After You Privacy Policy

Last updated September 15, 2026

This Privacy Policy describes the practices and policies of Charity Navigator, a 501(c)(3) public charity (hereinafter, “Charity Navigator,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) relating to the collection of personal data received by us, both online and offline, including but not limited to through the After You website (afteryou.org) (the “Website”), and related applications and platforms, as well as any written, whether electronic or hard copy, or verbal communications.

In addition to this Privacy Policy, please also read the After You Terms of Use for detailed information about our services. By accessing the Website, you agree to be bound by the Terms of Use and consent to the data practices described in this Privacy Policy.

When we use the terms “you” or “your” in this Policy, we are referring to individuals who access or visit the Website. Capitalized terms not defined herein shall have the definitions set forth in the Terms of Use. If after reading this Policy you have additional questions or would like further information, please email us at afteryou@charitynavigator.org.

This Privacy Policy includes the following sections:

Data We Collect
- Personal vs Non-personal Data
- Personal Data You Provide To Us
- Data Collected Automatically
How We Manage (Protect & Store / Use / Share) Your Personal Data
Reviewing Your Personal Data
Links to Other Websites
Special Concerns Regarding Children and Privacy
Special Concerns Regarding International Use and Transfer
Changes to Our Privacy Policy
How to Contact Us

1. Data We Collect

A. Personal vs. Non-personal Data

We use the term “personal data” to mean information that can be used, individually or together with any other data you provide to us or we collect, to identify an individual person. Non-personal data is all other information you provide to us or we collect, which cannot be traced to an identifiable individual.

Please note information that you provide to us or we collect through the Website concerning a charity’s programs and operations, including but not limited to a charity’s finances, operations, policies, procedures and results information, and the information contained therein, is not personal data for the purposes of this Policy.

B. Personal Data You Provide to Us

You may visit the Website without being required to provide us with any personal data about yourself or your organization. The data that you provide directly to us through the Website will vary depending on the Services you are utilizing, as described below. We never request highly sensitive data, such your social security number, or information about medical or health conditions, and we ask that you refrain from sending us such data. However, the Website offers optional Services that do call for the provision of personal data, as follows:

Survey

As part of our Services, the Website offers donors the opportunity to complete a survey about what motivates their giving and the types of organizations they support. When you complete the survey, the survey collects your name, or nickname if you prefer, birth decade, home zip code, and information about your giving preferences, all of which may be shared with our affiliates, service providers, and agents for our internal operations (like storage and data backup).
Electronic Mail

You may, on your own initiative, reach out to Charity Navigator by electronic mail. We collect any information you share with us through such communications, such as your name and contact information and information you volunteer in your communication, and may use and share such information consistent with this Policy.

C. Data Collected Automatically

We collect certain data by automated means when you visit the Website, some of which may be personal data. The data collected may include usage information, such as the numbers and frequency of users to the Services, pages visited, web browsing histories, device location, social networking activities, and similar data. If gathered, this data is aggregated and is not used to identify or track individual activity. We collect this information through various means, including “cookies,” “web beacons” and IP addresses, as further explained below, and may utilize third-party web servers or tracking services in connection with this activity, such as Google Analytics, Heap, AdWords and Remarketing Lists.

Cookies

A cookie is a piece of information that a web server may place on your computer when you visit a website. Cookies are commonly used by websites to improve the user experience. Many cookies last only through a single website session, or visit. Others may have an expiration date, or may remain on your computer until you delete them. Most browsers will tell you how to stop accepting new cookies, how to be notified when you receive a new cookie, and how to disable existing cookies. Please note, however, that without cookies you may not be able to take full advantage of all the features on the Website. For more information on cookies and similar technologies and how to disable them, please see allaboutcookies.org/cookies.
Web Beacons

The Website contains “web beacons” (also known as internet tags, pixel tags, and clear GIFs). These web beacons allow third parties to obtain information such as the IP address of the computer that downloaded the page on which the beacon appears, the URL of the page on which the beacon appears, the time the page containing the beacon was viewed, the type of browser used to view the page, and the information in cookies set by the third party. Web beacons also may be used to track whether you have opened an HTML email. When the email is opened, a part of the code that makes up the HTML page calls a web server to load the web beacon that then generates a record showing that the email has been viewed. Web beacons may also recognize when the email was opened, how many times it was forwarded and which URLs (links within the email) were clicked.
IP Addresses

When you visit and interact with the Services, Charity Navigator and third parties with whom we have contracted to provide services for us collect Internet Protocol addresses (each an “IP Address”), as well as browser type, Internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, platform type, date/time stamp, and page navigation. An IP Address is a unique identifier number that certain electronic devices use to identify and to communicate with each other on the Internet; your Internet Service Provider automatically assigns an IP Address to the computer that you are using.

A. How We Protect & Store Your Personal Data

We maintain reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational safeguards for the Services designed to protect against loss, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction of the personal data that we collect from you. Your data is stored in an enterprise-level, secure database protected by encryption, two-factor authentication and restricted access. This cloud-hosted database employs robust security measures, including access controls, to protect your data. Additionally, secure authentication and authorization services are in place to provide additional layers of data security and privacy.

We restrict access to personal data collected about you on the Services to our employees, our affiliates’ employees, those who are otherwise specified in this Privacy Policy, or others who need to know that information to provide the Services to you or in the course of conducting our business operations or activities. Please note, however, that no website, including the Services, can guarantee 100% security.

We store your personal data for as long as required to provide the Services to you. We may retain personal data after we cease providing Services to you to the extent necessary to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations, and for the purpose of fraud monitoring, detection, and prevention, including our tax, accounting, and financial reporting obligations. Where we retain data, we do so in accordance with any limitation periods and records retention obligations that are imposed by applicable law.

B. How We Use Your Personal Data

We collect and process personal data from you only for lawful reasons, such as to perform the Services, for our legitimate business interests or to fulfill our legal or contractual obligations. We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal data to third parties. For more specific information about how we use your personal data, please see below.

Data You Provide to Us. We use the data you provide to us in order to perform the Services, and to perform data analytics to assess and improve the Services we deliver. We may use your personal data to deliver customized content and to inform you of other Services available from us, including programs and content, to share information about us and our partners, and to request support.
Data Collected through Automated Means. We also use the data we collect from you through automated means in order to perform the Services, and to perform data analytics to assess and improve the Services we deliver. We use cookies to enhance the user experience, for example, by maintaining continuity during a user session. We also use cookies to research and gather data about the usage of the Website, to assess our performance and reach and to inform and implement our overall business strategy, including marketing purposes. We use web beacons and IP addresses for the same business purposes: to track Website visitor movement in the aggregate, and to gather broad demographic information for aggregate use. Our goal in gathering this information is to learn how you are using our Services. We may use this information to enhance our Website or for other lawful purposes, including marketing.

As stated above and in our Donor Privacy Policy, we do not sell, rent, or trade your personal data to third parties. When we share your personal data, we do so only as described below.

For all Visitors complete the survey on the Website, any data you provide or personal data we may collect as described in this Policy, may be shared with other third parties as follows: (1) to users and all other visitors to the Website (2) to our affiliates, service providers, and agents for our internal operations (like storage and data backup) and to provide, improve, and market our Services to you; (3) to perform data analytics (as described above); (4) in connection with a sale of all or substantially all of the assets of Charity Navigator or the merger of Charity Navigator into another entity or any consolidation, share exchange, combination, reorganization, or like transaction in which Charity Navigator is not the survivor; (5) for any or all of the following reasons: (i) to comply with a subpoena, to comply with a legal process, to comply with what we reasonably believe in good faith is a valid and enforceable warrant or subpoena, or to comply with any other legal obligation, (ii) to prevent, investigate, detect, or prosecute criminal offenses or attacks on the technical integrity of our Services, (iii) when we reasonably believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect the rights, privacy, property, business, or safety of Charity Navigator, their partners and employees, you, or the public, and/or (iv) to investigate fraud.

3. Reviewing Your Personal Data

Upon request, Charity Navigator will provide you with information about whether we hold any of your personal data. You may access, correct, or request deletion of your personal data, or request that we stop any processing of your personal data. If you would like to inquire about any personal data of yours that Charity Navigator may hold, or to correct or request the deletion of such data, please email us at info@charitynavigator.org. We will respond to your request within a reasonable timeframe.

4. Links to Other Websites

We may provide links through the Website to third-party websites to deliver our Services and as a service to you, in order to enable you to take advantage of the Services, to learn more about our partners and charities mentioned on the Website, and to interact directly with these organizations, if you so choose. Please be aware when you choose to use such third-party Services that we disclaim responsibility for the information collection, use, and disclosure practices of third-party sites; we encourage you to review and understand their privacy practices and policies, if any, before providing any personal data to them or using any of their services. We are not responsible for the content or information of these sites, any products or services that may be offered through them, or any other use of the sites.

5. Special Concerns Regarding Children and Privacy

The Services are not intended for use by children, and we do not knowingly or intentionally solicit data from or market to children under the age of 16. Additionally, as specified in the Terms of Use those individuals who are less than 16 years of age are only permitted to use the Website and Services with parental/guardian consent and supervision. If you are a parent or guardian and become aware that your child has provided us information without your consent, please contact us at afteryou@charitynavigator.org to request that we delete such information from our files within a reasonable amount of time from your request.

6. Special Concerns Regarding International Use and Transfer

The Website and Services are intended for users in the United States only. Charity Navigator and its servers are located in the United States, and we necessarily transfer any data that is collected on the Website to the United States for processing and storage. The laws governing data collection, storage and use may differ under United States law from the law of other regions.

7. Changes to Our Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to update this Policy at any time. The date of last update is stated at the beginning and end of this Policy. It is your responsibility to check this page from time to time for updates. Your continued use of the Services after such notice will indicate your acknowledgment and agreement with any and all such changes.

8. Contact Us

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns regarding this Policy or our practices please feel free to write to us at afteryou@charitynavigator.org. We will respond to your email as soon as we can.

Effective Date: September 15, 2026