Privacy Policy | Texas A&M Foundation

As of: 09/01/2021

This website is operated by the Texas A&M Foundation (“Foundation”). This privacy policy (“Policy”) explains how information is collected, used and disclosed by the Foundation with respect to your use of the txamfoundation.com website and other Foundation sites which display this Policy (the “Sites”) so you can make an informed decision about using the Sites. This Policy also applies to information collected on other websites on our behalf by third party vendors. We reserve the right to change this Policy at any time. We will alert you that changes have been made by indicating on the Policy the date it was last updated. We encourage you to review this Policy from time to time to make sure that you understand how any personal information you provide will be used.

Information Collection and Use

We collect personal information when you voluntarily provide us with information for processing your gifts or forms or responding to inquiries, including mail, telephone or electronic contact. Personal and demographic information may also be collected if you leave comments on the Sites or in connection with your participation in surveys, social media, contests, games, promotions, and other activities on the Sites. As used herein, the term “personal information” means information that specifically identifies an individual (such as a name, address, telephone number or e-mail address) and information about that individual or his or her activities that is directly linked to personal information. We use personal information collected through our Sites for the purposes described in this Policy or elsewhere on the Sites, to respond to your requests or to monitor the overall effectiveness of the Sites. We may also use information collected to make informed and targeted ad placements on other sites. We may use personal information we collect:

to send you newsletters and otherwise provide you with information or services you request or that we think will be of interest to you;
to solicit volunteers, donations and support for the Foundation and Texas A&M University;
to request feedback and to otherwise contact you about your use of the Sites.

When you use the Sites, some information is automatically recorded, such as your Internet Protocol (IP) address, your operating system, the browser type, the address of a referring website, and your activity on our Sites. If you access the Sites from a mobile device, we may also collect information about the type of mobile device you use, the type of mobile Internet browsers you use, and information about the location of your device. This information may be used to analyze trends, to identify system performance or to create summary statistics. We treat this information as personal information if we combine it with or link it to any of the personal information mentioned above. Personal information does not include “aggregate” information, which is data we collect about the use of the Sites or about a group or category of services or users, from which individual identities or other personal information has been removed.

We may also collect certain information through the use of “cookies” or web beacons. Cookies are small data files stored on your device at the request of a website. Among other things, cookies help us improve our Sites and your experience. Information obtained from cookies and linked to personally identifying information is treated as personal information. Anonymous identifiers are random strings of characters that are used for the same purposes as a cookie on platforms, including certain mobile devices, where cookie technology is not available. Web beacons are small, invisible graphic images that may be used on the Sites or in emails relating to the Sites to collect certain information about usage and effectiveness and monitor user activity on the Sites.

If you wish to block, erase, or be warned of cookies, please refer to your browser manufacturer’s information to learn about these functions.

Web Analytics

You can browse our website without giving us any personal information. We use web analytic technology, including specifically Google Analytics and Google Analytics Demographics and Interest Reporting, to help us analyze traffic to the Sites in order to understand visitors’ interests and to continually update our Site to improve a user’s experience. Visit Google’s Privacy Policy to learn how Google Analytics collects and processes data. You may choose to engage Google Analytics’ currently available opt-outs for the web.

If you choose to enter a contest or giveaway, make a donation, fill out a form or subscribe to emails, you give the Foundation consent to monitor your browsing patterns in order to provide you with a better browsing experience for future visits and additional information on topics that you find of interest.

Collection and Use by Third-Party Vendors

Third-party vendors, such as Google, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. may use cookies or other technologies to serve ads or deliver content on other websites based on your visits to our Sites and other sites on the Internet and to provide analytics services. These third-party vendors may automatically collect information about your visits to this and other websites, your IP address, your ISP, the browser you use to visit our Site, pages viewed, time spent on pages, links clicked and conversion information. They do this using cookies, clear gifs or other technologies.

Information automatically collected by third-party vendors may be used by third parties, among other things, to analyze and track data, to solicit donations, to deliver advertising or content on other websites based on your prior activities on this or other sites or targeted to your interests, and to better understand the usage and visitation of our Sites and the other sites tracked by these third-party vendors. To manage settings for third-party vendors’ advertising cookies and to opt-out of certain features, visit the appropriate third-party vendors’ website and ad settings.

This Policy does not apply to, and we are not responsible for, cookies or clear gifs used by the third-party vendors, and we encourage you to check the privacy policies of advertisers and/or ad services to learn about their use of cookies and other technology. If you would like to opt out of these cookies or obtain more information about this practice, visit the appropriate third-party vendors’ website.

Online Giving

If you choose to make an online donation, you will be directed to our form hosted by a third-party provider, Amazon Web Services and/or Braintree. Online donations are processed through our merchant account, Authorize.net. Information collected by Amazon Web Services, Braintree and Authorize.net systems and shared with us will not include your credit card number. Please see Amazon Web Services’ privacy statement, Braintree's privacy statement, and Authorize.net’s privacy statement for more information. The Texas A&M Foundation is not responsible for the privacy or security procedures of the processor. Direct credit card refund requests to the pledge & online gift administrator at the Texas A&M Foundation. Links to Texas A&M University and other sites through our web access are subject to the privacy and security procedures of the provider, and the Texas A&M Foundation is not responsible for the content or privacy features of such third parties.

Updating Your Information

Former students and friends of Texas A&M University receive periodic communications from the Foundation. You may opt-in or opt-out of receiving print or electronic communications by contacting us through one of the following methods:

Click the unsubscribe link located at the bottom of any Foundation email.
Call us toll free at (800) 392-3310 Monday through Friday between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. CT.
Email us at info@txamfoundation.com.
Write to us at 401 George Bush Drive, College Station, Texas 77840-2811

When you contact us, we may ask you to confirm the following information: first name, last name, middle initial, class year, address, city, state, zip code, telephone number and email address, if applicable. If any of this information changes in the future, please contact us to update your personal information so we can ensure you continue to receive communications of interest to you.

Information Sharing with Affiliates

In recognition of our complementary missions, the Texas A&M Foundation and The Association of Former Students maintain a joint database of former student and donor records to provide superior service in a cost effective and efficient manner to both you and Texas A&M University. Information provided to the Texas A&M Foundation and stored on the unified database is accessible to The Association of Former Students. You should review the privacy policy of The Association of Formers Students for disclosure of how they may utilize this information.

You can update your contact information on the Foundation’s website for the shared database between The Association of Former Students and the Foundation.

The Texas A&M Foundation does not sell or share information for commercial solicitation or political purposes. However, we routinely share information among affiliated organizations to advance their missions in support of Texas A&M University. These affiliated organizations include Texas A&M University, The Association of Former Students, the George & Barbara Bush Foundation, the 12th Man Foundation and the Corps of Cadets Association.

Legal Requests

The Texas A&M Foundation is a non-governmental entity which is not subject to the information disclosure requirements to which Texas A&M University is subject as a state agency. However, information provided to Texas A&M University may be subject to disclosure in accordance with state law. Any request for information under this Privacy Policy will be directed to the Foundation’s general counsel, who will provide guidance on interpretation and compliance with this Privacy Policy.

Security

The security of your personal information is important to us. We use the latest technologies to provide a secure environment for record retention both on- and off-line. When you enter sensitive information on our forms, we encrypt that information using secure socket layer technology (SSL). Look for the lock icon on web browsers such as Mozilla Firefox®, Google Chrome® and Windows® Internet Explorer as a sign you are on a secure page.

We follow generally accepted industry standards to protect the personal information submitted to us, both during transmission and once we receive it. While we strive to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.