Privacy Policy

Overview

Stick House Sanctuary respects your privacy. As a small, volunteer-powered nonprofit, we collect only the information we genuinely need to operate — to respond to wildlife intake calls, process donations, coordinate volunteers, and meet our legal and accounting obligations. This policy explains, in plain language, what we collect, why we collect it, and the choices you have.

Information we collect

We collect information in a few limited ways:

• Contact details you give us directly. When you reach out through our forms, email, or intake phone line, we receive the information you choose to share — typically your name, email address, phone number, and the message itself (for example, a description of an animal you found).
• Donation information. When you make a gift, your payment card details are handled by our payment processor. We do not store full card numbers on our systems. We retain only the donor name, email, mailing address (if provided), and donation amount needed for accounting and tax-deductible receipts.
• Basic, non-identifying analytics. If analytics are active on the site, they are limited to aggregate, non-identifying measures such as approximate region, pages visited, and device type. We do not use cross-site tracking or build personal profiles.

How we use information

We use the information you provide to:

• Respond to wildlife intake requests and help you determine whether an animal needs rescue.
• Process donations and issue tax-deductible receipts.
• Review volunteer applications and coordinate volunteer activity.
• Send updates and newsletters you have explicitly opted into (you can unsubscribe at any time).
• Meet legal, accounting, and tax-recordkeeping obligations that apply to a 501(c)(3) public charity.

We do not use your information for unrelated purposes, and we never sell it.

Cookies & analytics

If cookies or analytics are used on this website, they are limited to minimal first-party or privacy-respecting tools that help us understand which pages are useful and how the site performs. We do not use cookies to identify you personally across other websites, and we do not participate in any cross-site advertising network. You can clear or block cookies in your browser without affecting your ability to use this site.

Information sharing

We do not sell or rent your personal information. We share it only when genuinely necessary — for example, with our payment processor to complete a donation, or with a service handling email delivery when you have opted into our updates. We may also disclose information when required to comply with applicable law, a lawful request, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of the sanctuary, our volunteers, or others.

Data retention

We keep records only as long as they are needed for the purpose they were collected, or as long as required by law or tax recordkeeping. Donation and tax records are retained in accordance with IRS requirements for a 501(c)(3) organization. Intake and volunteer correspondence is kept only as long as operationally relevant. When information is no longer needed, we remove it or de-identify it.

Your rights

You have the right to request access to, correction of, or deletion of the personal information you have shared with us. If you would like to exercise any of these rights, or if you would simply like to know what we hold, email us and we will respond. You may also opt out of any communications you no longer wish to receive at any time using the unsubscribe link or by contacting us directly.

Children’s privacy

Our website is not directed at children under the age of 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will take steps to delete it.

Security

We take reasonable safeguards to protect the information we hold, appropriate to a small nonprofit. However, no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security, but we work to limit the information we collect in the first place and to handle what we do hold with care.

Changes to this policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, the services we use, or for legal reasons. When we do, the “Last updated” date at the top of this page will reflect the most recent revision. We encourage you to review this page periodically.

Contact & reporting

If you have any questions about this policy, or if you would like to make a privacy request, please get in touch:

• Email: [email protected]
• Phone: (915) 219-2365
• Mail: Stick House Sanctuary, 3927 Emory Rd, El Paso, TX 79922

We acknowledge privacy requests within 5 business days.