Privacy Policy

Pauliukonis Foundation Inc.
Effective date: October 26, 2026
Last updated: October 26, 2026

This Privacy Policy explains what personal information the Pauliukonis Foundation Inc. ("the Foundation," "we," "us") collects through pauliukonisfoundation.org (the "Site"), our donation page, our forms, and our email correspondence. It also explains how we use and share that information and the choices you have. We wrote it in plain language. If anything is unclear, email us at contact@pauliukonisfoundation.org.

The Foundation is a Tennessee nonprofit corporation and a 501(c)(3) public charity (EIN 39-4727805). You can reach us at contact@pauliukonisfoundation.org. Our mailing address is available on request.

1. Our promise to donors

  • We do not sell, rent, trade, or share our donor list or donor information with other organizations for their own marketing or fundraising.

  • We use donor information only to process and acknowledge gifts, keep required records, communicate with donors about the Foundation (if they have not opted out), and meet legal obligations.

  • If you ask, we will keep your name out of any public acknowledgment of donors.

2. Information we collect

Information you give us

  • Contact form (home page and /contact): Name, email address, and your message.

  • Grant application (/grant-application): Applicant name, school, school district, grade level(s) and subject taught, school email address, phone number (optional), principal or administrator name and email address, project narrative and budget, information about other funding, typed signature, and date. We also receive recommendation letters by email from your principal or administrator.

  • Donations (through Givebutter on /donate): Name, email address, billing address, gift amount and frequency, any note or honoree name you add, whether the gift is on behalf of a company, and whether you agreed to hear from us. Card and bank details are entered into Givebutter's payment processor (Stripe). The Foundation never receives or stores your full card or bank account number.

  • Email and other correspondence: Your email address, what you send us, and our replies.

Please do not include students' personal information (such as student names, photos, or grades) in grant applications or other messages. We only need information about the project and the number and grade levels of students served.

Information collected automatically

When you visit the Site, our website host and the tools below automatically collect some technical information through cookies and similar technologies. This includes your IP address, browser and device type, pages viewed, referring site, approximate location (city or region, based on IP address), and the date and time of your visit.

The Foundation does not place advertising pixels or retargeting tags on the Site, and we do not sell information collected through the Site. (The Givebutter donation form is operated by Givebutter under its own privacy policy; see Section 4.)

3. How we use information

  • To process donations, send receipts, and provide the written acknowledgments donors need for tax purposes.

  • To review, decide on, and administer grant applications, including confirming support with the applicant's principal or administrator and paying grants.

  • To answer questions and requests.

  • To send occasional updates about the Foundation's work to people who agreed to hear from us (see Section 6).

  • To keep the Site secure, prevent fraud and spam, and understand in aggregate how the Site is used so we can improve it.

  • To meet legal, tax, accounting, and audit obligations, and to protect our rights.

4. Donations through Givebutter, and Givebutter tips

Online donations are processed by Givebutter, Inc., a fundraising platform. Givebutter uses Stripe to process payments.

  • Tips go to Givebutter, not to the Foundation. At checkout, Givebutter may ask whether you'd like to add an optional tip to Givebutter, which helps keep its platform free for nonprofits. Tips are optional, can be changed or removed before you finish, and never come out of your gift to the Foundation. A tip to Givebutter is not a donation to the Foundation and is not tax-deductible. Your Foundation receipt covers only your gift to the Foundation. (If you choose to cover processing fees, that amount is part of your gift to the Foundation.)

  • Givebutter and Stripe have their own privacy policies. Givebutter collects some information directly and handles it under its own privacy policy, which is not under the Foundation's control. That policy says Givebutter may use cookies and share certain browsing and identifier data with its advertising and analytics partners, and it offers opt-outs, including honoring Global Privacy Control signals. Please review:

  • Givebutter shares your donation details with us so we can thank you, send receipts, and keep records. Our own commitments in this policy (including that we never sell or rent donor information) apply to the information we receive.

5. How we share information

We share personal information only as described below.

  • Service providers that help us run the Foundation. They may use the information only to provide services to us. They include our website host (Squarespace), our donation platform and payment processor (Givebutter and Stripe), analytics and spam-protection tools (Google), and our email and file-storage provider (Google Workspace).

  • Grant review. Our volunteer officers and directors review grant applications. We may contact the principal or administrator you list to confirm support for your project.

  • Our accountants and advisors, under confidentiality, as needed for bookkeeping, tax filings, and audits.

  • Legal and safety reasons, when required by law, subpoena, or other legal process, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of the Foundation or others.

  • Government filings. Like every 501(c)(3) public charity, we report certain information to the IRS and the State of Tennessee. Donor names and addresses that we report to the IRS are not made available for public inspection under federal rules for public charities.

  • If the Foundation merges or dissolves, donor and grant records would go only to a successor charitable organization or as required by law, and they would remain subject to this policy's donor protections.

We may share aggregated or de-identified information (for example, "we funded 12 classroom projects serving 600 students") that does not identify any individual.

6. Emails and your choices

  • Transactional messages. If you donate, you will receive receipts and acknowledgments. If you apply for a grant, you will receive messages about your application. These are not marketing, and you will receive them even if you unsubscribe from updates.

  • Updates. We send occasional updates only to people who opted in (for example, by checking the box to allow us to contact you when donating through Givebutter) or who otherwise asked to hear from us. Every update includes an unsubscribe link. You can also email contact@pauliukonisfoundation.org to unsubscribe. We process unsubscribe requests within 10 business days.

  • Text messages. We do not send marketing text messages.

7. Cookies, Do Not Track, and tracking by other parties

  • Your controls. Most browsers let you block or delete cookies. Blocking cookies may affect some features, such as the donation form. You can opt out of Google Analytics with Google's browser add-on: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

  • Do Not Track. Some browsers send a "Do Not Track" (DNT) signal. There is no common industry standard for DNT, and the Site does not currently respond to DNT signals. We don't place advertising trackers on the Site.

  • Tracking by other parties. When you use the Site, third parties may collect information about your online activities over time and across different websites. These include Google (Analytics and reCAPTCHA), Givebutter and its partners (on the donation form), and X (on the press page). Their practices are governed by their own privacy policies, linked above. Givebutter states that it honors the Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal on its own platform.

8. How long we keep information

We keep personal information only as long as needed for the purposes described above and as required by law.

  • Donation and gift records (donor name, address, amount, date, receipts and acknowledgments): At least 7 years after the end of the fiscal year in which the gift was received, to support our tax filings and IRS recordkeeping requirements. Summary records may be kept longer as part of the Foundation's permanent history.

  • Grant applications that were funded, and the related correspondence: 7 years after the grant is closed

  • Grant applications that were not funded: 3 years after the decision

  • Contact-form messages and general emails: Up to 3 years, unless they become part of a donation or grant record

  • Analytics data: According to the data-retention settings of the analytics tool

When records are no longer needed, we delete them or de-identify them.

9. Security

We use reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect personal information. These include encrypted (HTTPS) connections on the Site, access limited to officers and directors who need it, and password-protected accounts. Card and bank payments are handled by Givebutter's payment processor (Stripe), not by the Foundation. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security. If we learn of a security breach affecting your personal information, we will notify you as required by law.

10. Children's privacy

The Site is intended for adults: donors, educators, and members of the public. It is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. Students should not submit forms on the Site; grant applications must come from the teacher. If you believe a child has given us personal information, email contact@pauliukonisfoundation.org and we will delete it.

11. Your choices and requests

You may ask us to:

  • tell you what personal information we hold about you,

  • correct inaccurate information,

  • delete your information (except records we must keep for tax, legal, or accounting reasons),

  • stop sending you updates, or

  • keep your gift anonymous in any public donor acknowledgment.

Email contact@pauliukonisfoundation.org with your request. We may need to confirm your identity before acting on it, and we aim to respond within 30 days. To make changes to information held by Givebutter or Stripe, you may also contact those companies directly.

12. State privacy notices

  • California residents. We post this policy to meet the California Online Privacy Protection Act (CalOPPA). We do not share personal information with third parties for their own direct-marketing purposes (Cal. Civ. Code §1798.83).

  • Tennessee and other states. As a nonprofit organization, the Foundation is exempt from the Tennessee Information Protection Act and similar state consumer-privacy laws. We still honor the requests described in Section 11 for everyone.

13. Links to other websites

The Site links to other websites and services, including Givebutter, X, and Google Drive (for downloadable press assets). We are not responsible for their content or privacy practices. Please read their privacy policies.

14. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we will post the new version on this page and change the "Last updated" date at the top. If we make a material change to how we use or share donor information, we will also post a notice on the Site before the change takes effect. If we have your email address and you have not unsubscribed, we will email donors about it.

15. Contact us

Pauliukonis Foundation Inc.
Email: contact@pauliukonisfoundation.org
Mailing address available on request.

Officers: Jonas Pauliukonis, President; Christine Pauliukonis, Vice President/Secretary; James Martin, Treasurer.