Donor Privacy
The Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) has the utmost respect for the privacy of personal or proprietary information. To maintain mutually beneficial relationships with our donors, prospective donors, friends, and partners we collect and use information:
- obtained through pledge cards, letters, surveys, applications, and other forms, in writing, in person, by telephone, or electronically (including but not limited to name, address, employer, birth date, credit card number, bank information, education, family members, community affiliations, and interests).
- independently collected from various sources regarding history of philanthropic giving, volunteer activities, committee service work, information from public documents and reports, and interactions an individual may have had with GMRI.
GMRI will not rent, trade, share or sell a donor’s personal information (including, but not limited to names, mailing addresses, email addresses, or telephone numbers) with anyone else, nor will GMRI send donor mailings on behalf of other organizations.
We use third-party processing agents who meet our high standards of safety, security, and privacy (i.e. PCI compliance) to facilitate some activities including credit card processing, stock transactions, and email distribution. We use contact information (email, fax, telephone number, and mailing address) for the following purposes:
- distributing receipts and thanking donors for donations;
- sharing information on GMRI activities and issues related to our mission;
- inviting participation in events;
- internal analysis and record keeping;
- reporting to relevant Federal and State agencies (not for public inspection); and
- contacting donors about changes to this policy.
We are proud and very grateful for the generous community support we receive. It is our intention to publicly recognize our supporters by name unless the donor explicitly chooses otherwise on their pledge cards, when donating online or through personal communication with our Development staff. Comments given in donor forms and surveys or provided via email, fax, or telephone may be used in GMRI publications, unless sent to us in confidence. General, anonymous information about GMRI fundraising may also be used for promotional and fundraising purposes.
All access to personal and financial information is limited to select GMRI staff members who are appropriately trained. Additionally, Development staff may provide board members and volunteers, who require personal information for outreach and fundraising activities to advance GMRIs mission, with information on a need-to-know basis. GMRI maintains appropriate technology safeguards to protect sensitive information online and maintains security practices to protect information off-line.
The Chief Development Officer reviews this policy annually with all relevant staff, board, and volunteers to ensure clarity on the reasons for confidentiality and accessibility, and to maintain integrity within the practices of preserving confidentiality of personal and proprietary information.
Site Privacy
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. We use IP addresses to help diagnose problems with our server, administer our Site, analyze trends, understand how visitors use our Site, gather broad demographic information for aggregate use in order for us to improve the site, and deliver customized, personalized content.
IP addresses are not linked to personally identifiable information. Our server does not recognize visitors' email addresses, and we do not set any cookies. Cookies refer to unique packets of information that a server can transfer to a visitor's computer.
Site visitors may be asked to give other information, such as a mailing address, a phone number, and credit card information, in order to receive some of our services. Visitors may decide to volunteer this additional information to fill out a survey, to make a donation, to register for a program, or to join a mailing list.
The information we collect is used to improve the content of our website and our ability to share important information with our constituents. We do not partner with or have special relationships with any ad server companies.
If our information practices change at some time in the future, we will post the policy changes to our website to notify visitors of these changes. Visitors who have voluntarily provided contact information using the site will be notified before we use their data for any new purposes, and they will be given the opportunity to opt out of these new uses.
Terms of Use
The Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) website operates under the Creative Commons License Policy (CC License) as stated below, with a few notable exceptions. Throughout our site, we may use content and images which are the legal property of other organizations or individuals, are protected by copyrights owned by them, and are not the property of GMRI and thus not subject to our CC License.Those items which are copyright protected by third parties are noted within the site and any use or reproduction of that content and those images must be coordinated through the legal copyright holder, not GMRI.
Creative Commons License:
Subject to the restrictions noted above, you are free to share -- to copy, distribute, display, and perform content available on this site (the Work) under the following conditions:
- Attribution. You must attribute the Work to the Gulf of Maine Research Institute (but not in any way that suggests we endorse you or your use of the work).
- Noncommercial. You may not use the Work for commercial purposes.
- No Derivative Works. You may not alter, transform, or build upon the Work.
- For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this Work. The best way to do this is with a link to this web page.
- Any of the above conditions can be waived if you get permission from GMRI.
- Nothing in this license impairs or restricts GMRI's moral rights.
Event Photo Release Agreement:
By attending any event hosted or sponsored by Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI), you
- Represent that you are at least 18 years old and the age of majority;
- Consent to be photographed, filmed, and otherwise recorded at the event;
- Grant to GMRI, its marketing partners, its event partners, and their agents, affiliates, licensees, successors, and assigns an irrevocable right to publish, disseminate, and otherwise use your name, image, voice, and likeness in perpetuity for any lawful purpose; and
- Release from and waive any and all claims arising out of GMRI’s use of your name, image, voice, and likeness, including any claims alleging a violation of a right of publicity, invasion of privacy, or defamation. If you are accompanied by a minor, the foregoing consent, grant, release and waiver includes GMRI’s use of the minor’s name, image, voice and likeness.