Privacy Policy

Effective Date: 7/12/2026

Chicago Emerging Stars (“Chicago Emerging Stars,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) is committed to protecting the privacy of the youth, families, donors, volunteers, interns, staff, partners, vendors, sponsors, and community members who engage with our organization.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, share, store, and protect personal information through our website, online forms, donations, newsletters, text messages, email communications, programs, events, volunteer opportunities, vendor applications, internship opportunities, fundraising campaigns, and other activities connected to Chicago Emerging Stars.

Chicago Emerging Stars is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Chicago, Illinois. We are committed to handling personal information responsibly, respectfully, and in accordance with applicable laws and best practices.

By using our website, submitting information to us, registering for a program or event, making a donation, applying to volunteer or participate, or otherwise engaging with Chicago Emerging Stars, you acknowledge the practices described in this Privacy Policy.

1. Information We Collect

We may collect personal information when you visit our website, complete a form, make a donation, register for an event, apply for a program, express interest in volunteering, apply as an intern, apply as a vendor, contact us, subscribe to communications, participate in a fundraiser, attend an event, or otherwise engage with Chicago Emerging Stars.

The information we may collect includes:

Contact Information: Name, email address, phone number, mailing address, ZIP code, preferred method of contact, and related communication details.

Youth and Family Information: Information submitted through youth interest forms, program forms, event forms, mentorship forms, family inquiries, or related communications, including youth name, age, date of birth, grade level, school, ZIP code, program interests, availability, support needs, parent/guardian name, parent/guardian contact information, emergency contact information, and related notes.

Program and Event Information: Registration details, attendance information, participation preferences, accessibility needs, emergency contact information, allergies, medical notes, dietary needs, transportation needs, permission forms, waivers, and other information needed to support safety, planning, participation, and appropriate accommodations.

Donation and Fundraising Information: Donation amount, donor name, donor contact information, billing details, donation history, campaign participation, receipt details, and related communications. Payment card and bank information are processed by trusted third-party payment processors and are not stored directly by Chicago Emerging Stars unless otherwise stated by the payment platform.

Volunteer, Intern, and Staff-Related Information: Name, contact information, date of birth, emergency contact information, availability, interests, experience, resume or application materials, references, background check information when applicable, training completion information, role assignments, and information needed to support safe and appropriate involvement with Chicago Emerging Stars.

Vendor, Sponsor, and Partner Information: Business or organization name, contact person, email address, phone number, services offered, event participation interests, vendor category, payment status, insurance or compliance information when applicable, sponsorship interests, partnership communications, and related records.

Communication Preferences: Information about whether you wish to receive emails, text messages, newsletters, donor updates, volunteer opportunities, event updates, program updates, fundraising campaigns, or other communications from us.

Photos, Videos, Audio, and Media Content: Photos, videos, recordings, interviews, quotes, testimonials, written submissions, social media content, and other media that may be collected during programs, events, campaigns, or community activities, subject to applicable permissions and releases.

Website and Technical Information: Information collected automatically through cookies, analytics tools, pixels, or similar technologies, such as browser type, device type, IP address, pages visited, links clicked, time spent on pages, referring website, general location information, and website usage data.

Sensitive Information: In limited situations, we may collect information related to health, allergies, accessibility needs, emergency contacts, safety concerns, or other sensitive details when needed to support participation, safety, emergency response, accommodations, or program operations. We collect this information only when necessary and handle it with additional care.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to support our mission, operate our programs and services, communicate with you, maintain records, and protect the safety and well-being of the people we serve.

We may use personal information to:

Process donations, fundraising participation, and donor acknowledgments.

Send donation confirmations, tax receipts, thank-you messages, and donor updates.

Respond to questions, messages, requests, applications, and inquiries.

Review youth interest forms and consider youth for current or future mentorship, program, event, leadership, volunteer, workforce, resource, or scholarship-related opportunities.

Manage program participation, attendance, volunteer involvement, internship participation, vendor interest, sponsorship interest, and partner communication.

Communicate updates about programs, events, volunteer opportunities, campaigns, newsletters, fundraising efforts, community resources, and organizational news.

Support safety, planning, accessibility, emergency contact needs, transportation coordination, dietary needs, medical considerations, and appropriate participation in programs or events.

Review vendor, partner, sponsor, volunteer, intern, and participant applications.

Coordinate with trusted partners, volunteers, staff, and service providers when needed to operate programs, events, and activities.

Share impact stories, event highlights, program updates, and organizational news through newsletters, social media, website content, fundraising materials, reports, grant materials, and community outreach, subject to applicable permissions.

Improve our website, programs, communications, fundraising, outreach, and community engagement.

Maintain records needed for nonprofit operations, donation records, financial records, tax reporting, compliance, grants, audits, internal administration, and legal obligations.

Protect the safety, rights, privacy, property, and well-being of participants, families, volunteers, interns, staff, partners, donors, and Chicago Emerging Stars.

3. Youth and Children’s Privacy

Chicago Emerging Stars serves youth, including minors under the age of 18. We are committed to protecting the privacy, safety, dignity, and well-being of young people.

When information is submitted about a minor, we may request parent or guardian information and consent when appropriate. Parents or legal guardians may contact us to review, update, or request deletion of their child’s personal information, subject to legal, safety, operational, and recordkeeping requirements.

We do not knowingly collect personal information online from children under the age of 13 without parent or guardian consent. If we learn that we have collected personal information online from a child under 13 without appropriate consent, we will take reasonable steps to delete that information unless we are required or permitted to retain it for legal, safety, operational, or recordkeeping reasons.

Youth participants should not submit personal information to Chicago Emerging Stars without permission from a parent, guardian, or authorized adult when required.

4. Parent and Guardian Rights

Parents and legal guardians may contact us to request access to, correction of, or deletion of personal information submitted about their child, subject to applicable legal, safety, program, and recordkeeping requirements.

We may need to verify the identity and authority of the person making the request before releasing, correcting, or deleting information.

5. Text Messages, Emails, Newsletters, and Communications

If you provide your phone number, email address, or other contact information, we may use it to contact you about programs, events, donations, volunteer opportunities, youth opportunities, vendor applications, fundraising campaigns, newsletters, forms you submitted, safety updates, or other organization-related communications.

You may opt out of promotional emails by clicking the unsubscribe link in our emails or contacting us directly.

You may opt out of text messages by following the instructions provided in the message, replying STOP when available, or contacting us directly. Message and data rates may apply depending on your mobile carrier.

Please note that even if you opt out of promotional communications, we may still send important non-promotional messages related to a donation, receipt, form submission, event registration, program participation, vendor application, safety matter, legal notice, administrative issue, or other relationship you have with Chicago Emerging Stars.

6. Donor Privacy

We respect and value the privacy of our donors. Donor information is used to process donations, send receipts, maintain donation records, communicate about our mission and impact, manage fundraising campaigns, and comply with applicable nonprofit, tax, accounting, and recordkeeping requirements.

We do not sell, trade, or rent donor personal information.

We may share donor information with trusted third-party service providers who help us process donations, send communications, manage records, operate our website, conduct fundraising campaigns, or provide administrative support. These providers are expected to use the information only for the services they provide to us.

Chicago Emerging Stars is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.

7. Photos, Videos, Interviews, and Media

Chicago Emerging Stars may take photos, videos, audio recordings, interviews, testimonials, or other media at public events, programs, fundraisers, volunteer activities, community activities, or organizational events for storytelling, outreach, reporting, social media, website content, newsletters, fundraising, grant reporting, donor updates, and promotional purposes.

When required or appropriate, we may request a separate media release or parent/guardian permission, especially for minors or youth-specific stories.

We will make reasonable efforts to respect privacy and safety concerns related to media use. If you have questions or concerns about photos, videos, interviews, testimonials, or media use, please contact us at future@chicagoemergingstars.org.

8. Social Media

Chicago Emerging Stars may maintain social media pages and accounts on platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, and other platforms. If you interact with us on social media, the platform may collect information under its own privacy policy and terms.

We are not responsible for the privacy practices of social media platforms. We encourage you to review the privacy settings and policies of any platform you use.

Please do not post private, sensitive, or confidential information about yourself, a child, a family member, or another person on our public social media pages.

9. Cookies, Analytics, and Website Tracking

Our website may use cookies, analytics tools, pixels, or similar technologies to understand website traffic, improve user experience, measure outreach, support website performance, and understand how visitors interact with our content.

Cookies and similar technologies may collect information such as device type, browser type, pages visited, links clicked, approximate location, and website usage patterns.

You can adjust your browser settings to refuse or limit cookies. Please note that some website features may not work properly if cookies are disabled.

10. How We Share Information

We do not sell, trade, or rent personal information.

We may share personal information only when necessary to operate our organization, support our programs, provide services, communicate with you, protect safety, or comply with legal requirements. This may include sharing information with:

Service providers who help with website hosting, online forms, email marketing, text messaging, donation processing, payment processing, event registration, payroll, background checks, data storage, communications, analytics, or administrative support.

Program partners, event partners, volunteers, interns, staff, contractors, sponsors, or service providers when needed to coordinate participation, safety, logistics, resources, or services.
Payment processors, fundraising platforms, donor management tools, email platforms, website platforms, and other technology providers used to support our operations.
Legal, tax, accounting, insurance, compliance, or professional advisors when necessary.
Government agencies, law enforcement, emergency responders, child safety authorities, or other parties if required by law or if we believe disclosure is necessary to protect safety, rights, property, legal interests, or the well-being of youth, families, staff, volunteers, partners, or the organization.
A successor organization or responsible party in the unlikely event of a merger, restructuring, transfer of operations, or similar organizational change, subject to appropriate privacy protections.

11. Third-Party Platforms and Payment Processors

Chicago Emerging Stars may use third-party platforms to operate our website, collect forms, process donations, send newsletters, manage events, communicate with supporters, coordinate volunteers or interns, process payroll, manage records, and support fundraising.

These third-party platforms may collect and process information according to their own privacy policies and terms. While we choose service providers intended to support responsible operations, we do not control every aspect of their privacy or security practices.

Examples of third-party services may include website hosting platforms, form providers, email marketing systems, payment processors, donation platforms, social media platforms, cloud storage tools, payroll providers, event registration tools, fundraising platforms, and communication tools.

12. Security of Your Information

We take reasonable steps to protect personal information from unauthorized access, loss, misuse, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. These steps may include secure systems, limited access, password protection, access controls, internal confidentiality expectations, and trusted third-party platforms.

However, no website, online form, email, text message, cloud storage system, payment platform, or electronic system is completely secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security, but we are committed to using reasonable safeguards to protect the information shared with us.

If we become aware of a data security incident involving personal information, we will take reasonable steps to investigate and respond in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

13. Data Retention

We keep personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, support our programs and operations, comply with legal, tax, accounting, grant, insurance, and financial recordkeeping requirements, resolve disputes, protect safety, and maintain accurate nonprofit records.

Retention periods may vary depending on the type of information, the reason it was collected, legal requirements, grant requirements, safety considerations, and operational needs.

When information is no longer needed, we may delete, archive, de-identify, or securely maintain it in accordance with our internal practices and applicable requirements.

14. Confidentiality and Access Controls

Chicago Emerging Stars limits access to personal information to individuals who need it to perform authorized work for the organization, such as staff, board members, volunteers, interns, contractors, service providers, or partners supporting specific programs, events, operations, or services.

Individuals with access to confidential information are expected to use it responsibly, protect it from unauthorized disclosure, and follow organizational policies and expectations.

15. Biometric Information

Chicago Emerging Stars does not intentionally collect biometric identifiers or biometric information, such as fingerprints, face scans, voiceprints, retina or iris scans, or other biometric data, through our website or general programs.

Photos and videos collected for storytelling, program documentation, event coverage, communications, or promotional purposes are not intended to be used for facial recognition, biometric identification, or biometric tracking.

If Chicago Emerging Stars ever collects biometric information in the future, we will do so only with appropriate notice, consent, retention practices, and protections required by applicable law.

16. Health, Emergency, and Safety Information

In limited situations, we may collect health-related, allergy, medical, accessibility, emergency contact, or safety-related information when needed to support safe participation in programs, events, trips, activities, or services.

This information is used only for safety, planning, emergency response, accommodation, program participation, and related operational purposes. We may share this information with authorized staff, volunteers, emergency responders, medical providers, program partners, or event partners when reasonably necessary to protect safety or provide appropriate support.

17. Your Rights and Choices

Depending on applicable law and the nature of the information, you may request to:

Access the personal information we have about you.

Correct or update your personal information.

Request deletion of your personal information, subject to legal, safety, operational, and recordkeeping requirements.

Opt out of certain communications.

Ask questions about how your information is used.

Withdraw certain permissions when applicable, subject to legal, safety, operational, and recordkeeping limitations.

To make a request, please contact us at future@chicagoemergingstars.org. We may need to verify your identity before completing certain requests.

18. Links to Other Websites

Our website, emails, newsletters, social media posts, forms, and communications may include links to third-party websites, platforms, payment processors, social media pages, partner resources, event registration pages, or external resources.

We are not responsible for the privacy practices, content, security, or policies of third-party websites or platforms. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any external websites or platforms you visit.

19. Public Events and Community Spaces

Some Chicago Emerging Stars events and activities may take place in public or community spaces. When attending public events, you understand that photos, videos, news coverage, social media content, or public visibility may occur.

We will make reasonable efforts to respect privacy concerns, especially involving youth and sensitive situations, but we cannot control all media, photos, videos, or posts taken by attendees, news outlets, community members, or third parties in public spaces.

20. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make updates, we will revise the Effective Date at the top of this page.

We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect and use personal information.

21. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or how Chicago Emerging Stars handles personal information, please contact us at:

Chicago Emerging Stars
Email: future@chicagoemergingstars.org
Website: chicagoemergingstars.org

Privacy Policy

Chicago Emerging Stars

Shaping Tomorrow, One Star at a Time