Privacy Policy

By visiting our websites, you accept the practices described in this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy, please do not use this website or any other Council website.

The Council on Foundations (the Council) created this privacy policy to demonstrate its firm commitment to the privacy of all individuals who access our websites and with whom we do business. The following describes the Council's information gathering and dissemination practices. The Privacy Policy may change at any time, and any changes will be posted on this page. If you have additional questions, comments, or concerns please contact:

Council on Foundations
1255 23rd Street NW, Suite 200
Washington, DC 20037
email: info@cof.org
Phone: 202-991-2225

The following describes how the Council uses information voluntarily submitted to us by our members and other visitors to this site, cof.org, and other websites under the Council’s control including account.cof.org, exchange.cof.org, learn.cof.org, and cfinsights.org. The Council's Job Board, jobs.cof.org, and Grantmaker Salary and Benefits survey website, bmc.cof.org, are managed by third-party vendors and have separate privacy policies. You can find those privacy policies at jobs.cof.org/privacy and on bmc.cof.org once you are logged in. When applicable, this Privacy Policy also applies to information you submit to us offline. This Privacy Policy does not apply to third-party websites you may visit through a link on our website. Similarly, the Council does not assume responsibility for any data sharing you may engage in on third-party websites.

What Information We Collect

You do not need to give us any personal information to browse Council websites. As a general matter, when we do request your information, it is completely voluntary to provide it to us and is a combination of personal and business-related information. Information we typically collect and store includes:

  • Your name
  • Your job title
  • Your organization/company/related business name
  • Your email address (can be either business or personal, depending on what you provide us)
  • Your phone number (can be either business or personal, depending on what you provide us)
  • Your mailing and billing address (can be either business or personal, depending on what you provide us)
  • Your Council on Foundations’ website username (typically the email address you provided)

In some circumstances, we may also ask you to provide the following information:

  • Your professional photograph/headshot
  • Your demographic information
  • Your resume/CV
  • Your social media handles (can be either business or personal, depending on what you provide us)
  • Your professional biography
  • Your professional interest areas

When you create a website account with us, you must provide a password to be able to log into Council websites. All passwords are encrypted, and only you have the ability to change your password. If you need to reset your password, you can request a password reset at https://account.cof.org or by contacting info@cof.org.

The Council's websites, programs, and services are intended primarily for professional audiences. Council websites are not intended for use by or targeted at children or minors, and we do not knowingly or intentionally collect information about children under 16.

When you purchase products, services, event registrations, or other items from us, we collect payment information at the time of purchase. If you pay by credit card through our websites, the card information is processed by a third-party payment processor and is not stored on Council servers. Council staff do not have access to that card data. If you provide credit card data directly to Council staff by telephone, it is not duplicated or retained and is destroyed after your payment has been processed.

When completing forms on Council websites, the IP address of the network you are using may also be collected with the personal information you provide.  Your IP address is used by the Council solely to administer its websites and to diagnose server and website issues. It is not stored in your customer record.

When you sign into Council websites, the date and time of your login are recorded.

Depending on the circumstances, we may request additional information beyond what is outlined here, but providing that information is entirely voluntary. In addition, when you interact with Council websites, our servers may keep a log that does not identify you personally (“non-personal information”) since we do not combine it with any identifying information. We use this data to ensure the security and performance of our websites and mitigate website and server issues. This data includes:

  • Device information used for accessing the website such as device type, platform, IP address, geolocation information, unique device identifiers, browser type, browser language, and other transactional information; and
  • Other “traffic data” such as time of access, date of access, error reports, pages accessed, and referring website addresses.

Other non-personal information we may collect includes:

  • Non-identifying demographic data such as age, gender, general interests, and five-digit zip code;
  • Usage information about what is accessed on the website including pages viewed and time spent on the website; and
  • Search terms and search results.

You can learn more about this in the How We Use Cookies section.

There are many ways that you can control non-personal data that your device sends to us, but it depends largely on privacy settings you control through your internet browser. We suggest that you visit your internet browser settings to limit or stop this data from being sent to us.

How We Collect Information

The following lists the most common ways in which we collect your identifying information:

  • When you register for an account on the website;
  • When you sign up to receive email from us;
  • When you participate in surveys, panels, or research;
  • When you register for and participate in our programs, activities, initiatives, and events;
  • When you request information or assistance;
  • When you fill out an application to become a member of the Council on Foundations;
  • When you purchase a product, service, subscription, event registration or other for-sale item from us;
  • When you apply to participate in Council programs and initiatives;
  • When you participate in communities and other interactive services;
  • When you fill out a form on an affiliated social media site;
  • When you provide user-generated content on any of our websites that permits it; and
  • In conjunction with any other place on our websites where you knowingly enter personal information.

We may also collect and store publicly available information about you or your organization from third-party sources. Examples include staff names, titles, and email addresses; an organization’s annual giving and assets; and other publicly reported data.

How We Use Your Information

In general, we use the personal information we collect to pursue our mission, provide services, and communicate with you about your membership, programs, events, transactions, and other Council activities. Communications may be delivered through email, mail, telephone, or, where you have provided consent, SMS text messages. You may opt out of communications at any time by following the instructions included in those communications.

Most commonly, we also use your personal and non-personal information in these specific ways:

  • Responding to your inquiries;
  • Communicating with you about your account or transactions with us;
  • Sending newsletters, mailings, and information about programs, initiatives, activities, for-sale items, and events by email, SMS text message or another medium;
  • Processing your membership application;
  • Event or program registration;
  • For editorial purposes;
  • Optimizing or improving our programs, services, and operations;
  • Research and development;
  • Verifying your account and account activities;
  • Detecting, investigating, and preventing activities that may violate our policies or be illegal;
  • Improving and personalizing our websites and communications;
  • Performing statistical, demographic, and marketing analyses and analyzing usage patterns; and
  • Managing our organization.

We may use your personal and non-personal information in other ways as stated in this privacy policy.

How We Share Your Information

The Council is dedicated to ethical practices in all our operations and to protecting the privacy of all visitors to our websites and all individuals whose data we collect and store. Except as outlined in the paragraphs below, we do not sell, barter, give away, rent, or permit anyone outside the Council on Foundations to use or access your personal information.

We use independent contractors and third-party agents, affiliates, platforms, and partners to perform functions and provide services such as marketing, analytics, e-commerce, customer record retention, online communities, event programming, etc. on our behalf. These entities have access to the personal information needed to perform their functions and are contractually obligated to maintain the confidentiality and security of any personal information we collect. They are restricted from using, selling, distributing, or altering this data in any way other than to provide the requested services to the Council on Foundations. We require service providers that process personal information on our behalf to maintain appropriate privacy, confidentiality, and security protections consistent with applicable laws and contractual requirements.

Your email address will only be used within the Council. The Council does not share, sell, or rent email addresses to anyone outside the organization. In certain instances, we may ask for your consent to share some of your personal information with partners, sponsors, or other third parties. You can refuse to have your information shared at the time of our request.

The Council only publicly shares personal information (e.g. your name, job title, organization affiliation, personal biography, professional photograph, etc.) with your prior consent or when you voluntarily elect to make the information public through participation in a Council program, directory, speaker profile, online community, or similar activity. You can refuse to have your information shared publicly at the time of our request. If you previously provided consent and no longer wish for your information to be public, you can request it to be removed at any time by contacting us at info@cof.org or 202-991-2225.

Council websites may include discussion forums, online communities, message boards, or similar collaboration features. Please remember that any information that you disclose in these areas becomes public information, and you should exercise caution when deciding to disclose your personal information. The Council cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to the public through our websites, and you do so at your own risk.

How We Use Cookies

"Cookies" are small pieces of information stored by the browser you use to access our websites. We may also use web beacons and similar technologies to understand how our websites are used to improve user experience. Council websites may use necessary, functional, performance, advertising, and other cookies specific to that website. Necessary cookies support core website functionality, including security, authentication, and access to certain features, and may be required for the website to operate properly.  Most browsers automatically accept all cookies, but you can manage cookie settings through your browser, including blocking or deleting cookies. Please note that disabling cookies may affect website performance or prevent access to certain features. Additional information about cookies and how to manage them can be found at https://www.allaboutcookies.org/.

The following describes specific cookies used on Council websites and their purposes:

Salesforce SSO: When you log into cof.org, account.cof.org, exchange.cof.org, learn.cof.org, bmc.cof.org, cfinsights.org, and jobs.cof.org Salesforce issues a session cookie to keep you logged in for the duration of your session. This cookie also allows you to more easily log in across our websites. This session cookie does not include your username or password nor any other personal or confidential information. These cookies are necessary for the website to function properly. If you block or disable these cookies, you will not be able to login to the Council’s websites. Please note: this is not a shared login between any other service or website other than the Council websites stated. You can access the Salesforce privacy policy at https://www.salesforce.com/company/privacy/.

Hubspot: The Council uses Hubspot to send email communications, SMS text message alerts, and track communication subscription preferences. Hubspot cookies allow us to understand who interacts with our emails, text messages, and websites (e.g. conversions, opens, and clicks links). This gives us the ability to understand what people we communicate with are interested in and the ability to tailor and improve our electronic communications. Most interactions you have with our websites that originate from an email we send you are tracked. To learn more about Hubspot cookies and to opt-out, visit https://legal.hubspot.com/privacy-policy.

Google Analytics: The Council uses Google Analytics to understand how visitors use our websites and to improve website performance and user experience. Google Analytics may collect information such as IP address, browser type, device information, and website usage data. Additional information about Google's privacy practices is available in Google's Privacy Policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy.

Digital Advertising: The Council may use digital advertising platforms, such as Google, LinkedIn, and Meta, to promote Council programs, events, and services. These platforms may use cookies or similar technologies to measure advertising performance and display relevant advertisements. Users can manage their advertising preferences through the privacy and advertising settings offered by those providers. You can opt out of a third-party vendor's use of cookies by visiting the Network Advertising Initiative opt-out page How to Opt Out - The NAI: Network Advertising Initiative

How We Secure Your Data

The Council uses a variety of security measures to protect your data. We maintain physical, electronic and procedural safeguards to help prevent unauthorized access to or improper use of personally identifiable information.

Online payment transactions are processed through a third-party payment processor. Credit card information submitted through the Council’s website is transmitted securely for processing and is not stored in any of the Council’s online or offline systems. The Council maintains Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliance through its payment processing practices and annual validation process.

No website or electronic data can ever be completely secure, but the Council works to maintain up-to-date and appropriate security mechanisms.

How You Access Your Data

The Council will use reasonable efforts to securely process personal information and to support applicable privacy rights related to access, correction, deletion, restriction of processing, portability, and objection to certain processing activities. Individuals may contact the Council regarding any of the following requests:

  • Access to your personal information;
  • Correction of the personal information that we hold;
  • Deletion of your personal information;
  • A restriction of processing of your personal information;
  • Transfer of your personal information to another party; or
  • Objection to the processing of your personal information when the Council’s or a third party’s legitimate interests are the basis for processing and your particular situation gives you grounds to object.

If you have concerns regarding the Council's handling of your personal information, you may contact us directly. You may also have the right to lodge a complaint with a government authority or regulator responsible for privacy and data protection matters in your jurisdiction.

You have the right to request to access, rectify, or delete your personal data, or restrict or object to the processing of your personal data.

To request deletion of your personal information, please send your request to info@cof.org. We will respond to you to confirm receipt of your request. Except in situations where we are unable to comply due to a legal obligation or an ongoing contractual relationship, we will comply with such request within thirty (30) calendar days.

To view and edit most of the personal information the Council has stored for you, you can log onto https://account.cof.org. For a complete record of all data we have for you, please send your request to info@cof.org. Please note, the Council may still maintain a record of any transactions with you (without any personally identifiable information attached) to maintain a history of the interaction.

We retain and use personal information as described in this Privacy Policy. When necessary to provide Council services, we may share personal information with authorized third-party service providers that support Council-managed systems and business operations. Personal information is shared only for legitimate business purposes and through secure methods designed to protect the confidentiality and integrity of the information.

Personal information is shared only as required to support these services and is transmitted using appropriate security measures, such as secure integrations, authentication controls, encryption, and single sign-on (SSO) technologies, where applicable. We take reasonable steps to ensure that service providers who process personal information on our behalf maintain appropriate privacy, security, and confidentiality protections consistent with applicable legal requirements and industry practices.

Council websites are published in the United States and are subject to laws of the United States. If you are located in a country outside the United States and voluntarily submit personal information to us, you thereby consent to the general use of such information as provided in this Privacy Policy and to the transfer of that information to, and/or storage of that information in, the United States. The Council on Foundations shall not be liable under any circumstances for damages resulting from use of information collected from visitors to our websites.

Last updated: October 23, 2026

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