Effective date: October 16, 2026
Cotton Branch Refuge Project ("Cotton Branch," "we," "us," or "our") respects the people who make refuge possible. This Privacy Policy explains what information we receive through the website displaying this notice, why we use it, who helps us handle it, and the choices you have. It covers browsing, contacting our team, requesting a visit, joining the Refuge Circle, and using the donation, event, volunteer, adoption, and shopping services linked from this website.
You can read most of our website without giving us your name or contact details. We do not run advertising pixels, behavioral analytics, cross-site advertising profiles, or session replay on this website. Providing a form, processing a payment, protecting the website, or loading an outside service still involves information, as explained below. Our Cookie Policy explains browser storage and outside services in more detail.
Information you choose to provide
Questions and correspondence
When you email our team or contact us through a linked service, we receive the contact information, message, attachments, and other details you choose to send. We use them to understand and respond to your request. Please avoid sending payment credentials, government identification numbers, medical records, or other sensitive information by ordinary email or through a general inquiry.
Private tour requests
The private tour form asks for your first and last name, email address, phone number, requested visit date and time, and number of people. The submission also includes a security verification token. We use these details to review the request, arrange the visit, contact you, and maintain related scheduling records. A tour request is not an automatic reservation and does not enroll you in general promotional email or text updates.
The Refuge Circle
The Refuge Circle signup collects your first and last name, your email address and/or mobile phone number for the channels you select, your choice of email, text, or both, and your consent selections. The receiver also records a timestamp, source, submission identifier, and consent version to document the request and help prevent duplicates. We use the selected channels to share resident stories, rescue updates, urgent needs, events, and ways to help.
Donations, events, volunteering, adoption, and purchases
If you give, register for an event, volunteer, apply to adopt, or shop through a linked service, that service may ask for contact, payment, billing, delivery, application, availability, or other information relevant to the activity. We receive the information made available to us for administering that activity, such as a donation amount and receipt details, event registration, volunteer signup, adoption inquiry, or order status. An adoption or volunteer application may collect additional information explained in that service's own forms and notices. You should read those before submitting.
Technical information and browser storage
Our hosting and security providers process information needed to deliver and protect the website. Depending on the request and provider, this can include an IP address, browser and device details, the requested page or resource, request time, referral information, response status, and diagnostic or security events. This processing supports delivery, troubleshooting, abuse prevention, and reliability. It is separate from building advertising profiles or recording a replay of your visit.
The homepage uses a browser session-storage flag to remember whether its opening animation has already played in that tab. That flag does not contain your name, email address, or phone number. It is not sent to Cotton Branch as a visitor identifier. Security checks and outside tools may process additional technical information under their own notices.
How we use information
- Respond to questions and communicate about requests you make.
- Arrange tours and administer events, volunteer opportunities, adoptions, donations, and related support.
- Send the Refuge Circle updates you requested and maintain your communication preferences and consent records.
- Provide receipts, transaction assistance, and other necessary service communications.
- Operate, secure, maintain, and troubleshoot the website and prevent spam, fraud, or misuse.
- Keep appropriate financial, operational, consent, and legal records, resolve disputes, and meet applicable obligations.
We do not sell or rent the personal information you submit to Cotton Branch, trade supporter contact lists, or use those submissions for targeted advertising. We do not share your mobile number, text opt-in, or text consent with outside organizations for their own marketing. Providers helping us deliver the services you request may process that information for that work.
Email and text choices
Joining the Refuge Circle is optional. You choose email, text, or both and provide consent for the channels you select. A donation, tour inquiry, or ordinary message does not by itself authorize unrelated promotional texts from Cotton Branch.
Update frequency varies. Active rescues, urgent animal-care needs, or events may lead to more frequent updates. Text message and data rates may apply. You can unsubscribe from email using the link in an update when provided, or by contacting evan@cottonbranch.org. You can opt out of text updates by replying STOP to a Cotton Branch message. For assistance with your preferences, contact the same email address. Email and text preferences are separate; leaving one does not automatically leave the other.
Withdrawing marketing consent does not require us to delete records needed to document that withdrawal. We may retain a limited suppression record to avoid contacting you again, and may still respond to a request you initiate or send a necessary transaction or service message where appropriate. Receipt of your signup confirms the information was submitted; delivery and confirmation behavior can depend on the communication provider.
Services that help the website work
Some features connect your browser directly to another organization. That organization receives technical information when the feature loads and information you submit through it. Outside services may use cookies or other technologies for their own purposes, which can include analytics or advertising, even though Cotton Branch does not install its own analytics or advertising tracker on this website.
| Service | How it is involved |
|---|---|
| Cloudflare | Website hosting, content delivery, and security. Turnstile helps verify private tour submissions and prevent automated abuse. Cloudflare privacy notice and Turnstile notice. |
| The Refuge Circle signup receiver and associated records use Google services. Google also provides linked forms and email tools used in our work. Google privacy notice. | |
| Zapier | Routes private tour inquiry details to the team's email workflow. Zapier privacy notice. |
| Givebutter and payment providers | Embedded giving forms, donations, recurring gifts, and linked event payments. Givebutter may collect browser and cookie information when its form loads, as well as information you provide. Givebutter privacy notice. |
| POINT | The embedded volunteer calendar and linked volunteer opportunities. The calendar can connect to POINT when loaded. POINT privacy notice. |
| Printify and sellers' checkout services | The Shop Cotton Branch link opens the externally hosted store, where product selection, payment, fulfillment, and delivery information are handled. Printify privacy notice. |
These notices explain the providers' own practices and choices. We cannot control every cookie, retention period, or independent use of information by an outside service. Visiting an outside store, payment page, application form, or social network is governed by that service's applicable notices. We may use authorized communication and operational providers to support the activities you request; access should be limited to the work they perform for us.
Payment information and donor privacy
Our own general website forms do not ask you to enter a full payment card number or bank account credentials. Payment details are entered through the relevant outside payment or fundraising service. Cotton Branch may receive donor contact details, donation amounts, transaction identifiers, receipt information, and other records needed to administer gifts. Do not email card or bank credentials to our team.
Our Donor Privacy Policy provides additional information about how we treat donor records. The fundraising and payment providers' notices apply to their processing. A public donor name, comment, or other content you choose to display on a fundraising platform may be visible to others; review that platform's visibility options before publishing it.
Who may receive information
Information may be available to authorized Cotton Branch staff, board members, caregivers, or volunteers when needed for their responsibilities, and to service providers supporting the purposes described here. We may share relevant details with an adoption or rescue partner when necessary for a request you make, with your permission where appropriate. We may also disclose information when required by law or a valid legal request, to protect a person or animal from harm, investigate misuse, protect our rights, or establish or defend a legal claim. We do not make all submissions publicly available.
How long information is kept
Retention depends on the type of record and why it is needed. We keep inquiry and visit records as reasonably needed to respond and manage follow-up; signup and consent records while needed to manage subscriptions and document choices; and donation or transaction records as needed for accounting, tax, legal, and organizational requirements. Limited opt-out records may remain after a subscription ends so we can honor the request. Records may need to be retained longer for a legal hold, dispute, or other obligation.
We do not promise a single deletion deadline for every record. Outside providers have their own retention and backup practices. You may ask us about a particular record or request deletion using the contact below; we will explain any applicable limits.
Protecting information
We use safeguards appropriate to our operations, including encrypted website connections and service providers that support access controls and security features. Access to personal information should be limited to people who need it for an authorized purpose. No website, email system, or storage method can guarantee absolute security. Please use care when deciding what to send and contact us if you believe information has been exposed or misused.
Access, corrections, deletion, and other requests
You may contact evan@cottonbranch.org to ask what personal information we hold about you, request correction or deletion, update your preferences, or raise a privacy concern. Tell us enough to find the relevant record and describe your request. We may need proportionate verification before releasing or changing information. Please do not send identity documents unless we explain why a secure verification step is needed.
Your legal rights and our response obligations depend on the laws that apply. Some requests may be limited by recordkeeping requirements, another person's privacy, safety, fraud prevention, or other lawful reasons. We will respond as required by applicable law and explain relevant limitations. Requests concerning an outside provider's own account, cookies, or independent records may also need to be made directly to that provider. We do not treat a request to exercise applicable privacy rights as a reason to deny you unrelated assistance.
Children's information
This website's signup and inquiry features are intended for adults and are not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect a child's personal information through these general features without appropriate authorization. A parent or guardian who believes a child has provided information should contact us so we can review it and take appropriate action. Specific visits, events, or programs may have separate eligibility and guardian requirements.
Visitors outside the United States
Cotton Branch operates in the United States. Our service providers may process or store information in the United States and other countries, where privacy laws can differ from those where you live. We handle requests and any required safeguards according to applicable law. This notice does not waive rights you may have in your location.
Policy updates and contact
We may update this policy as our website, services, or obligations change. The effective date above identifies this version. If a change requires additional notice or consent under applicable law, we will provide it. A policy update does not itself authorize a new marketing subscription or change an opt-out choice.
For privacy questions, requests, or concerns, contact Evan Costner, Executive Director, Cotton Branch Refuge Project, at evan@cottonbranch.org. Please put "Privacy request" in the subject line and identify the feature or record involved.