Privacy Policy
Effective date: July 22, 2026
Blue Ridge Biodiversity Conservancy, Inc. (“BRBC,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) respects your privacy. This policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and protect information when you visit blueridgebiodiversity.org, contact us, subscribe to updates, donate, become a member, create a customer account, or purchase merchandise.
Information We Collect
Information you provide
Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect:
Your name and email address
Contact-form selections and messages
Newsletter subscription preferences
Billing and shipping addresses
Donation, membership, order, and transaction details
Membership recognition preferences
Customer-account information
Submitting our contact form does not automatically subscribe you to marketing emails.
Payment information
Payments are processed through Squarespace Payments and its payment-processing partners. BRBC receives the transaction information needed to administer donations, memberships, purchases, receipts, refunds, and financial records. We do not directly store complete payment-card numbers.
Information collected automatically
Squarespace may collect information needed to operate the website and provide analytics, including:
IP address
Browser, network, and device information
Referring pages
Pages visited
Clicks, searches, scrolling, and timestamps
Cookie and similar-technology data
We use this information to understand site activity, maintain security, and improve the visitor experience.
How We Use Information
We may use personal information to:
Respond to questions, partnership inquiries, media requests, and volunteer interest
Process donations, memberships, merchandise orders, refunds, and receipts
Fulfill and ship merchandise
Maintain customer, donor, and membership records
Provide optional member recognition when requested
Send newsletters and organizational updates with your consent
Operate, secure, evaluate, and improve the website
Detect fraud, misuse, or technical problems
Meet accounting, tax, legal, and regulatory obligations
How We Share Information
We share information only when reasonably necessary to operate the website, fulfill requests, or comply with legal obligations. Service providers may include:
Squarespace, which provides website hosting, forms, customer accounts, mailing lists, analytics, commerce tools, and Squarespace Payments
Squarespace’s payment-processing and fraud-prevention partners
Printful, which receives the customer and shipping information necessary to produce, package, and deliver merchandise
Our email service provider, which receives contact-form communications
Professional advisors or government authorities when required for accounting, legal compliance, fraud prevention, or protection of legal rights
These providers process information under their own privacy terms and security practices. Information may be processed in the United States or other countries where these providers operate.
BRBC does not sell or rent personal information.
Email Communications
You may unsubscribe from newsletters at any time by selecting the unsubscribe link included in each email.
We may still send non-marketing communications related to a donation, membership, order, customer-service request, or legal obligation.
Cookies and Analytics
Squarespace and connected services may use cookies and similar technologies to operate the website, remember preferences, maintain security, process transactions, and measure website activity.
You may control cookies through your browser settings and through any cookie-preference controls displayed on our website. Disabling certain cookies may affect how some site features work.
Data Retention
We retain information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this policy. Certain donation, membership, payment, and transaction records may be retained longer to meet tax, accounting, legal, or regulatory obligations.
Data Security
We use reasonable administrative and technical safeguards and rely on established service providers to help protect personal information. However, no website, electronic transmission, or storage system can be guaranteed completely secure.
Children’s Privacy
This website is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 through the website. A parent or guardian who believes a child has submitted personal information may contact us to request its deletion.
Your Choices and Privacy Rights
Depending on where you live, you may have the right to request access to, correction of, or deletion of certain personal information. You may also withdraw newsletter consent at any time.
To submit a privacy request, email privacy@blueridgebiodiversity.org. We may need to verify your identity before completing a request, and some information may need to be retained when required by law.
Third-Party Links
Our website may link to social networks, wildlife resources, or other third-party websites. Their privacy practices are governed by their own policies, and BRBC is not responsible for their content or privacy practices.
Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy as our programs, website, services, or legal obligations change. The effective date at the top of the policy will identify the latest revision.
Contact Us
For questions or requests concerning this Privacy Policy, email: