ACSF Privacy Policy

Effective Date: August 7, 2026

Status: Interim Policy — Pending Board Ratification

Notice Regarding Policy Status: This Privacy Policy is currently in interim effect to provide immediate operational transparency and ensure data protection compliance. It is subject to formal review and final ratification by the ACSF Board of Directors at the upcoming September 2026 Board Meeting.

1. Introduction

The Adirondack Camp Scholarship Fund (“ACSF”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) is an independent, not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to supporting the needs of children who do not have the financial means to attend Adirondack Camp. We respect your privacy and are committed to protecting it through our compliance with this Privacy Policy.

This policy describes the types of information we may collect from you or that you may provide when you visit the website https://adirondackscholarship.org (our “Website”), as well as how we collect, use, maintain, protect, and disclose the highly sensitive information provided by scholarship applicants.

2. Information We Collect

We collect information across two distinct categories:

A. Website Visitors & Donors When you visit our Website or make a donation, we may collect:

  • Personal Information: Name, email address, phone number, and mailing address when you contact us, sign up for our newsletter, or make a donation.
  • Donation Information: We process donations securely through verified third-party payment processors (such as PayPal and OneCause/Stripe). ACSF never retains, collects, or stores your credit card or payment information. We only retain basic Personal Information (like your contact details) and a record of the donation amount and date for our accounting and tax acknowledgment purposes.
  • Automatically Collected Information (Cookies): As you navigate through the Website, we use Google Analytics to collect basic, anonymized information about your browsing actions and patterns to help us improve our Website. We utilize Cookiebot to manage user consent, ensuring you have control over the cookies active during your visit.

B. Scholarship Candidates & Applicants To determine eligibility for scholarships, parents or legal guardians must voluntarily provide highly sensitive financial and personal data. This data is collected via secure Google Form uploads, direct digital submissions to the camp, or occasionally via mailed physical copies. This information includes, but is not limited to:

  • Tax returns (e.g., W-2s, 1040s)
  • Income statements and financial records
  • Information about the child/camper (age, camper history, etc.)
  • Parent/guardian contact information

3. How We Share and Disclose Your Information

We understand that scholarship application materials contain highly sensitive personal and financial data. ACSF does not, and will never, sell, rent, or trade your personal information to outside entities.

To facilitate the scholarship process efficiently as an All-Volunteer Organization (AVO), access to applicant data is strictly limited to the following:

  • The ACSF Board of Directors: For the sole purpose of reviewing applications, determining financial need, evaluating multi-year sponsorships, and awarding scholarships.
  • Adirondack Camp Operations Staff: We utilize a very limited number of strictly necessary operations staff at Adirondack Camp to assist with the initial collection and collation of application documents. Please note: These camp staff members act strictly in an administrative capacity to process the intake of documents. They have no authority, input, or say in scholarship awards or ACSF funding decisions.
  • Legal Requirements: We may disclose information if required to do so by law, such as to comply with a subpoena, IRS audit, or similar legal process.

4. Data Security and Retention

  • Security: We have implemented measures designed to secure your personal information from accidental loss and from unauthorized access. Digital scholarship applications and financial documents are stored in a secure, access-controlled Google Drive. Access to this drive is strictly limited to the ACSF Board of Directors.
  • Retention: Because ACSF frequently sponsors campers for multiple years, we retain application files and supporting financial documents for several years. Retaining this historical data provides our Board with a complete financial picture, informing our decision-making process for renewals and ongoing support. All retained files remain under strict access control.

5. Your Privacy Rights (CCPA Compliance)

For residents of California (and other states with similar privacy laws), you have specific rights regarding your personal information:

  • The Right to Know: You can request that we disclose the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you.
  • The Right to Delete: You can request that we delete any personal information we have collected from you, subject to certain exceptions (such as data we must retain for legal, tax, or IRS compliance).
  • The Right to Opt-Out: We do not sell your data, but you have the right to legally opt-out of any future sale of personal data.
  • The Right to Non-Discrimination: We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your privacy rights.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the information provided below.

6. Children’s Privacy

Our Website and scholarship applications are intended strictly for use by parents, legal guardians, and adult donors. We do not knowingly collect personal information directly from children under the age of 13. Any personal information we collect regarding children (such as age, camper history, or identifying details) is provided strictly and voluntarily by the parent or legal guardian for the sole purpose of evaluating scholarship eligibility. If you believe we have inadvertently collected information directly from a child under 13 without parental consent, please contact us so we may delete the information.

7. Changes to Our Privacy Policy

We may update our privacy policy from time to time. Following formal board review or material updates, we will post the revised policy on this page with an updated effective date.

8. Contact Information

To ask questions, exercise your privacy rights, or comment about this privacy policy and our privacy practices, please contact us at:

  • Email: privacy@adirondackscholarship.org
  • Mailing Address: 302 Warrick Rd, PO Box 93, Putnam Station, NY 12861
  • Phone: (518) 547-8261
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