1. Overview
Helping Hands Community ("Helping Hands," "we," "us," or "our") connects generous people with neighbors facing hard times and helps families run fundraising campaigns. This Privacy Policy explains how we handle personal information when you visit helpinghandscommunity.online (the "Site"), contact us, donate, volunteer, or start a campaign.
The short version: we only collect what we need to help people, we never sell your personal information, and you can ask us to see, correct, or delete your data at any time.
2. Information we collect
Information you give us
- Contact form: your name, email address, optional phone number, the topic you choose, and your message.
- Donations: your name, email, donation amount, frequency (one-time or monthly), and which campaign you chose. Card or bank details are entered directly with our payment processor; we do not see or store your full card number.
- Campaign requests: if you ask us to help with a fundraising campaign, the story, photos, and details you choose to share, which may include sensitive information about your circumstances.
- Newsletter: your email address if you subscribe to updates.
- Volunteers: contact details and availability you provide when offering to help.
Information collected automatically
- Basic technical data your browser sends when you load the Site, such as IP address, browser type, device type, pages visited, and the date and time of your visit. This is recorded by our hosting provider in standard server logs.
3. How we use your information
- To respond to your messages and requests for help.
- To process donations, send receipts, and manage recurring gifts.
- To build, verify, publish, and promote fundraising campaigns you ask us to run.
- To send campaign updates to donors and, if you subscribe, our monthly newsletter.
- To coordinate volunteers and community events.
- To keep the Site secure, prevent fraud, and comply with legal obligations.
- To understand how the Site is used so we can improve it.
5. Donations & payments
Payments are handled by trusted third-party payment processors that meet industry security standards (PCI-DSS). Your payment details go directly to the processor. We receive only what we need to record your gift, such as your name, email, amount, and the last four digits of your card.
As described in our Terms of Use, 93% of each donation goes to the cause you choose, and 7% covers payment processing and campaign verification.
6. Campaign stories
If you start a campaign, the story, photos, and first name you approve for publication will be publicly visible and may be shared on social media to help you reach your goal. We will always review the campaign with you before it goes live, and you can ask us to edit or remove it at any time. Please only share details about other people, especially children, with their permission or the permission of their guardian.
8. Data security
The Site is served over an encrypted HTTPS connection. We limit access to personal information to people who need it to help you, and we choose service providers with strong security practices. No method of transmission or storage is 100% secure, but we work hard to protect your information.
9. Data retention
We keep personal information only as long as needed for the purposes above. Donation records are kept as long as required for tax and accounting purposes. Contact messages and campaign materials are deleted when they are no longer needed, or sooner if you ask us.
10. Your choices & rights
- Access, correct, or delete: ask us for a copy of your information, or to fix or delete it.
- Unsubscribe: every newsletter email includes an unsubscribe link, or you can simply email us.
- Cancel a monthly gift: contact us at any time and we will stop future charges.
- Remove a campaign: campaign owners can ask us to take down or edit their campaign.
Depending on where you live (for example, California or the European Economic Area), you may have additional rights under local law. We will honor any request we are legally required to, and we will not treat you differently for making one.
11. Children's privacy
The Site is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. Campaigns involving children must be created by a parent or legal guardian. If you believe a child has given us personal information, please contact us and we will delete it.
12. Changes to this policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will change the "Last updated" date above, and for significant changes we will provide a more prominent notice.
13. Contact us
Questions about your privacy, or want to make a request? We're happy to help.
Email: hello@helpinghandscommunity.online
Or send us a message through our contact page.