Privacy Policy

Protecting your personal privacy is very important to us. We hope the following statement will help you understand how the American Kidney Fund (AKF) collects, uses and safeguards the personal information you might provide to us. Specifics about what information is collected and how it is used follows this Privacy Policy Statement.

We collect information so that we may achieve our mission of providing financial support to patients in need, and by delivering programs that educate, build awareness, and drive advocacy, resulting in greater public understanding and ultimately the prevention of kidney disease. The information you provide allows us to help you on a more personal level so we can better respond to your requests, understand your needs, and provide you the information and resources you need. If you provide a mailing address, email address or phone number, our intention is to send correspondence only to those who have chosen to receive such communications. At any time, you have the right to decline receiving future communications in any manner, including email, fax, phone, SMS and postal mail.

What information is collected by AKF?

When you browse the AKF site, you do so anonymously. Personal information— including your email address—is not collected. However, we may request that you voluntarily supply us with personal information, including your email address for purposes such as correspondence, site registration, making a purchase or donation, or participating in online surveys. We may ask for your name, email address, phone number, mailing address and other optional information that we deem necessary to fulfill any requests you may have. At any time, you may decline to provide such information and we will do our best to fulfill any requests you may have with the information you desire to share with us.

Cookies & tracking data

Cookies are simple text files stored by your web browser that provide a method of distinguishing the types of visitors to the website. AKF uses cookies to identify your browser as you visit pages on AKF’s website. Cookies also allow AKF to provide more relevant, targeted content as you browse through our website and are also used by AKF for authenticating users, tracking a user’s session, and/or for storing other essential textual information. We limit the collection of information about our site users to what we need to know to manage their relationship with AKF, to provide customer service, to offer new programs and services, and to fulfill any legal and regulatory requirements. Some web browsers and devices permit you to broadcast a preference that you not be "tracked" online. At this time we do not modify your experience based upon whether such a signal is broadcast.

We use tools, cookies and services such as AddThis, DoubleClick, Google AdWords and Google Analytics for tracking, reporting and analyzing web site activity. By using these tools, we may capture the type of device you use to connect to our website, the type of operating system and browser you use, information about the site you came from, the parts of our online service you access, and the type of mobile device you use. We may also capture demographic data that gives us insight into behavior information relating to visitor age, gender and interests on an anonymous and aggregate level. This will help us to understand browsing behavior to give you a better experience whilst visiting our sites. If you want to opt out of Google's use of cookies visit Google’s Ads Setting Site. If you would like to prevent your data from being used by Google Analytics, you may do so by adding this browser add-on.

We use pixel tags to anonymously track the online usage patterns of our users. Pixel tags might also be used together with some advertising cookies, to evaluate, and improve our programs and services, and to perform data analytics, accounting, auditing, and other internal functions. Some cookies are used to measure conversion events. We also use cookies for behavioral advertising. This means we may permit third party online advertising networks to collect information about your use of the AKF website over time so that they may play or display ads that may be relevant to your interests on other websites or services.

The only way to completely “opt out” of the collection of any information through cookies or other tracking technology is to actively manage the settings on your browser or mobile device. Please refer to your browser’s or mobile device’s technical information for instructions on how to delete and disable cookies, and other tracking/recording tools. To learn more about cookies, pixels and related technologies and how you may opt-out of some of this tracking, you may wish to visit http://www.allaboutcookies.org and/or the Network Advertising Initiative’s online resources, at http://www.networkadvertising.org.

Where do we transfer and store information?

AKF treats personal data, including credit card information, as a critical asset that must be guarded at all times against loss and unauthorized access. Access to user data is limited to those who specifically need it to conduct their business responsibilities. To ensure the security of credit card and personal information, this website employs industry-standard security methods, including the Secure Socket Layers (SSL) protocol for the encryption of transmitted data. Our service provider, Blackbaud, complies with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) and the Payment Application Data Security Standard (PA-DSS). When you make a donation to the AKF, make a purchase, or access your account information, all your personal information is encrypted to protect against unauthorized use. While we make every effort to ensure that your information is secure on our system, no data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As a result, we cannot guarantee the security of any information you transmit to us, and you do this at your own risk.

AKF is based in the United States, and any information transmitted to us may be stored, accessed, or processed in the United States. Residents of some other countries, including residents of the European Union, should be aware that the laws of the United States do not offer the same protections as the laws of your home country.

How do we use information?

We collect information primarily to accept donations, accomplish our mission of assisting victims of kidney disease, and to provide you with information concerning our programs, projects, and activities. We also use information for analytical purposes, to improve our website, our donor base, our outreach, or to respond to requests for information or merchandise. We may inform you of other purposes at the time that we collect some forms of information.

With whom do we share information?

Like many other non-profit organizations, we sometimes make available only our contributor names and postal addresses to companies, predominantly other non-profit organizations. This practice helps us reduce costs of reaching more individuals with our kidney related information. These companies are carefully screened. Names and addresses are provided on a one-time basis; therefore these companies will not have continued access to your name and address unless you respond to them directly, which you are free to do or not to do. You can request that we do not share, sell, or exchange your information for third party’s fundraising or marketing purposes by contacting us at the email or number listed at the bottom of this privacy policy.

If, for any reason, a court order or subpoena would require us to release information, we notify the user directly so that his/her legal rights can be exercised, if appropriate. The only exceptions to this policy are when we are prohibited by court order or law from notifying the user, or cases in which fraud and/or criminal activity is suspected.

Deciding to no longer receive any communications

The American Kidney Fund provides users with an easy method to decline receiving future email or direct mail offers and recognizes the importance of providing you with choices. At any time, you may request to discontinue receiving these offers from us by simply replying to the email address included in every email message you receive, by replying to the SMS or by writing to us at the address shown below, on every page our web site, or on the direct mail piece.

Access to your data and your choices

If you would like to access the data that we received from you, or make corrections to it, you may contact us at the email or number listed at the bottom of this privacy policy. If you registered to receive communications from us and later change your mind, you may ask that your name and contact information be removed from our distribution list. You can contact us at the email or number listed at the bottom of this privacy policy.

Protecting your data

Each AKF employee is personally responsible for maintaining user confidentiality and all subcontractors are required to enter into an agreement that they will comply with these policies. Employees who violate these policies are subject to disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal, while subcontractors may have their work terminated. All individuals with access to confidential information are expected to report violations—and may do so confidentially—to their managers or other supervisors.

Children’s privacy

AKF is committed to safeguarding our users' online privacy and recognizes the importance of protecting the privacy of personal information, particularly that of children. AKF does not knowingly solicit data from anyone under the age of 13, and we will not knowingly mail to or market any services to children. Should you discover that your child is on our email or direct mail list, simply contact us at the email or number listed at the bottom of this privacy policy and we will immediately remove him or her from any future communications.

What else should I know about my privacy?

Third party Internet sites and services that may be accessible through AKF's site have separate privacy and data collection practices, independent of us. AKF has no responsibility or liability for these independent policies or actions. You are solely responsible for maintaining the secrecy of your passwords, membership ID, or any account information. Please be careful and responsible whenever you are online. If you post personal information online that is accessible to the public, you may receive unsolicited messages from other parties in return. While we aim to protect your personal information, AKF cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us, and you do so at your own risk.

How to contact us

If you have questions or concerns about your privacy while browsing AKF’s website, please email us at info@kidneyfund.org or call us at 800.638.8299. You may also mail us at: