Privacy Policy: Your Trust, Our Priority

At Purpose Forward and PF TECH, we are deeply committed to protecting the privacy and security of your personal information. This Privacy Policy outlines our practices regarding data collection, usage, storage, and disclosure in compliance with applicable Canadian privacy laws and ethical standards.

We encourage you to read this policy carefully to understand how your information is handled when you interact with our website, services, and products. Your use of our services constitutes your agreement to the terms of this Privacy Policy.

Welcome to Purpose Forward! We're a Canadian not-for-profit on a mission to accelerate the growth of grassroots, social purpose organizations. Your privacy isn't just a legal checkbox for us; it's a core value that aligns with our dedication to ethical and responsible operations. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and protect your personal information when you interact with our website, services, and communications.

By accessing or using our services, you signify your understanding and agreement to the terms of this Privacy Policy. Please take a moment to read it carefully.

1. Who We Are

Purpose Forward ("we," "us," "our," or "Company") is a Canadian not-for-profit corporation established to accelerate the growth of grassroots, social purpose organizations. Our website is located at https://www.purposeforward.org/.

Our primary website users and beneficiaries are nonprofits, their dedicated staff, and passionate founders.

2. What is Personal Information?

For the purposes of this Privacy Policy, "personal information" refers to any information that identifies, relates to, describes, is reasonably capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, directly or indirectly, with an identifiable individual. This often includes details like your name, email address, phone number, and other information that, alone or in combination, can identify you.

3. Information We Collect

We collect information to support our mission, provide valuable services, and enhance your experience. The types of personal information we collect depend on how you interact with us:

3.1 Information You Provide Directly To Us:

When you interact with our website and services, you may provide us with the following categories of personal information:

• Contact Information: Name, email address (mandatory for forms), phone number, organizational details, and job title (for forms and service engagement).
• Correspondence Information: Records of your communication with us, such as inquiries, requests for consultations, or support requests.
• Account Information: If you create a user account, we collect necessary login credentials.
• Transaction Information: When you purchase digital products, we collect details necessary to process your order (please note: actual payment processing is handled by Stripe – see Section 5.3).
• Newsletter Subscriptions: Your email address when you sign up for our newsletters.

3.2 Information Collected Automatically (Cookies & Tracking Technologies):

When you visit our website, we, or our third-party service providers, automatically collect certain information about your device and browsing activity using cookies, IP addresses, and similar tracking technologies. This includes:

• Device and Usage Data: IP address, browser type, operating system, pages viewed, time spent on pages, referral source, and navigation paths.
• Demographic Data: Generalized demographic information derived from IP addresses or analytics.
• Cookie Data: Information collected through cookies placed on your device (e.g., to remember preferences, analyze site usage, or facilitate Google Ads tracking).

We understand that you utilize a Wix-provided cookie consent banner that requires users to explicitly opt-in to non-essential cookies (such as analytics and advertising cookies) before they are set, and allows users to customize their preferences.

4. How We Use Your Information

We use your personal information solely for legitimate purposes that support our mission and provide you with value. These purposes include:

• To Provide and Manage Services: To respond to your inquiries, process consultation requests, fulfill orders for digital products, manage your user accounts, and provide the services you request.
• To Connect to External Services: To facilitate your access to our off-site knowledge library or ticketing system (for existing clients).
• To Communicate With You: To send you newsletters, updates, and other communications you have opted to receive, and to manage support requests.
• For Operational SMS Services: As detailed in our separate SMS Policy, for sending secure access links, support updates, and one-time passwords (OTPs).
• For Analytics and Website Improvement: To understand how our website is used, identify popular content, improve website functionality, and enhance the user experience.
• For Marketing and Advertising: To measure the effectiveness of our Google Ads campaigns and understand how users interact with our advertisements (this does not involve sharing your data for targeted advertising on third-party platforms).
• For Security and Fraud Prevention: To protect our website, systems, and users from fraud, unauthorized access, and other security incidents.
• For Error Tracking and Performance Monitoring: To identify and resolve technical issues on our website and improve its stability.
• For Legal and Regulatory Compliance: To meet our legal and regulatory obligations, enforce our Terms and Conditions, and protect our rights.

5. How We Disclose Your Information

Purpose Forward maintains a strict policy of transparency regarding data disclosure. We want to be absolutely clear: we do not sell, rent, lease, or otherwise share your personal information, including mobile opt-in data, with any third parties for their independent marketing, advertising, promotional, or any other commercial purposes. Your data is not a commodity we trade.

We only disclose your information in the following limited circumstances to trusted service providers who process data strictly on our behalf and under our direction, or as required by law:

5.1 With Service Providers for Operational Purposes:

We engage third-party companies and individuals to facilitate our services, perform website-related services, or assist us in analyzing how our services are used. These third parties act as data processors working strictly under our instructions and are contractually bound to protect your information and use it solely for the specific services they provide to us.

Our service providers include:

• Wix: Our website hosting and development platform, which also manages client contact details, newsletters, and general website analytics. Wix provides essential backend services including chat and member services.
• Stripe: For secure payment processing when you purchase digital products. Your payment card details are handled directly by Stripe and are not stored on our servers.
• Google Analytics (GA4) & Google Ads: For website analytics and measuring the effectiveness of our advertising campaigns.
• Google Identity Platform / Firebase Authentication: For user authentication purposes related to member services or secure access features within Wix.
• Meta (Facebook) Pixel: (If active) For analytics and measuring the effectiveness of any advertising campaigns on Meta platforms.
• Microsoft: As our SMS service provider, for enabling SMS service functionality and storing contacts that have authorized SMS services. Please refer to our SMS Policy for more details.
• HappyFox: Our ticketing system, used for managing support requests.
• Sentry: For error tracking and performance monitoring to ensure a smooth website experience.
• QuickBooks Online (QBO): For accounting purposes. When customers purchase digital products, their contact name and email are loaded into QBO.

5.2 For Legal Reasons:

We may disclose your personal information if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities (e.g., a court or government agency), including to meet national security or law enforcement requirements. We may also disclose your personal information to protect the rights, property, or safety of Purpose Forward, our users, or the public, or to enforce our site policies.

6. Cookies and Other Tracking Technologies

We use cookies, web beacons, and similar tracking technologies to track the activity on our Service and hold certain information. Cookies are files with a small amount of data which may include an anonymous unique identifier.

• How We Use Them: We use cookies for essential website functions, performance analysis, and to understand user engagement with our content and advertising (e.g., Google Ads).
• Your Choices: As per our cookie consent banner, we obtain your explicit opt-in consent for non-essential cookies. You have the ability to customize your cookie preferences through the banner settings, allowing you to accept or reject different categories of cookies. You can also instruct your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, if you do not accept cookies, you may not be able to use some portions of our Service.

7. Data Retention

We believe in minimizing data retention to only what is necessary and legally required. We retain your personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, including for satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.

While we don't have a rigid, universal retention schedule, our general approach is as follows:

• Contact Form Submissions/Inquiry Records: Retained for a period sufficient to address the inquiry and for potential follow-up, typically 1 to 3 years, unless ongoing service engagement requires longer retention.
• Newsletter Subscriber Data: Retained as long as you remain subscribed. If you unsubscribe, your email is retained on an opt-out list to prevent re-subscription and for a short administrative period (e.g., 6-12 months) before full deletion, unless legal obligations necessitate longer retention.
• User Account Information: Retained as long as your account is active. If an account is closed or becomes inactive, data will be retained for a limited period (e.g., 1-2 years) to address potential re-activation, dispute resolution, or legal compliance, before secure deletion.
• Consultation Booking Details: Retained for a period necessary to manage the consultation and for a reasonable follow-up period (e.g., 1 year).
• Browsing/Analytics Data (IP addresses, cookie data): Retained according to the policies of our analytics providers (e.g., Google Analytics typically retains user-level data for 14 months) and our internal analysis needs, generally not exceeding 26 months.
• Transactional Data (for digital products): Retained for accounting, tax, and audit purposes as required by law (e.g., 7 years in Canada).

When retention periods expire, we use secure deletion methods to ensure that your personal information is irretrievably deleted or anonymized.

8. Data Security

We are committed to protecting your personal information. We implement and maintain appropriate technical and organizational security measures designed to protect your data from unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These measures include encryption (in transit and at rest), access controls, multi-factor authentication for administrative access, regular security audits, and employee training on privacy best practices.

However, please be aware that no method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

9. International Data Transfers

As a Canadian organization serving a diverse client base that includes users in the United States and potentially other international jurisdictions, your personal information may be transferred to and processed in countries outside of your resident jurisdiction. This includes data processed by our US-based service providers (e.g., Google, Meta, Stripe, Sentry).

We ensure that such transfers are conducted in accordance with applicable privacy laws and with appropriate safeguards in place to ensure the continued protection of your data. This may involve relying on adequacy decisions, standard contractual clauses, or other legally recognized transfer mechanisms.

10. Your Privacy Rights

Depending on your jurisdiction and the applicable privacy laws, you may have specific rights regarding your personal information. Purpose Forward respects these rights and is committed to assisting you in exercising them. These rights may include:

• Right to Access: You have the right to request access to the specific pieces and categories of personal information we have collected about you.
• Right to Correction/Rectification: You have the right to request the correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal information we hold about you.
• Right to Deletion/Erasure: You have the right to request the deletion of your personal information, subject to certain exceptions (e.g., to complete a transaction, detect security incidents, comply with legal obligations, or for freedom of expression).
• Right to Withdraw Consent: Where we rely on your consent for processing, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal.
• Right to Opt-Out of Sale/Sharing: For residents of certain US states (e.g., California under CCPA/CPRA), you have the right to opt-out of the "sale\" or "sharing\" of your personal information for purposes like cross-context behavioral advertising. As stated in Section 5, Purpose Forward does not sell or share your personal information for such purposes.
• Right to Know: For residents of certain US states, you may have the right to know the categories of personal information collected, the categories of sources from which it is collected, the business or commercial purpose for collecting or selling/sharing it, and the categories of third parties to whom the personal information is disclosed.
• Right to Limit Use and Disclosure of Sensitive Personal Information: For residents of certain US states, you may have the right to limit the use and disclosure of your sensitive personal information, if applicable.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at [email protected]. We will respond to your request within the timeframes and according to the requirements set forth by applicable privacy laws. We may need to verify your identity before fulfilling your request.

11. Children's Privacy

Our Service is not intended for use by individuals under the age of 16 ("Children"). We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from anyone under the age of 16. If you are a parent or guardian and you learn that your Child has provided us with Personal Information, please contact us. If we become aware that we have collected Personal Information from children without verification of parental consent, we take steps to remove that information from our servers.

12. Links to Other Sites

Our Service may contain links to other sites that are not operated by us. If you click on a third-party link, you will be directed to that third party's site. We strongly advise you to review the Privacy Policy of every site you visit. We have no control over and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third-party sites or services.

13. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the "Last Updated" date at the top of this Privacy Policy. We will also inform you via email and/or a prominent notice on our Service, prior to the change becoming effective. You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes. Changes to this Privacy Policy are effective when they are posted on this page.

14. Contact Information and Complaints

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, or if you believe Purpose Forward has not complied with this Policy or applicable privacy laws, please contact our dedicated Privacy Officer:

Email: [email protected]

We will respond to your inquiries within a reasonable time frame and work diligently to address any concerns you may have. You also have the right to file a complaint with relevant privacy regulatory authorities, such as the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC).