Privacy Policy

We rely on the help of our dedicated supporters to protect the endangered snow leopard and its high mountain ecosystems.

When you donate to us or make a purchase from our online shop, we store certain data about you and your interaction with us. Because your right to privacy and the protection of your data is a key concern of ours, we have made improvements to our privacy notice so that it is easy for you to understand, and so it is clear how you can choose to hear from us.

In this notice, all references to “we,” “us” or “Snow Leopard Trust” collectively refer to the International Snow Leopard Trust, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, registered in the United States of America, EIN 91-1144119.

This privacy notice sets out how the Snow Leopard Trust collects, uses and stores personal data and has been written in accordance with US data breach laws and the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation.

If you have any questions regarding this privacy notice, please contact us at Snow Leopard Trust, 4649 Sunnyside Ave N, Suite 325, Seattle WA 98103, USA; or info@snowleopard.org

What data do you collect about me?

We collect information about supporters, customers, fundraisers, campaigners, and donors who are part of our mission to save the snow leopards. We collect information:

  • When you give it to us directly:

You may give us personal information when you sign up to receive our print or electronic newsletters, make a donation, sign a petition, and/or order from our shop.

This will usually be your basic contact details, such as your name, email, phone number and address.

If you donate we may also ask for your bank or credit card details.

At all times, your personal and financial information is carefully stored through an access-controlled and firewall-protected online database, and/or through strict physical security and access control measures (if you choose to send information via paper). All paper records are professionally destroyed on a regular basis. Unless you send us your financial information on paper, we do not store credit card or bank information. Online transactions are protected and encrypted through your credit card or financial institution.

  • When you give it to us indirectly:

We may get your personal information via a third-party fundraising platform such as (but not limited to Razoo, Facebook donations, or Amazon Smile; if you’ve told them you are supporting the Snow Leopard Trust, and with your consent).

  • Website:

We use cookies to help us improve the functionality and performance of our website.

Cookies are text files that save information about how you use our website and allow us to improve your experience, e.g. keeping you signed in.

We use third party cookies from Google Analytics that help us understand how visitors are using our site. While we don’t collect personal information from this service, Google receives information through your use of our site.

We also collect information about how you respond to emails. For example, if you open the email or not via our third party e-marketing service (MailChimp.)

How do you use my information?

The data outlined above is collected so we can work most efficiently on building a global team of snow leopard conservation activists. The information enables us to make informed decisions, fundraise most effectively and give you an improved experience when you use our website and read our communications.

We never have and never will sell your details to any third parties, particularly not for marketing purposes. We are committed to making it easy for you to change your communication preferences. We always respect your preferences and endeavor to send you information that suits you, in the format you prefer.

  • Enquiries

If you provide data on an online form in order to register your interest as a volunteer or fundraiser, we use your personal information to respond to your questions and deal with your request.

  • Donations

we use your information to process, acknowledge and keep a record of any donations you make. We keep the history of your support to date so we can best acknowledge your continued help.

  • Marketing

We use direct marketing to let you know what the Snow Leopard Trust is doing and how your support can help protect these cats. We may use it for appeals or to ask for other support. Unless you indicate that you don’t want to hear from us in this way, we will send you direct marketing by email, and in some cases by regular mail. We send these communications on the basis of it being within our legitimate interests to do so or if you’ve consented to receive this. Please see the “What is your legal basis for processing personal data?” section below for more information on this.

Our monthly email updates (Enews) include the latest conservation news, blog articles, photos and videos as well as requests for your action when it is most needed. Apart from the monthly eNews, we may also send you breaking news, periodical requests for action or information about new products in our online shop.

The types of marketing that you can expect to receive from the Snow Leopard Trust by mail include biannual appeal letters. Our email direct marketing includes options to opt out or update your preferences in the footer of each email. You can opt out from any type of communication at any time by contacting us.

  • Social media

On social media, we may use publicly available information from your profile to target you with specific posts that may interest you. Check your social media accounts if you want to change the information you make public. We may repost or share your posts on social media if it relates to the Snow Leopard Trust and our work, and respond to questions, queries or comments left on our social media channels and use information found on your profile to help us answer these. We’ll never ask for personal or sensitive information.

Our websites use sharing buttons which share our web pages to social media platforms – use these buttons at your own discretion. Social media platforms may track these shares through your accounts.

  • Legal

We may keep your information on file in order to comply with legal and regulatory obligations.

  • Grow the movement

Your data is also used to analyze our campaign performance and fundraising appeals, and find out how best to improve our services and information.

Who can access my data?

Your information is only accessible by SLT staff and Board of Directors, all of whom have either signed or been briefed on strict privacy policies. During hire, all SLT staff are required to sign confidentiality wavers to protect personal information. On a very limited basis, and under supervision of staff, volunteers may be permitted to work with personal data. For example, they may be exposed to donor names and addresses when stuffing envelopes for a mailed campaign. All volunteers are required to sign confidentiality wavers, and monitored to assure they do not compromise security measures.

When working with contractors—for example those who improve data efficiency—we ensure they have similarly strong confidentiality assurances, and encryption, before we work with them.

We use other companies to help us manage and store personal data and to carry out certain activities on our behalf. Our main data processors are listed below, but we may enlist the services of others from time to time:

  • Classy
  • Google
  • Intuit
  • MailChimp
  • PayPal
  • Salesforce
  • Shopify
  • Stripe

We’ll only disclose your personal data to third parties, without your consent, when we have to by law, for example to authorized statutory agencies or authorities.

How do you keep my information safe?

We have several robust technical solutions in place to keep your data safe.

Our entire site is served over SSL. This ensures that forms you fill out are sent to us encrypted.

All of our payment providers are PCI compliant which means they conform to a strict security policy for processing cardholder information.

Our database has permissions based access and only authorized members of staff can view our supporter data.

Please note that while we do our utmost to ensure that good security practices and technologies are in place to protect your data, the security of information sent over the internet cannot be guaranteed and may be illegally intercepted or changed after it has been sent.

How long do you keep my information for?

We keep your information only as long as it is necessary. For example, we keep your financial data for at least seven years as per legal duty.

If you request to receive no further contact from us, we will keep some basic information about you on our suppression list so that we can avoid sending you unwanted materials in the future.

What is your legal basis for processing personal data?

In order to comply with data protection regulations, the Snow Leopard Trust must have a legal justification for collecting and using your information. Our legal basis for processing your personal information falls into one of the following categories in almost all cases:

  • Where you have provided consent – e.g. to send you direct marketing by e-mail.
  • When processing is necessary to comply with a legal obligation
  • When using your information is necessary to carry out a contract with us, for example if you make an order from our online shop and we fulfil it using your address.
  • When it falls under our legitimate interests to contact you – such as in order to raise funds or promote our campaigning objectives. If we do this, we will ensure that the processing is not likely to be too intrusive, or excessively infringe upon your rights.

Our legitimate interests include:

  • Charity governance: including delivery of our objectives and charitable purposes, statutory and financial reporting and other regulatory compliance.
  • Administration and management: including providing information and services, responding to solicited enquires, research, the administration of volunteers and employment and recruitment requirements.
  • Fundraising, campaigning and marketing: including administering campaigns and donations, and sending direct marketing and thank you letters by mail. In some cases, advertising goods and services similar to those you’ve shown interest in before.

Please contact us if you’d like to find out more about how we process your information, or if you would like to change how we contact you.

How can I access or change my personal data?

You can change your personal details and/or contact preferences at any time. Please contact us at Snow Leopard Trust, 4649 Sunnyside Ave N, Suite 325, Seattle WA 98103, USA; or info@snowleopard.org

You have a number of data protection rights which we’d like to make you aware of:

  • You can request any information we hold on you by emailing us at info@snowleopard.org. We are happy to supply any information you ask for as soon as possible in writing, but this may take up to 30 days. We will also ask for proof of identity.
  • You also have the right to ask us to stop using or to restrict the processing of your personal data in certain cases, e.g. where it is not needed to do what you provided it to us for, or if there is some disagreement about its accuracy or legitimate use.
  • You can withdraw your consent for us processing your data at any time (where such processing is based on consent e.g. to send you electronic direct marketing.)
  • If you believe our records are inaccurate you have the right to ask for those records concerning you to be updated. To update your records, please get in touch with us using the details above.
  • In some cases, you have the right to be forgotten (i.e. to have your personal data deleted from our database) or transferred to another organization (“data portability.”) Where you have requested that we don’t send you marketing materials we’ll need to keep some limited information in order to ensure that you’re not contacted in the future.

You can contact our data protection team at info@snowleopard.org if you have any queries about data protection. If you’ve any concerns about the way your data is being used or if you’d like to make a complaint, please contact us using the details above.

When do you update this notice?

We amend this privacy notice whenever necessary. We will contact you directly or make it clear on our website if we make any significant changes in the way we treat your personal information.

We have made this privacy policy as comprehensive as possible, but it does not include an exhaustive list of all aspects of our collection and use of personal information. We are happy to provide further information about our procedures, so please do get in touch. If you have any questions or feedback about our privacy policy, please let us know by contacting us.