Privacy Policy

Effective Date: November 2025

This Privacy Policy governs the manner in whichThe South African Whale Centre (“Organization,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) collects, uses, maintains, and discloses information collected from donors participating in our recurring monthly donation initiative. This policy applies to the Subscription Program and all services offered by The Global Impact Fund.

1. Introduction and Scope

We are committed to protecting the privacy and security of our donors’ personal information. This policy details our practices concerning the information we collect when you sign up for or manage a recurring monthly donation.

The South African Whale Centre is a Non Profit Company (NPC)
Registration number: 2024/471788/08 governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa.

2. Information We Collect

We collect information primarily to process your recurring donation, provide tax documentation, and communicate with you about our mission.

2.1 Donor Identification Data

This is information you voluntarily provide during the signup process:

• Personal Identifiers: Name, email address, phone number.
• Contact Information: Mailing address (for tax receipts and physical correspondence).
• Account Information: Any necessary login credentials for the Donor Portal (if applicable).

2.2 Financial and Transaction Data

We collect data necessary to complete the financial transaction:

• Transaction Details: Donation amount, frequency, date of transaction, and payment status (successful/failed).
• Payment Information: We do not directly store full credit card numbers, CVV codes, or full bank account details on our servers. This sensitive data is securely handled and processed by our third-party payment gateway (see Section 4.2), which provides us with a secured payment token linked to your recurring donation.

2.3 Technical and Usage Data

When you access our Donor Portal or donation pages, we may collect:

• IP address, browser type, operating system, and general location data.
• Interaction data, such as time spent on a page and navigation paths, to improve user experience.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the collected information for the following specific purposes:

1. To Process Donations: To initiate, process, and manage your recurring monthly charges and ensure successful payment.
2. To Provide Receipts: To generate and send annual statements and tax receipts for your records, as required by law.
3. To Communicate with Donors: To send essential operational emails regarding your payment status, upcoming Billing Dates, cancellation confirmations, and major policy updates.
4. To Share Organizational Updates: To send newsletters and updates about the mission and impact of The Global Impact Fund, from which you can opt out at any time (see Section 7).
5. For Internal Analysis: To analyze donation trends, evaluate the effectiveness of our programs, and improve our services and outreach efforts.

4. How We Share and Disclose Information

We will not sell, rent, or trade your Donor Identification Data to outside parties. We only share information in the limited circumstances described below:

4.1 Legal and Compliance Obligations

We may disclose information if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to:

• Comply with a legal obligation, court order, or official request.
• Protect and defend the rights or property of The South African Whale Centre.
• Act in urgent circumstances to protect the personal safety of donors or the public.

4.2 Third-Party Payment Processors

All financial data is processed by trusted, third-party payment service providers (e.g., Stripe, PayPal, PayFast). These partners are PCI-DSS compliant and are contractually bound to protect your information and prohibited from using your data for any other purpose. We only share the necessary financial data (the secure token and transaction details) required to facilitate the monthly charge.

4.3 Service Providers

We use trusted third-party service providers (e.g., email service providers, donor database managers) to help us operate our mission. These providers are given access only to the information necessary to perform their specific tasks and are obligated to keep that information confidential.

5. Data Security

We adopt appropriate data collection, storage, and processing practices and security measures to protect against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction of your personal information, especially financial and transaction data.

• Encryption: Sensitive data is transmitted using SSL/TLS encryption.
• Anonymization/Tokenization: We use tokenization for recurring financial transactions, meaning raw payment details are never directly stored in our database.
• Access Control: Access to donor data is restricted to authorized personnel who need the information to perform their job duties (e.g., support staff, finance team).

6. Donor Rights and Choices

You have the following rights regarding your personal information:

• Access and Correction: You can review and request changes to the Donor Identification Data we hold by logging into your Donor Portal or by contacting us directly.
• Opt-Out of Communications: You may opt out of receiving non-essential organizational updates and marketing communications at any time by following the unsubscribe link in the email or by contacting us.
• Cancellation: Details on how to cancel your recurring monthly donation are covered in our Terms and Conditions (Section 4.2).

7. Changes to this Privacy Policy

The South African Whale Centre reserves the right to update this Privacy Policy at any time. When we do, we will revise the “Effective Date” at the top of this page. We encourage donors to periodically check this page for any changes. Your continued participation in the Subscription Program after any modification indicates your acceptance of the revised policy.

8. Contact Information

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, your personal information, or our data practices, please contact us:

The South African Whale Centre is a Non Profit Company (NPC)
Registration number: 2024/471788/08

• • Email: hello@thesawc.co.za
  • Phone: 028 313 0418
  • Mailing Address: 3 Market Square St, Hermanus, 7200
  • Last Updated: November 2025