Last updated: August 18, 2026
Heart of the Hills Quilters respects the privacy of our members, visitors, volunteers, vendors, exhibitors, and event participants. This policy explains what information we collect through our website, why we collect it, how we use it, and which outside services help us operate the website and guild activities.
Information We Collect
Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect:
- Your name, email address, and telephone number
- Membership information and membership status
- Account login information
- Newsletter subscription information
- Quilt, fiber-art, vendor, volunteer, ticket, dinner, trunk-show, and payment-related information
- Quilt titles, artist statements, and entrant, quilter, and piecer names
- Volunteer days, shift times, and assignments
- Messages submitted through our contact form
- Optional member profile photographs
- Limited website-usage information
Please provide only the information requested by the applicable form.
How We Use Information
We use this information to respond to messages; administer guild membership; process dues and event payments; organize quilt shows, entries, vendors, volunteers, meals, programs, and ticketed activities; communicate with participants and subscribers; publish quilt-show information and galleries; maintain the website; and meet reasonable administrative, financial, and recordkeeping needs.
Online Forms and Workflow Services
We use Cognito Forms to collect information for contact requests, quilt and fiber-art entries, vendors, volunteers, tickets, meals, programs, membership dues, and related activities.
Some form submissions are transferred through Zapier into Google Sheets stored in Google Drive. This allows authorized guild volunteers to organize and manage event and membership workflows.
Access to these records is limited to authorized guild volunteers who need the information to perform their assigned responsibilities. Copies of certain submissions may also be delivered to a guild email account monitored by authorized volunteers.
Payments
We use Stripe through Cognito Forms to process payments for membership dues, dinners, trunk shows, and other activities.
Heart of the Hills Quilters does not receive or store your complete payment-card number. The guild generally sees the payment amount, applicable taxes, and a Stripe transaction identification number. Stripe processes payment information under its own privacy policy and security practices.
Membership Accounts
Our membership system may store a member’s name, email address, username and account credentials, membership status, and optional profile photograph.
Access to membership information is limited to authorized website or membership administrators. Optional profile photographs are currently visible only to the member who owns the account and authorized administrators.
Members are responsible for protecting their account credentials. Please contact us if you believe your account has been accessed without permission.
Email Subscriptions
We use MailPoet to manage email subscriptions and send guild news and announcements. MailPoet stores subscriber names, email addresses, and subscription status.
Subscribers can use the unsubscribe link included in an email to stop receiving future newsletters. We may retain a limited record of an unsubscribe request so that we can continue to honor it.
Website Analytics
We use Independent Analytics to understand general website activity, such as page views, referring pages, approximate geographic area, and device type. It operates within our WordPress website and stores analytics information in the website database. According to its developer, it does not use tracking cookies or store visitors’ original IP addresses. Authorized website administrators may review this information. Our exact analytics-retention setting is currently being reviewed.
Google Maps
We may display Google Maps to help visitors locate meetings and events. When you view or interact with a map, Google may receive technical and usage information under the Google Privacy Policy.
Public Volunteer Dashboard
To help volunteers coordinate, we may display a temporary, public, read-only volunteer dashboard. It may show a volunteer’s first name, last initial, selected day, shift time, and assignment. Full names and contact information are not displayed. The dashboard is removed after the applicable volunteer or event period.
Quilt-Show Entries and Publication
Quilts displayed at a guild show may be photographed. Heart of the Hills Quilters may publish the quilt photograph, quilt information, artist statement, and the entrant, quilter, and piecer names on its website or in show-related materials.
Online quilt-show information generally remains available until it is replaced following the next quilt show. If you submit information about another person, such as a quilter or piecer, you are responsible for making sure that person knows the information may be published.
Photographs at Guild Activities
Guild activities and public events may be photographed. Photographs of guild members participating in guild activities may be published on our website, in newsletters, or in other guild communications.
We do not intentionally publish identifiable photographs of general visitors without an appropriate reason or permission. Anyone concerned about a published photograph may contact us to request that we review or remove it.
Children and Minors
Our website and forms are not specifically directed to children. Anyone under 18 should have a parent or legal guardian review and approve a form before it is submitted. A parent or guardian may contact us to ask about, correct, or request removal of information concerning a minor.
How Long We Keep Information
- Contact-form submissions are generally retained for approximately one year.
- Email copies of contact and form submissions are deleted after review when no longer needed.
- Event-related entries stored in Cognito Forms are deleted after the applicable event.
- Some working records transferred to Google Sheets or stored in Google Drive do not yet have a fixed deletion schedule. We retain them only for guild administration and review them periodically.
- Membership records are retained while a person remains a member or while the information is reasonably needed for membership administration.
- Quilt-show photographs, names, and artist statements generally remain online until replaced following the next quilt show.
- Payment and transaction records may be kept as needed for financial recordkeeping.
- Newsletter information is retained until a subscriber unsubscribes, requests deletion, or the information is no longer needed.
Deletion from an active system may not immediately remove information from backups maintained by a service provider.
Sharing Information
Heart of the Hills Quilters does not sell or rent personal information. We share information only with authorized guild volunteers who need it, with service providers needed to operate guild activities and the website, or when required by law or reasonably necessary to protect the guild, its members, or others. Outside providers process information under their own terms and privacy policies.
Information Security
We take reasonable steps to limit access to personal information and use reputable service providers. However, no website, email system, or online storage service can guarantee complete security. Please do not submit sensitive information that a form does not request.
Your Choices
You may contact us to ask what personal information we have about you, correct inaccurate information, request deletion of information that is no longer needed, unsubscribe from email communications, or request review or removal of a published photograph or other personal information.
We may need to retain certain records for legitimate administrative, financial, security, or legal purposes.
Links to Other Websites
Our website may link to websites or social-media pages operated by other organizations. Their privacy practices are governed by their own policies.
Changes to This Policy
We may update this policy when our website, forms, services, or guild practices change. The date at the top will show when the policy was most recently updated.
Contact Us
For questions, corrections, deletion requests, or other privacy concerns, contact Heart of the Hills Quilters at heartofthehillsquilters@gmail.com.
