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Donor Privacy Policy

Ethical standards and principles are the foundation for maintaining public trust. To ensure this, a group of concerned fundraising organizations has created the Donor Bill of Rights.

The Cleveland Museum of Natural History has endorsed this policy.

The Donor Bill of Rights

Philanthropy is based on voluntary action for the common good. It is a tradition of giving and sharing that is primary to the quality of life.

To ensure that philanthropy merits the respect and trust of the general public, and that donors and prospective donors can have full confidence in the nonprofit organizations and causes they are asked to support, we declare that all donors have these rights:

I. To be informed of the organization’s mission, of the way the organization intends to use donated resources, and of its capacity to use donations effectively for their intended purposes.
II. To be informed of the identity of those serving on the organization’s governing board, and to expect the board to exercise prudent judgment in its stewardship responsibilities.
III. To have access to the organization’s most recent financial statements.
IV. To be assured their gifts will be used for the purposes for which they were given.
V. To receive appropriate acknowledgement and recognition.
VI. To be assured that information about their donation is handled with respect and with confidentiality to the extent provided by law.
VII. To expect that all relationships with individuals representing organizations of interest to the donor will be professional in nature.
VIII. To be informed of whether those seeking donations are volunteers, employees of the organization or hired solicitors.
IX. To have the opportunity for their names to be deleted from mailing lists that an organization may intend to share.
X. To feel free to ask questions when making a donation and to receive prompt, truthful and forthright answers.

Privacy Policy

The Development Department also subscribes to the Museum’s Privacy Policy as it relates to the protection of our donors’ personal information. 

For More Information

Please direct your questions about the Museum’s development policies to William Lynerd at (216) 231-4600, ext. 3288, or wlynerd@cmnh.org.


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