Privacy Policy

American Rivers (collectively, “we,” “us,” “our”) is committed to the responsible management, use, and protection of your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains our practices in connection with the information that we collect about you, why we collect it, and how we use or disclose it. It also discloses our information gathering and dissemination practices as they relate to donating or purchasing from American Rivers, using our website (“Site”), communicating with us online or via mail and telephone, and subscribing to our postal mailing list (collectively, “the Services”).

American Rivers values you as a member and works to safeguard your privacy. In order to fully understand your rights, we encourage you to read this Privacy Policy. Please note that this Privacy Policy is incorporated by reference into American Rivers’ Terms of Use.

Gathering Information
American Rivers collects four kinds of information:  Personal information you provide us voluntarily; information collected automatically when you visit our Site; information from publicly available sources; and information third parties share with us and collect on our behalf. We use your information to help us fulfill your donation, carry out our mission effectively, and keep you updated on the latest news, opportunities, and achievements in American Rivers’ river conservation and restoration work.

Personal Information Provided Voluntarily
We collect the following “Personal Information” you provide us or give us permission to obtain: Name, email address, postal address, credit card information and phone number. Our staff may ask for similar information in postal mail or a phone call. In making a donation, should you wish to make your gift using a credit card, this data is encrypted and never saved by American Rivers.

We collect Personal Information when you:

  • register on our Site for membership and other services, such as river cleanups, action alerts, and news updates;
  • respond personally to our mailings and phone calls;
  • register or participate in an American Rivers event;
  • donate to or purchase from American Rivers; or
  • opt-in to receive American Rivers communications.

Use of Personal Information
Once you voluntarily supply your information, the way we use your Personal Information may include, but is not limited to:

  • responding to your questions, suggestions, and concerns;
  • providing you with services you request, including event signup;
  • contacting you regarding upcoming events or other news about our work;
  • contacting you with regard to your use of the Site and, in our discretion, changes to the Site and/or policies;
  • for inclusion in our data analytics;
  • for purposes disclosed at the time you provide your information or as otherwise set forth in this Privacy Policy;
  • processing your credit card information – when you choose to donate to American Rivers we ask you to voluntarily provide your name, address, telephone number, email address, and credit card information, and other Personal Information you share with us so we can process your donation or purchase, send you a receipt or confirmation, and communicate with you, if necessary.

Financial Information
American Rivers never saves any personal credit card or banking information you provide when you donate to American Rivers. All electronic and/or online transactions are tokenized and encrypted. All media containing credit card information is stored at third-party data centers with physical access controls in place that meet Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards and is subject to those third-party policies regarding data privacy and security. Donors who wish not to provide financial information electronically or via online may provide personal financial information by telephone directly with American Rivers.

Information Collected Automatically When You Visit Our Site
Certain kinds of information are automatically collected when you visit our Site. Your browser or mobile device automatically creates certain information that is logged. This log data may include your Internet Protocol (IP) address, searches, browser and system type and settings, the date and time you used the Site, how you used the Site, cookie date, and your device data. We use third parties to collect, evaluate, and make available to us this information when you visit our Site. We use this information to maintain and monitor the Site and to improve your user experience when you visit it.

Mobile Text Messaging (SMS)  

American Rivers offers SMS (Short Message Services), messaging through texts to your mobile phone. By subscribing to the American Rivers mobile alerts, the user consents to receive automated, recurring news, action alerts and donation requests via text recurring messages. Message & data may apply.

There is no fee from American Rivers to receive text messages, but message and data rates may apply —this can be checked with your mobile service provider. Charges are billed and payable to your mobile service provider or deducted from your prepaid account. Consent is not a requirement for purchase.

By opting in and subscribing to American Rivers’ alerts, you consent to receive automated recurring messages from American Rivers. Data obtained from you in connection with this SMS service may include your mobile phone number, your wireless carrier’s name and the date, time, and content of your messages. American Rivers may use this information to contact you and provide the SMS services you requested.

Certain factors such as range of a transmission site, your specific device, or insufficient network capacity may interfere with message delivery. Wireless operators do not guarantee message delivery and will not be held liable for delayed or undelivered messages. We will not be liable for any delays in the receipt of any SMS message as delivery is subject to effective transmission from your network operator.

For information on data collection see this full Privacy Policy.

If you have any questions, text HELP to the number you received a text message from or contact us at mobile@AmericanRivers.org. To stop receiving messages reply STOP.

Cookies and Other Technologies
American Rivers uses cookies to enhance your experience while using our Site. If Cookies or similar technologies are enabled on your computer or mobile device, our Site uses them to determine if you previously used our Site.

What are Cookies?
Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer or mobile device, through your browser, by the websites that you visit. Cookies are used to make the Site function properly,  monitor and improve the user experience, and track metrics to help us improve the Site.

Cookies used on American Rivers’ Site:

  • Website Performance/Analytical Cookies:
    • These cookies allow us to make our Site easier and more pleasant to use. For example, it allows us to monitor which Site pages are visited, how long people stay on the Site, what part of the country people visit the Site from, and so forth. This cookie only receives your truncated IP address so it cannot identify you, your computer, or your mobile device.
    • We may use web beacons (also referred to as an action tag, single-pixel, or clear GIF) to track traffic patterns of users from one web page to another in order to maximize web traffic flow. Pages of our Site and our email may contain web beacons to compile aggregate statistics about Website usage and effectiveness. For example, recording the popularity of certain Site content and verifying system and server integrity.
  • Functionality/Communication Cookies:
    • Global positioning services (GPS) information may be used define your location to provide you geographically relevant information.
    • Internal communication marketing cookies may be used to help our Site create a better user experience, which may include corresponding with your provided email.

How can you disable or delete cookies?
Most browsers are set to accept cookies and other automatic data collection and storage through your browser and/or device settings. However, if you would prefer not to receive cookies, you can alter the configuration of your browser to refuse 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.

Learn how to disable or enable cookies for Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, or Microsoft Internet Explorer or Edge.

Our Site contains links to other websites to provide you with a better experience.  Please note that when you click on one of these links, you are entering another website for which American Rivers claims no responsibility. We encourage you to read the privacy statements on all such sites as their policies may be different than American Rivers.

Safeguarding Electronic Information
American Rivers uses HTTPS or hypertext transfer protocol secure. This is used for secure communication across the internet or a network. The communication protocol is encrypted using Transport Layer Security (TLS) or, formerly, Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). TLS/SSL is a proven coding system that lets your browser automatically encrypt, or scramble, data before you send it to us. We also protect information by placing it on a secure portion of our Site that is only accessible by certain qualified employees of American Rivers. However, no transmission or electronic storage of information can be completely secure. If you have reason to believe that your use of the Services or engagement with us is no longer secure, please immediately notify us as described in the “Questions and Suggestions” section below.

Publicly Available Sources
We may receive personal information about you from other sources, either available publicly, or made available with your consent, such as your posting in a public space. The types of personal information that we may collect from such sources include your name, age, address, email, phone number, household and demographic data, and publicly available information such as user-generated content, publications, blogs and postings, as permitted by law.

Information Third Parties Share & Collect For Us & Information We Share With Third Parties
This Privacy Policy does not address third-party privacy policies, including third-party site operation or service to which Services links may be co-branded with American Rivers logo or name. The information practices of any such third-party are governed by the privacy policy applicable to that particular site or service. American Rivers may collect information about you, including Personal Information, from third parties with whom we work or through publicly available sources. We also contract with third-party companies (“Vendors”) to help collect and process information on our behalf and in compliance with this Privacy Policy. We also may share information we have collected.

Information Shared by Contracted Vendors
Vendors assist us in the operation of our Site and related activities. Such Vendors provide or perform specific services on our behalf (e.g., host the Site, track the analytics, process credit card payments, provide automated email services, engage security measures, provide customer support, provide GPS location information, and perform technical services (e.g., without limitation, maintenance services, database management, web analytics and improvement of the Site, or perform other administrative services).

  • Site Use. We use Vendors to collect information about you and other visitors’ interactions with the Site. These services use cookies and similar technologies to measure how users interact with our Site. The data that is collected and made available to us includes search terms used to reach our Site, which websites visitors came from, event data (pages and content viewed or clicked upon), the event date and time, searches within our Site and visitors’ IP addresses. This allows us to understand how many people visit our Site, how they use it, whether they are new or returning, how often they visit and how they interact with the Site. We can also use this information to test and to improve our Site to provide you with a more relevant and meaningful experience.
  • Payment Transaction Information. If you donate or make a purchase using a credit card, your credit card information is processed by our contracted merchant service Vendors. American Rivers does not retain information about your online payment transactions, but through a Vendor we use, we can access the last four digits of your credit card and transaction information, such as the date and the amount.

List Sharing
We may share mailing lists with other like-minded organizations whose services or activities may be of interest to you. As part of that process, we may allow other non-profit organizations to use your name and postal address for specific one-time mailings that American Rivers approves.  No credit card information is shared. If you would like to opt-out of having American Rivers share your Personal Information with third-party organizations for their own purposes, please see the Opting-Out section below. All above categories exclude originator opt-in data and consent; this information will not be shared with any third-party.

Opting-Out
If you do not wish to have American Rivers share your information, please contact us by email at membership@americanrivers.org, by calling 202-347-7550 x3009, or by writing to: American Rivers Attn: Membership Department 1101 14th Street NW, Suite #1400 Washington, DC 20005.

Email:  If you provide us with Personal Information through our Site, we give you the opportunity to “opt-out” of receiving electronic communications from us that are unrelated to the specific service for which we requested that information.  For example, if you are providing information to make a donation online, you are given the choice to opt-out of receiving news and alerts from American Rivers in the future.

Unsubscribe button: If you would like to stop receiving marketing emails from American Rivers, you may click the “unsubscribe button” at the bottom of any email received from American Rivers.

Postal mail: If you would like to review your postal mailing address (offline) information, correct it, or ask that American Rivers not share your information, please contact us by email at membership@americanrivers.org, by calling 202-347-7550 x3009, or by writing to: American Rivers Attn: Membership Department 1101 14th Street NW, Suite #1400 Washington, DC 20005.

Children’s Privacy
The Services are not directed to individuals under the age of thirteen (13), and we request that these individuals do not provide Personal Information through the Services. We do not knowingly collect Personal Information of users under the age of 13 without the consent of a parent/guardian to do so. Parents/Guardians have the ability to control what, if any, Personal Information about their child may be disclosed to third parties, by regulating the actions and behavior of their children using the internet.

If you believe we have collected the Personal Information of an individual under the age of 13, without the consent of a parent/guardian, please let us know immediately by emailing membership@americanrivers.org.

Sensitive Information
American Rivers asks that you not send us, and you not disclose, any sensitive Personal Information (e.g., social security numbers, information related to racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religion or other beliefs, health, biometrics or genetic characteristics, or criminal background) on or through the Services or otherwise to us.

Governmental, Law Enforcement and Similar Disclosures
We may access, preserve, and disclose your Personal Information, other account information, and content if we believe doing so is required or appropriate:

  • to satisfy or comply with any applicable law, regulation, subpoenas, governmental requests, or legal process;
  • to protect and/or defend the Terms of Use or other policies applicable to the Site or mobile application, including investigation of potential violations thereof;
  • to protect the safety, rights, property, or security of American Rivers or any third-party user;
  • to protect the safety of the public for any reason;
  • to detect, prevent or otherwise address fraud, security or technical issues; and/or
  • to prevent or stop activity we may consider to be, or to pose a risk of being, an illegal, unethical, or legally actionable activity.

American Rivers complies with all applicable laws, regulations, and third-party policies and terms including, but not limited to, cookie usage, data analysis, collection of user information.

Changes to this Privacy Policy
American Rivers reserves the right, at any time and without notice, to change this Privacy Policy.  Any changes will be effective immediately upon posting to our Site. We encourage you to check back regularly to ensure you understand our current Privacy Policy.

Questions and Suggestions
If you have any questions or suggestions about American Rivers’ Privacy Policy, please email us at membership@americanrivers.org, referencing this Privacy Policy in the subject line, or write to:

American Rivers
1101 14th Street NW, Suite #1400
Washington, DC 20005