Privacy Policy

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Thriving Farms Initiative: Privacy Policy and Financial Transparency Guidelines

At the Thriving Farms Initiative, our mission is to support small farms by providing direct financial gifts to help them thrive. To ensure that our gifts are awarded responsibly and align with our goals of supporting sustainable, community-focused farming, we require applicants to provide detailed financial information. This document explains why we collect this information, the level of detail we need, how we protect your privacy, and how we can support you in meeting these requirements.

To make informed decisions about gift allocations, we need a clear and complete picture of your farm’s financial health. This includes both personal and business-related financial data, such as assets, liabilities, income, and expenses. Understanding your financial situation helps us:

• Assess your farm’s needs and sustainability.
• Ensure gifts are directed to farms where they will have the greatest impact.
• Promote transparency and accountability in our selection process.

We recognize that sharing financial information can feel sensitive. Our commitment is to handle your data with the utmost care, confidentiality, and respect.

To be eligible for consideration, farms must provide comprehensive financial records. These include:

• Business Financials:
  • Assets (e.g., land, equipment, livestock, inventory).
  • Liabilities (e.g., loans, mortgages, outstanding debts).
  • Income (e.g., revenue from crop sales, livestock, or other farm-related activities).
  • Expenses (e.g., costs for seeds, feed, labor, utilities, maintenance, marketing).
• Personal Financials (for farm owners or primary operators):
  • Assets (e.g., personal savings, property, or other investments).
  • Liabilities (e.g., personal loans, credit card debt).
  • Income (e.g., off-farm income, if applicable).
  • Expenses (e.g., household expenses in broad categories such as utilities, maintenance, other expenses in broad categories such as travel, vacations, investments, healthcare ).

While we need a complete picture of your financial situation, we are not looking for overly granular details. For example:

• Expenses: We need to know the total amounts spent in broad categories (e.g., “$5,000 on seeds and fertilizers” or “$2,000 on equipment maintenance”) but do not require itemized lists of individual products or transactions (e.g., specific brands of seeds or tools).
• Income: We need totals for income sources (e.g., “$10,000 from vegetable sales” or “$3,000 from farmers’ market sales”) but not a breakdown of every sale.
• Assets and Liabilities: We need the total value of major assets (e.g., “$50,000 in equipment”) and liabilities (e.g., “$20,000 farm loan”) but not serial numbers, individual account details, or minor personal items.

Our goal is to understand your farm’s overall financial health without burdening you with unnecessary reporting.

We are committed to safeguarding your personal and financial information. Here’s how we ensure your data is protected:

• Confidentiality: All financial data is accessible only to authorized Thriving Farms Initiative staff involved in the gift selection process. We do not share your information with third parties unless required by law. or unless you explicitly authorize us to do so.
• Secure Storage: All data is stored in secure, encrypted systems with strict access controls.
• Data Minimization: We only collect the information necessary to evaluate your eligibility and destroy any unnecessary data after the evaluation process is complete, in accordance with applicable laws.
• Anonymity in Reporting: When sharing success stories or program outcomes, we use anonymized or aggregated data to protect your identity unless you give us permission to share your story.

If you have concerns about data privacy or wish to review, update, or delete your information, please contact us at [insert contact information].

We understand that not all small farms have detailed financial records or formal bookkeeping systems in place. If you don’t currently track your finances at the level we require, we’re here to help! The Thriving Farms Initiative offers:

• Guidance and Templates: We provide simple templates and guidelines to help you organize your financial data.
• Workshops and Training: We offer free workshops (in-person or online) on basic bookkeeping, budgeting, and financial reporting tailored for small farms.
• One-on-One Support: Our team can work with you to set up a tracking system or review your existing records to ensure they meet our requirements.

If you need assistance, please reach out to us at info@thrivingfarms.org. We want to make the application process as accessible as possible and are committed to helping you succeed.

To apply for a gift, please submit your financial data through our secure online portal [we’ll send you the link]. You can also mail physical copies to our postal address on our contact page or arrange a secure digital transfer by contacting us at info@thrivingfarms.org. We will confirm receipt of your application and let you know if any additional information is needed.

The Thriving Farms Initiative is dedicated to fairness, equity, and transparency in our gift-giving process. We evaluate applications based on financial need, farm sustainability, and alignment with our mission to support thriving, community-oriented farms. If you have questions about our process or requirements, we encourage you to contact us.

Thank you for your interest in the Thriving Farms Initiative. We look forward to learning more about your farm and supporting your journey toward a thriving future.

Sincerely,
The Thriving Farms Initiative Team

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