MINNESOTA
Canonical Consultation
07/23/2015
Jennifer Haselberger
Parish business administrators throughout the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis have been receiving emails from the CSA Foundation (Catholic Services Appeal), requesting updated information on parishioners for the purpose of targeting donors. The emails, which are personalized only in the salutation, are as follows:
The Catholic Services Appeal Foundation is grateful for your assistance in updating our database in order that we use the most accurate information while addressing supporters. It is also important that we manage this information securely for the protection of parishes and donors. In order to provide a secure method for your parish to provide us with your data file, we are using a secure system called Sharefile. This will allow you to upload your file providing it to CSAF securely and without anyone else having the ability to access the data.
Uploading Your Parish File
In order to upload your parish data file, please follow these instructions:
1. Please name your parish data file with the following naming convention: Parish Name – City
(Example: Christ the King – Minneapolis)
2. Click the link below:
CLICK HERE TO UPLOAD YOUR PARISH FILE
3. When the Citrix ShareFile web page opens, drag and drop the parish data file into the box labeled “DRAG FILES HERE”
4. Click the green “Upload Files” button …
I am sure that many of you, like me, do not want your personal information (linked, as you can see, to your parish envelope contributions) shared with the CSA Foundation, which- as we have been told ad nauseam- is a completely separate organization from the Archdiocese and its parishes.
Wishing to forestall the sharing of my information, I checked to see what sort of limitations are placed on non-profits in regard to sharing personal data. In most cases, donors are advised to review the privacy policy of any organization prior to contributing (I couldn’t find a privacy policy on the CSA website) and, in the absence of such a policy, to notify the organization that your gift is made with the expectation that your personal information will not be sold or shared nor will the organization send solicitations on behalf of other charities. Those concerned about their parish sharing their personal data may want to consider sending a similar notification to their church’s business administrator.
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