Privacy Policy — The Province of St. Joseph of the Capuchin Order, Inc.

Effective Date: August 31, 2026
Last Updated: August 31, 2026

1. About This Policy

This Privacy Policy is published by the Province of St. Joseph of the Capuchin Order, Inc. (“POSJ,” “the Province,” “we,” “us,” “our”) and applies to www.thecapuchins.org and to the websites of Province ministries that link to this policy, which may include (among others) Capuchin Retreat Center, Capuchin Soup Kitchen, Capuchin Community Services, Capuchin Spiritual Center, Sandal Prints magazine and the Solanus Casey Center.

Each Province ministry site uses only the tools and vendors relevant to its own programs — not every tool described below is present on every site. This policy is written to cover the full range of tools that may be in use across the Province’s web properties so that a single policy can serve all of them consistently.

2. Information We Collect

Information you provide directly

Depending on the site and what you do there, we may collect information you voluntarily submit, such as:

• Name, mailing address, email address, and phone number
• Donation and payment information, when you give online
• Registration information for retreats, programs, or events
• Order and shipping information, on sites with an online shop
• Messages you send us through a contact form

Information collected automatically

As you browse our sites, we and our service providers may automatically collect: IP address, browser type, device type, and operating system; pages viewed, links clicked, and time spent on a site; approximate geographic location inferred from IP address; and referring website or search terms that led you to a site.

3. Tools We May Use

The following describes the categories of tools in use across Province websites. A given site may use some, all, or none of these, depending on its ministry needs.

• Web analytics — We may use tools such as Matomo or Google Analytics to better understand how visitors use a site, so we can improve it. This is aggregate usage data; it is not used to build individual advertising profiles unless noted below.
• Advertising and retargeting pixels — A site may include pixels from platforms such as Meta (Facebook/Instagram), Google Ads, or LinkedIn, which help us understand the effectiveness of our outreach and may show relevant content to past visitors when they use those platforms.
• Marketing automation platforms — A site may use a platform such as Feathr to manage email communications and donor/visitor engagement, which can involve cookies and tracking pixels in both the website and our emails.
• Donation and payment processing — Donation forms are processed through third-party platforms such as Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT or Click & Pledge. These are typically presented via a secure embedded form (iframe) hosted directly by the payment processor. In these cases, your payment details are entered directly into the processor’s environment and are not collected or stored on Province servers.
• E-commerce — Some ministry sites operate an online shop (for example, using WooCommerce and associated payment processors). These sites collect order, shipping, and payment information necessary to fulfill purchases, handled by the relevant payment processor.
• Cookies and similar technologies — These are used across our sites to support the functions above and general site operation.

4. How We Use Information

We use the information described above to: process donations, purchases, and program or event registrations; send communications you’ve requested or agreed to receive; understand how visitors use our sites so we can improve them; and measure and improve our ministry outreach and advertising.

5. Sharing of Information

We do not sell personal information. We share information only with the service providers necessary to operate the functions described in this policy (such as our analytics, marketing, and payment platforms), each governed by its own privacy practices, or as required by law, valid legal process, or to protect the safety of our visitors or the public.

6. Your Choices

By using our sites, you consent to the collection and use of information as described in this policy. However, you may:

• Decline to register for newsletters or provide optional information.
• Control cookies through your browser settings.
• Opt out of interest-based advertising via Meta’s Ad Preferences, the Digital Advertising Alliance opt-out tool, or the Network Advertising Initiative opt-out tool.
• Unsubscribe from any email list using the link provided in every email.

Please note that blocking cookies may affect how a site functions.

7. Children’s Privacy

Consistent with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 without parental consent.

8. Data Retention

We retain personal information for as long as needed to fulfill the purposes described in this policy and to meet our legal, accounting, and record-keeping obligations.

9. Security

We maintain reasonable administrative and technical safeguards designed to protect the information we collect, and periodically review our security practices. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

10. Your Rights

You may request access to, correction of, or deletion of personal information we hold about you by contacting us using the information in Section 12. While there is not currently a comprehensive consumer privacy law at the federal level or in the states of Michigan and Wisconsin, we aim to honor these requests for all visitors regardless of location.

11. Sites Covered by This Policy

This policy applies to www.thecapuchins.org and to any Province ministry website that links to it. If a specific ministry site uses this policy, that site does not maintain a separate privacy policy of its own.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy periodically. The “Last Updated” date above reflects the most recent revision, and material changes will be posted on this page. If any provision of this policy is rendered invalid or unenforceable by changes in the law or regulations, the remaining provisions will be considered valid and enforceable.

13. Contact Us