.

Data Retention Periods: We retain personal information for as long as necessary to provide our services and comply with legal obligations. Individual account data is retained for 90 days after account termination, while organizational volunteer records may be retained for up to seven years for compliance purposes.

Exercising Your Rights: To exercise your GDPR rights, contact us at [email protected] with the subject line “GDPR Rights Request.” We will verify your identity and respond within one month (extendable to three months for complex requests). You will not be charged for exercising your rights unless requests are manifestly unfounded or excessive.

Right to Lodge a Complaint: You have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority if you believe we have not handled your personal information in accordance with GDPR requirements.

Data Protection Contact: For specific GDPR inquiries, contact our privacy team at [email protected] or write to us at GivePulse, Inc., 14205 N Mo Pac Expy, Ste 570, PMB 220196, Austin, Texas 78728-6529, United States

11. International Data Transfers

Cross-Border Processing: Your information may be processed in the United States and other countries where laws regarding data processing may differ from those in your country. By using our Services, you consent to the transfer and processing of your information in these jurisdictions.

EEA Transfer Safeguards: For users in the European Economic Area, when personal information is transferred to countries not recognized by the European Commission as providing adequate protection, we use Standard Contractual Clauses or other frameworks recognized by relevant authorities to ensure appropriate safeguards.

UK Data Transfers: For UK residents, we comply with UK GDPR requirements and use appropriate safeguards including Standard Contractual Clauses when transferring data to countries not recognized by the ICO as providing adequate protection.

12. Data Security

Security Measures: We implement industry-standard security measures to protect your information, including SSL encryption for sensitive information such as emergency contact details. We follow generally accepted industry standards to protect personal information during transmission and storage.

Security Limitations: No method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security. If you have security concerns, please contact us directly.

Breach Notification: We will make legally required disclosures of any security breaches involving your unencrypted personal information via email or conspicuous posting on our platform in the most expedient time possible, consistent with law enforcement needs and measures necessary to restore system integrity.

13. Children's Privacy

Age Restrictions: Our Services are not directed to persons under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under 13. Users under 13 are prohibited from creating accounts.

Youth Volunteers (13-17): For users between 13-17 years old, organizations must clearly indicate age restrictions, require parental consent for participation, limit data collection, and comply with applicable laws regarding youth volunteer activities. Parents or legal guardians must register accounts for volunteers in this age range and are responsible for monitoring their use.

Parental Rights: If a parent or guardian becomes aware that their child has provided personal information without consent, they should contact us at [email protected]. We will take steps to delete such information from our files upon discovery.

14. Third-Party Services and Links

External Links: Our platform may contain links to other websites that are not under our control. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of external websites and encourage you to review their privacy policies.

Third-Party Integrations: When you connect third-party accounts or services, those relationships are governed by your agreements with those providers. We make no effort to review third-party content and are not responsible for information from connected services.

Testimonials: With your consent, we may post testimonials on our platform along with your name. Contact us if you want your testimonial removed.

15. Changes to This Privacy Policy

Policy Updates: We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make changes that we believe materially reduce your rights, we will provide notice via email. For other changes, we will update the “Last Updated” date at the top of this Policy.

Continued Use: By continuing to use our Services after changes become effective, you agree to be bound by the revised Privacy Policy.

Institutional Contracts: For institutions, nonprofits, businesses, and partners with subscription agreements, contract terms may control over this Privacy Policy regarding data protection standards.

16. Contact Information

For questions, concerns, or requests related to this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at:

Privacy Inquiries: [email protected]

Legal Address:

GivePulse, Inc.

5400 N Lamar Blvd, Suite 2010

Austin, TX 78751

United States

Mailing Address:

GivePulse, Inc.

14205 N Mo Pac Expy

Ste 570, PMB 220196

Austin, Texas 78728-6529

United States


We strive to respond to all inquiries within two business days.