Privacy Policy

Most Recently Updated 7/8/2019

Reading Is Fundamental, Inc. (hereafter "RIF") values all of our users and respects their privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how your personal information is collected, used, and the degree to which it is shared when you visit rif.org (the “Site”). Separately, we set forth the extra measures we provide to our monetary donors of the information they furnish to us, and the solicitation options that we offer them.

RIF has established the following practices regarding privacy.

A. Information We Collect and How We Use That Information: Our registration forms for members of RIF’s Chapters, RIF Programs, and visitors joining our Literacy Network, Literacy Central, require those users to give us contact information that may include name, email address, mailing address, their interests, basic demographics, organizational size, location and funding, photographs of themselves, and similar information. We do not permanently store sensitive information from our visitors, such as social security or credit card numbers (except in the case of recurring donors (herein discussed) whose credit cards are charged on a monthly basis in the amount authorized by the donor). We may use your email address to send you RIF communications, but you may let us know that you do not want to receive such communications from us. We may also use this information to tell our users about services that may be of interest to them, better to understand how our users access, use and benefit from RIF’s Site and services, and to conduct research on our users’ demographics, interests and behaviors.
RIF will not sell your personal information. There are, however, certain circumstances in which we may share your personal information. We reserve the right to share your personal information with the following:
• Service Providers. These would include third party vendors, service providers, or others who furnish services on RIF’s behalf.
• Those in Legal Proceedings. RIF may disclose your information to comply with the law, judicial proceedings, court orders, or other legal obligations such a in response to a court order or subpoena.
• With Third Parties to Promote RIF’s Activities and Services. RIF may share aggregated information not identifiable as to any unique individual to third parties to market, advertise or otherwise promote RIF’s services, activities and mission.

B. Internet Protocol Address and Other Aggregate Data: We collect an IP address from all visitors to our Site. An IP address is a number that is automatically assigned to your computer when you use the Internet and from which we can derive your general geographic location. We use IP addresses to help diagnose problems with our server, administer our Site, analyze trends, track users' movement, gather broad demographic information for aggregate use in order for us to improve the Site, and deliver customized, personalized content. We do not link IP addresses to personally identifiable information. We also automatically collect and store the name of the domain and host from which you access the Internet, the browser software you use, the operating system you use, the date and time you access our Site, and the Internet address of the Site from which you linked (if any) directly to our Site. We use this information only as anonymous aggregate data to help diagnose problems with our server, administer our Site, analyze trends, track user’s movement, and gather broad demographic information, including the total number of visitors to our Site in order for us to improve the Site, deliver customized, personalized content, and overall make our Site more useful.

C. Use of "Cookies": We may use cookies to enhance your experience while using our Site. Cookies are pieces of information that some websites transfer to the computer that is browsing that website (your computer) and are used for recordkeeping and data tracking purposes. Use of cookies makes web surfing easier by performing certain functions such as saving your passwords and your personal preferences regarding your use of our particular website. There are two types of cookies: session cookies that exit only during your online session and disappear when you close your browser or turn off your computer; and persistent cookies, which remain on your computer after you have closed your browser or turned off the computer. We may use persistent cookies to track aggregate and statistical user activity and potentially to put information about our services on our Site. Your browser is probably set to accept cookies. However, if you would prefer not to receive cookies, you can alter the configuration of your browser to refuse or disable cookies. You should be able to edit your browser options to block cookies. Access the Help part of your toolbar, which should provide instructions on how to prevent the reception of new cookies and how to have the browser notify you when you receive a new cookie, or how to disable all cookies. If you choose to have your browser refuse cookies, it is possible that some areas of our Site will not function properly when you view them.

D. Security: Information provided to RIF is transmitted using SSL (Secure Socket Layer) encryption. SSL is a coding system that lets your browser automatically encrypt, or scramble, data before you send it to us. We also protect account information by placing it on a secure portion of our Site that is designed to be only accessible by certain authorized personnel of RIF. Unfortunately, however, no data transmission over the Internet is 100 percent secure. While we strive to protect your information, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of such information. You should take measures to protect against unauthorized access to your password, phone and computer, including signing off after you use a shared or office-based computer, selecting a strong password and holding your password and log-in private.

E. International Transfers of Information: By using the Site you consent to the collection and processing of your personally identifiable information in the United States to the extent described herein, with the awareness that U.S. law may not provide the equivalent protection as the laws of certain other countries or territories.

F Other Websites: Our Site contains links to other websites. Please note that when you click on one of these links, you are entering another website for which RIF has no responsibility. We encourage you to read the privacy statements on all such sites as their policies may be different than ours.

G. Children: The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act ("COPPA") requires that we inform parents and legal guardians about how we collect, use, and disclose personal information from children under 13 years of age; and that we obtain the consent of parents and guardians in order for children under 13 years of age to use certain features of our Site. Below we explain how we do that for these "children." Also, when we use the term "parent" below, we include legal guardians. Children under the age of 13 may access the Site simply to view its content on pages that do not require registration, but they may only access the Literacy Central and Literacy Network landing pages and any other restricted pages through their parents’ accounts. Children can browse rif.org and view content without any personal information being collected if they and their parents so choose. Under the supervision of a parent, volunteer, teacher, or other adult, children may be invited to use RIF’s Literacy Tracker tool. A username and password are created for that child as a member of the reading group(s) of the supervising parent, volunteer or teacher account. The adult creates the account with the limited personally identifiable information for the child including first name, initial of last name, and grade level. Through this account, a student has access to the Literacy Tracker student experience which provides a timed reading tool (that enables a child to track how much time he or she spent reading a particular book). A student may indicate interests for customizing book recommendations, but no further information is collected from the student. Results of the timed reading tool are accessed by the supervising adult. RIF may analyze, only internally, aggregated anonymized results. RIF shall not share any information that it collects about children under the age of 13 other than such aggregated anonymized results. SiteNote that all websites that are directed to children under 13 are prohibited by law from conditioning a child's participation in an online activity on the child's providing more personal information than is reasonably necessary and RIF adheres to such law.
Parents and guardians may review or modify their child’s personal information as described in this Section G (including limited personally identifiable information, interests, username, and password). Parents or guardians may also remove their children from RIF accounts by logging into these accounts, accessing the information associated with their child’s profile and deleting that profile.
When you remove your child’s profile and delete his or her account, RIF will stop collecting, using, and/or disclosing personal information from or about your child, but RIF reserves the right to retain the limited information about your child already obtained that may be necessary for record keeping.

H. Integration with Social Media; Posting to RIF’s Site: Through our Site, you may link to the social media pages that RIF maintains on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and RIF’s YouTube channel “rifweb”. If you log into those social media sites, RIF may collect relevant information necessary to enable RIF to access the third party social media sites and your data within those sites. We may also share your information with the operators of those third party social media sites to facilitate delivery of those social media services to you.
You may post certain of your RIF-related activities, such as your Puzzle Creations, to RIF’s Site. We may also post user-generated contributions on our Site or social media pages, such as our Facebook page. If you or RIF makes any of your contributions available through a third party site your followers and the public may be able to see these contributions and activities.

I. Changes to Policy and Contact Information: Except as set forth in the portion of this policy concerning the collection of personal information of children (Section G), RIF reserves the right, at any time and without notice, to modify this policy by simply posting such changes on our website. Any modifications will be effective immediately upon posting.

Contact Us
If you have any questions or comments about this policy, want to review your personal information collected by RIF, or wish to inform us of your solicitation preferences, please email us at contactus@rif.org.

Additional Protection of Donor Information
Thank you for your support of Reading Is Fundamental. We value the trust you have placed in us by contributing financially to our mission to encourage and foster a literate America by inspiring a passion for reading among all children. RIF understands that a donor's or prospective donor's (referred to herein collectively as "Donor") personal information collected through the fundraising process is particularly sensitive. RIF personnel who have access to "Donor Information" (as defined below) are required to sign an internal confidentiality policy, which is reviewed and updated annually, and to acknowledge the ethical policies of the Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement, the Association of Fundraising Professionals, and the Donor Bill of Rights.
The following practices guide RIF's recordkeeping on donors:

A. Access to information in RIF's donor database and paper files containing personal information of donors or prospective donors ("Donor Information") is limited to personnel in the Development Department, other select RIF personnel and certain other non-profit organizations.

B. Electronic and paper documents maintained by RIF and relating primarily to Donor Information will be disposed of when no longer needed.

C. RIF notifies its vendors, consultants, and other third parties of RIF's confidentiality policies before such third parties gain access to Donor Information for purposes of carrying out fundraising activities for RIF.

D. Donors may have reasonably prompt access to their own Donor Information upon written request but may not view any other records of any Donors, or RIF’s internal records.

E. All Donor Information is the property of RIF.

Specific Solicitation Practices Regarding Donors
It is RIF's standard practice to include all donors in our regular solicitation schedule. Donors and prospective donors may call 877-743-7323 to speak with the Vice President of Development or email the development staff to advise how often they wish to be solicited, to advise that they do not wish to receive solicitations, do not receive any physical mail at all from RIF, do not wish to receive email from RIF, or that their contact information not be shared with other organizations.
RIF defines these options as follows:
A. One solicitation per year: A donor or prospective donor will receive a solicitation as part of RIF’s year-end direct mail appeal. Additionally, donors and prospective donors may also receive email communications from RIF if they have provided an email address.
B. Do not solicit: A donor or prospective donor will not receive any solicitations from RIF. A donor will still receive standard acknowledgments when he or she makes a gift, and an annual tax receipt.
C. Do not mail: The only mail these donors will receive are acknowledgments from RIF when they make a gift. These donors may, however, continue to receive emails. Donors must also request that their record be marked "Do not email " if they do not wish to receive electronic communications.
D. Do not email: For all gifts made online, RIF requires donors to submit their email address. Donors will still receive an automatic electronic acknowledgment for their gift shortly after it is made.
E. Do not share: Although RIF does not sell its mailing or email lists, we may exchange lists with other nonprofit organizations through a recognized list brokerage firm. Any donor may request that his or her name not be shared with other organizations.

In addition, any donor may request to give anonymously. Anonymity means that the donor will be excluded from any annual report or general donation listings. In addition, that individual's record will automatically be marked "Do not share" to ensure that his or her name is excluded should RIF share any of its lists..

Please note that RIF reserves the right to contact a donor by whatever means necessary should a problem arise with a gift.

Donor requests:
Please contact us at the following street address or email address with any Donor requests or for information
Via U.S. Mail:
Reading Is Fundamental, Inc.
Attn: Development Department
750 First St. NE, Suite 920
Washington, DC 20002
Via Telephone : 877-743-7323
Via email : development@rif.org