SMS Terms & Opt-In Disclosure

Texts about a request for help

Program description

We send transactional text messages about your own request for help. These are all the texts we send:

• A confirmation that you agreed to texts, with how to get help and how to stop.
• Confirmation that we've received your request, with its work order number.
• The day before a visit to your home, by an assessor or a crew, a question: is tomorrow OK? You answer by replying YES or NO, or by tapping a link. After you answer, a short thank-you. If you have not answered by the morning of the visit, staff may text you once to ask again.
• A note when the work is done and your request is closed.
• Replies from our call center to texts you send us.

We do not send marketing, fundraising, or solicitation messages through this program, ever.

Message frequency

Message frequency varies with your request. A typical request gets three to six texts over its life: the confirmation, the request received, a question and a thank-you before each visit, and the note when the work is done.

Cost

Message and data rates may apply. My Organization does not charge for messages, but your wireless carrier may.

How to opt out

You can opt out of SMS at any time by:

• Replying STOP to any text message you receive from us. We will send one confirmation message and then no further messages. Reply START to have them again.
• Telling any of our call-center volunteers when you call us back, or when we call you.

Opting out of SMS does not cancel your help request and does not affect our ability to help you. We will continue to reach you by phone call to coordinate the response.

How to get help

Reply HELP to any of our messages to receive an automated reply with our hotline number and a link back to this page. For help with your request itself, call the hotline.

How we collect consent (proof of opt-in)

SMS messaging is strictly opt-in. We ask for your consent when you call the disaster-response hotline, when one of our volunteers visits your home, or on your request's page on this site. The volunteer reads, or the page shows, these words, with your number:

We send text messages only when you affirmatively agree: you answer “yes”, or check “Yes, text me” on your request's page, which is never checked for you. If you decline, we will coordinate by phone call. We record your consent for that number at the moment you agree: the date and time, how you agreed, and the words you were asked. On the page we also keep a scrambled form of your internet address, never the address itself.

The texts are about your request only: the ones listed above, and answers to texts you send us. We never send marketing. Message frequency varies, and your carrier's standard message and data rates may apply. Right after you agree, we text you a confirmation with how to get help and how to stop.

You can change your preference at any time by calling the hotline and asking the volunteer to stop texts, or by replying STOP to any text message we've already sent you.

Texts to volunteers

Program description

My Organization sends transactional text messages to registered volunteers about disaster-response coordination. Examples include confirmation that you've been approved to deploy for a response, deployment reminders and schedule changes, urgent updates from an active response, and notifications about training events you've registered for. We do not send marketing or promotional messages.

Message frequency

Message frequency varies and depends on the responses you have signed up for and the role you hold. There is no fixed cap. Typical volunteers may receive several messages per week during an active response and few or none between deployments.

Cost

Message and data rates may apply. My Organization does not charge for messages, but your wireless carrier may.

How to opt out

You can opt out of SMS at any time by:

• Replying STOP to any text message you receive from us. We will send one confirmation message and then no further messages until you re-subscribe.
• Removing your phone number, or unchecking the SMS opt-in preference, in your account settings on the volunteer portal.

Opting out of SMS does not cancel your account or affect your ability to volunteer. We will continue to reach you by email for transactional messages tied to your account and response participation.

How to get help

Reply HELP to any of our messages to receive an automated reply with contact information and a link back to this page.

How we collect consent (proof of opt-in)

SMS messaging is strictly opt-in. We collect explicit consent on the volunteer's own account profile page, after the volunteer has signed in. The opt-in is presented alongside the optional phone-number field, as follows:

“Deployment SMS” refers to the program described on this page: confirmations that you've been approved to deploy, schedule reminders, and urgent updates from an active response. The full description, frequency, opt-out details, and privacy commitments are the headings above in this part. The checkbox links bring the user here and to our Privacy Policy.

The box is not pre-checked. The user must affirmatively check it for any SMS to be sent. The phone-number field is optional and SMS is only sent if both (a) a phone number is supplied and (b) the consent box is checked.

Consent is recorded against the volunteer's account at the moment they save the profile page with the box checked, with a timestamp on the user record. Volunteers can update this preference at any time from the same profile page, and changes are recorded the same way.

Privacy and data sharing

My Organization does not share your mobile phone number or SMS opt-in consent information with any third party or affiliate for marketing or promotional purposes. SMS originator opt-in data and consent records are not shared with third parties. We use a regulated SMS gateway (Twilio) solely to deliver the messages described above on our behalf.

See our Privacy Policy for the full description of how we handle personal data, with a part for help requesters and a part for volunteers.

Contact

Contact My Organization with questions.