Policies and Procedures

Nondiscrimination

RCAP is an equal opportunity provider of services and employment. In accordance with Federal civil rights law and Federal civil rights regulations and policies, RCAP, its offices, and employees, do not discriminate based on race, creed, color, sexual orientation, gender, age, religion, national origin, veteran/military status, ancestry, disability, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity in any program or activity conducted or funded by RCAP. These activities include, but are not limited to, the appointment to and termination from its Board of Directors, hiring and firing of staff or contractors, selection of volunteers, selection of vendors, and providing of services. We are committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment for all members of our staff, clients, volunteers, subcontractors, vendors, and clients.

RCAP’s office is wheelchair accessible. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.), should contact RCAP.  Individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing or have speech disabilities may contact RCAP through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. Individuals may contact RCAP to arrange conversations in 200 languages other than English via a DTS Telephone Interpretation Service. Additionally, program information may be made available in languages other than English.

RCAP is an Equal Opportunity Employer. RCAP does not discriminate against employees or applicants for employment based upon race, creed, color, sexual orientation, gender, age, religion, national origin, veteran/military status, ancestry, or disability. Selection of employees may be made on the basis of ability to carry out the essential functions of the position and/or a bona fide occupational qualification. RCAP will make reasonable effort to ensure that all applicants and employees will receive equal opportunity without discrimination on these protected areas in personnel matters, including recruiting, selection, training, placement, promotion, demotion, wages and benefits, discipline, layoffs, transfers, terminations, and working conditions. Every employee of RCAP is expected to support this equal opportunity and non-discrimination commitment by conducting him/herself in a manner that is consistent with the language, intent, and spirit of this policy.

Any individual who believes he, she, or they, has experienced or observed behavior contrary to this policy is expected to report that information to RCAP’s Civil Rights Coordinator, Olga Morales-Pate, at [email protected]. In filing a complaint by email, please provide details of the acts or omissions you believe violated civil rights or other nondiscrimination laws or regulations, information on how to contact you for more information, and any other information that might help RCAP review and resolve the complaint. All such reports of action contrary to this policy will be taken seriously and investigated promptly and with as much discretion as possible. RCAP maintains a log of all Civil Rights reviews by federal agencies, complaints, or lawsuits. Individuals found to have violated RCAP’s equal employment opportunity policy will be subject to corrective action, up to and including termination of employment. No individual shall be retaliated against for making a good faith report of behavior contrary to this policy.

Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy describes how the Rural Community Assistance Partnership, Inc. (RCAP) collects, uses, shares, and protects your information when you interact with our main website (www.rcap.org), as well as all of our websites, emails we send, social media accounts, and online services (our “Services”).

This Policy explains:

• The types of information we collect
• How we use cookies and other tracking technologies
• How we use your information
• How we share your information
• How we protect and store your information
• How to contact us
• Updates to this Privacy Policy

Information We Collect

Information You Provide Us

Some of the Services may include features or services that allow you to directly provide us with contact information, such as your full name and email address, and other information about you.  This includes:

• Contact information and other information you choose to include when you communicate with us, including via email, responses to our communications, or subscriptions to RCAP publications. If you contact us, we may keep a record of that correspondence and any contact information provided.
• When you register for a webinar, event, or training.
• When you inquire about or apply for a position with us.
• When you complete a survey administered by us or a service provider acting on our behalf.
• Payment information and associated contact information when you engage in a transaction with us or a service provider acting on our behalf.

You may also choose to submit information via other methods, including interaction with us via social media, including any posts, pictures, videos, and messages that you submit to us either via our social media sites (including by use of hashtags associated with us) or our Services; interaction with our online forums, or by commenting on content posted on our Services; or in connection with an actual or potential affiliate relationship with us.  If you contact us, we may keep a record of that correspondence and any contact information provided.

Donor Information

The privacy and security of our donors’ personal information is very important to us. We will not sell, share, or trade our donors’ names or personal information with any other entity, nor send mailings to our donors on behalf of other organizations. This policy applies to all donor personal information received by RCAP, both online and offline, as well as through any electronic, written, or oral communications.

RCAP’s website uses third party vendors, Stripe, to process online donations. Our donors’ information collected through these vendors will only be used for purposes necessary to process the donation. We do not collect and store credit card or other secure billing information.  For more information, read the https://stripe.com/privacy privacy policies.

Information We Automatically Collect

When you interact with the Services, certain information is automatically collected.  This includes:

• Details of your visit to our site and information generated in the course of using our site (including the timing, frequency, and pattern of Service use) including, but not limited to, traffic data, location data, weblogs and other communication data, the resources you access, and how you reached our site.
• Details regarding the device you use to interact with our Services, such as its location, operating system, browser type, and internet service provider.
• Information about how you interact with our publications, including whether you open or click links in any correspondence.
• Information that you make available to us on a social media platform (such as by clicking on a social media icon linked from our Services), including your account ID or username and other information included in your posts.

Cookies and Other Tracking Technologies

Any or all activities with regard to collecting usage information may be performed on our behalf by other companies.  Much of this information is collected through cookies, web beacons, and other tracking technologies, as well as through your web browser or device.

Specifically, below is a list of our partners with links to more information about their use of our data and how to exercise your options regarding tracking.

Browsers automatically accept cookies, but if you prefer, you can usually modify your browser settings to disable or reject cookies.  Our Services currently do not respond to “Do Not Track” signals.  Note that if you delete your cookies or if you set your browser to decline cookies, some features of our Services may not function properly or be available.

Children’s Information

We do not knowingly collect or store personally identifiable information about children under the age of 16, unless permitted by law. If we learn that we have collected personally identifiable information from a child under age 16, we will delete that information from our database.

How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect from you for the following purposes:

• To respond to your inquiries or requests for information.
• To manage, operate, and improve the Services and grow our organization, including understanding our outreach and the effectiveness of our marketing, events, promotional campaigns, and publications.
• To interact with you, including sending you newsletters and direct marketing communications and other materials.
• To understand how users use our Services, including by generating and analyzing statistics,
• To evaluate, recruit, and hire personnel.
• To share information with vendors that provide services on our behalf.
• To comply with legal requirements; to detect, investigate, and prevent activities that may violate our policies or be fraudulent or illegal; and to protect the rights of RCAP, you, or others.

We may send you marketing communications about our services, to invite you to participate in our events, or otherwise communicate with you for marketing purposes with your consent.  If at any time you no longer wish to receive marketing communications from us, you can click the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any email or email us at [email protected].

How We Share Your Information

• Service Providers. We engage the following types of vendors to perform services on our behalf, such as billing and collection providers; website, software, or data hosting; content management; database management; technical integration; marketing automation; providers of analytics services; and payment processing.
• Third Parties. Where you choose to interact with our website, we partner with third-party cookie providers to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. To learn more, please see “Cookies and other tracking technologies” above or visit the third parties’ respective privacy policies to better understand their data collection practices and controls they make available to you.
• Social Media Platforms. Where you choose to interact with us through social media, your interaction with these programs typically allows the social media companies to collect information about you through cookies they place on your device and other tracking mechanisms. In some cases, the social media company may recognize you through its cookies even when you do not interact with their application. Please visit the social media companies’ respective privacy policies to better understand their data collection practices and controls they make available to you.
• Change of Ownership or Corporate Organization. We may transfer to another entity or its affiliates or service providers some or all information about you in connection with, or during negotiations of, any merger, acquisition, sale of assets or any line of business, change in ownership control, or financing transaction. We cannot promise that an acquiring party or the merged entity will have the same privacy practices or treat your information the same as described in this Policy.
• Compliance and Harm Prevention. To comply with applicable law; as provided for under contract; to protect the rights of RCAP, you, or others; to respond to requests from law enforcement agencies or other government authorities or third parties; or as we deem reasonably necessary to provide legal services.

We may also analyze aggregated, de-identified data and share these analyses at our discretion, including with analytics providers to analyze the usefulness and popularity of various web pages on our site.

How We Protect and Store Your Information

We use a combination of physical, technical, and administrative safeguards to protect the information we collect through the Services.  While we use these precautions to safeguard your information, we cannot guarantee the security of the networks, systems, servers, devices, and databases we operate or that are operated on our behalf.

If you use our Services outside of the United States, you understand that we may collect, process, and store your personal information in the United States and other countries.  The laws in the U.S. regarding personal information may differ from the laws of your jurisdiction.

How to Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy, you can email us at [email protected].

Updates to This Privacy Policy

We may make changes to this Privacy Policy from time to time.  We will post any changes here, and such changes will become effective when they are posted.  Any material changes to the Policy will be published on our website.  By your continued use of our Services, you consent to the terms of the revised Policy, where permitted by law.

508 Compliance

As part of its efforts to empower the disabled and to meet both the obligations and the spirit of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, RCAP is committed to complying with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) published by the Web Accessibility Initiative of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) to the maximum extent practicable.

If you have any comments or questions about RCAP content and accessibility, please let us know at [email protected].

Photo & Recording Release Policy 

Agreeing to this policy authorizes Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP) to: a) Record your likeness and voice on a video, audio, photographic, digital, electronic or any other medium (hereafter the “Recordings”). b) Use your name in connection with these recordings. c) Use, reproduce, exhibit or distribute to any person, including the general public, and in any medium (including print publications, RCAP webpages, digital videos and other internet or social media postings such as YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, etc.) these Recordings for the purpose of publicizing and promoting RCAP, or any other mission-related purpose RCAP deems appropriate.

Agreeing to this policy releases RCAP and those acting pursuant to its authority from liability for any violation of any personal or proprietary right you may have in connection with such use. You waive any right to inspect and/or approve the finished product, or the use to which it may be applied. You recognize and authorize that release of these Recordings may often be made to, and used by the public news media or other entities over which RCAP has no control; and for which RCAP bears no responsibility. You understand that all such Recordings, in whatever medium, shall remain the property of RCAP. Your agreement to this policy will remain in effect unless and until revoked by you in a written communication to RCAP. Agreeing to this policy confirms you have read and fully understand the terms of this release policy.