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Site Policies

Sightline respects its readers’ privacy and personal information. We also encourage readers to reuse and share our work to make the case for sustainability in the Northwest. Here, you’ll find our site policies and terms of use, as well as our user privacy, free use, and donor privacy policies.

Our lawyers tell us we need the legal mumbo-jumbo below—but we really do want to make it easy for you to share and reuse our content. If you have any questions or would like clarification, please email editor@sightline.org.

Privacy Policy

Effective January 10, 2011

Sightline Institute (“Sightline,” “we” or “us”) provides this Privacy Policy to inform you of our policies and procedures regarding the collection, use and disclosure of personal information we receive from users of sightline.org. This Privacy Policy applies only to information that you provide to us through this Site. This Privacy Policy may be updated from time to time. We will notify you of any material changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on the Site. You are advised to consult this policy regularly for any changes. Unless otherwise defined in this Privacy Policy, terms used in this Privacy Policy have the same meanings as in our Terms of Use.

As used in this policy, the terms “using” and “processing” information include using cookies on a computer, subjecting the information to statistical or other analysis and using or handling information in any way, including, but not limited to collecting, storing, evaluating, modifying, deleting, using, combining, disclosing and transferring information within our organization or among our affiliates within the United States or internationally.

Information Collection and Use

Our primary goals in collecting information are to provide and improve our Site, services, features and content, to administer your Membership (together, the “Service”) and to enable users to enjoy and easily navigate the Site.

Personally Identifiable Information.

  • When you register with us through the Site, as a Sightline Member, or when you choose to post blog comments, participate in a survey, donate or otherwise use the Service, we will ask you for personally identifiable information. This refers to information about you that can be used to contact or identify you (“Personal Information”). Personal Information includes, but is not limited to, your name, telephone number, credit card or other billing information, email address and home or business postal addresses. We use your Personal Information mainly to provide the Service and administer your inquiries.
  • We also collect the other information that you provide as part of registration, blog posts, survey responses, donations and other features of the Site (e.g., without limitation, zip code (on its own) and individual preferences) (“Non-Identifying Information”).
  • We use your Personal Information (in some cases, in conjunction with your Non-Identifying Information) mainly to provide the Service, complete your transactions, and administer your inquiries.
  • Certain Non-Identifying Information would be considered a part of your Personal Information if it were combined with other identifiers (for example, combining your zip code with your street address) in a way that enables you to be identified. But the same pieces of information are considered Non-Identifying Information when they are taken alone or combined only with other non-identifying information (for example, your viewing preferences). We may combine your Personal Information with Non-Identifying Information and aggregate it with information collected from other Sightline Users (defined below) to attempt to provide you with a better experience, to improve the quality and value of the Service and to analyze and understand how our Site and Service are used. We may also use the combined information without aggregating it to serve you specifically, for instance to deliver a product to you according to your preferences or restrictions.
  • We also use your Personal Information to contact you with Sightline newsletters, updates and issues alerts, survey invitations, requests for commentary and donations, administrative notices, marketing or promotional materials and other information that may be of interest to you. If you decide at any time that you no longer wish to receive such communications from us, please follow the unsubscribe instructions provided in any of the communications or contact us at editor@sightline.org. (See “Changing or Deleting Information,” below.)

Log Data

When you visit the Site, whether as a Sightline Member or a non-registered user just browsing (any of these, a “Sightline User”), our servers automatically record information that your browser sends whenever you visit a website (“Log Data”). This Log Data may include information such as your computer’s Internet Protocol (“IP”) address, browser type or the webpage you were visiting before you came to our Site, pages of our Site that you visit, the time spent on those pages, information you search for on our Site, access times and dates, and other statistics. We use this information to monitor and analyze use of the Site and the Service and for the Site’s technical administration, to increase our Site’s functionality and user-friendliness, and to better tailor it to our visitors’ needs. For example, some of this information is collected so that when you visit the Site again, it will recognize you and serve advertisements or other information appropriate to your interests. We also use this information to verify that visitors to the Site meet the criteria required to process their requests. We do not treat Log Data as Personal Information or use it in association with other Personal Information, though we may aggregate, analyze and evaluate such information for the same purposes as stated above regarding other Non-Identifying Information.

Cookies

Like many websites, we use “cookies” to collect information. A cookie is a small data file that we transfer to your computer’s hard disk for record-keeping purposes. We use cookies for two purposes. First, we utilize persistent cookies to save your registration ID and login password for future logins to the Site. Second, we utilize session ID cookies to enable certain features of the Site, to better understand how you interact with the Site and to monitor aggregate usage by Sightline Users and web traffic routing on the Site. Unlike persistent cookies, session cookies are deleted from your computer when you log off from the Site and Service and then close your browser. Third party advertisers on the Site may also place or read cookies on your browser. You can instruct your browser, by changing its options, to stop accepting cookies or to prompt you before accepting a cookie from the websites you visit. If you do not accept cookies, however, you may not be able to use all portions of the Site or all functionality of the Service.

Phishing

Identity theft and the practice currently known as “phishing” are of great concern to Sightline. Safeguarding information to help protect you from identity theft is a top priority. We do not and will not, at any time, request your credit card information, your account ID, login password, or national identification numbers in a non-secure or unsolicited e-mail or telephone communication. For more information about phishing, visit the Federal Trade Commission’s website.

Information Sharing and Disclosure

Sightline Members. When you register through the Site and submit your Personal Information to create an account, other Sightline Users may see your “Screen Name,” any content you provide to Sightline, and the time and date of your activity on the Site. Providing Other Member Information is voluntary and should correlate with the degree of interaction you want to have with Sightline Users. We recommend that you guard your anonymity and sensitive information and that you not use your real name as your “Screen Name,” since that would allow others to identify you.

Aggregate Information and Non-Identifying Information. We may share aggregated information that does not include Personal Information and we may otherwise disclose Non-Identifying Information and Log Data with third parties for industry analysis, demographic profiling and to deliver targeted advertising about other products and services. Any aggregated information shared in these contexts will not contain your Personal Information.

Service Providers. We may employ third party companies and individuals to facilitate our Service, to provide the Service on our behalf, to perform Site-related services (e.g., without limitation, maintenance services, database management, web analytics, payment processors and improvement of the Site’s features) or to assist us in analyzing how our Site and Service are used. These third parties have access to your Personal Information only to perform these tasks on our behalf and are obligated not to disclose or use it for any other purpose. Please note that such third parties have their own privacy policies, and Sightline may not be held responsible for their operations, including their information practices.

Compliance with Laws and Law Enforcement. Sightline cooperates with government and law enforcement officials and private parties to enforce and comply with the law. We will disclose any information about you to government or law enforcement officials or private parties as we, in our sole discretion, believe necessary or appropriate to respond to claims and legal process (including but not limited to subpoenas), to protect the property and rights of Sightline or a third party, to protect the safety of the public or any person, or to prevent or stop activity we may consider to be, or to pose a risk of being, any illegal, unethical or legally actionable activity.

Business Transfers. Sightline may sell, transfer or otherwise share some or all of its assets, including your Personal Information, in connection with a merger, acquisition, reorganization or sale of assets or in the event of bankruptcy. Sightline will notify you before transferring your information to a new entity as part of a merger, acquisition, reorganization or sale of some or all of its assets if the new entity’s processing of your information will materially differ from that set forth in this Privacy Policy.

Changing or Deleting Your Information

All Members may review, update, correct or delete the Personal Information in their account by contacting us. If you completely delete all such information, then your account may become deactivated. If you would like us to delete your record in our system, please contact us at editor@sightline.org with a request that we delete your Personal Information from our database. We will use commercially reasonable efforts to honor your request. We may retain an archived copy of your records as required by law or for legitimate business purposes.

Security

Sightline is very concerned with safeguarding your information. We are not in the business of providing information security. We do employ limited data security measures, such as encryption, on some but not all systems. Do not provide your personal information if you are concerned with its disclosure.

We will make any legally required disclosures of any breach of the security, confidentiality or integrity of your unencrypted electronically stored “personal data” (as defined in applicable state statutes on security breach notification) to you via email or conspicuous posting on this Site in the most expedient time possible and without unreasonable delay, insofar as consistent with (a) the legitimate needs of law enforcement or (b) any measures necessary to determine the scope of the breach and restore the reasonable integrity of the data system.

International Transfer

Your information may be transferred to—and maintained on—computers located outside of your state, province, country or other governmental jurisdiction where the privacy laws may not be as protective as those in your jurisdiction. If you are located outside the United States and choose to provide information to us, Sightline transfers Personal Information to the United States and processes it there. Your consent to this Privacy Policy followed by your submission of such information represents your agreement to that transfer.

Links to Other Sites

Our Site contains links to other websites. If you choose to visit an advertiser by clicking on an advertisement, or click on another third party link, you will be directed to that third party’s website. The fact that we link to a website or present an advertisement is not an endorsement, authorization or representation of our affiliation with that third party, nor is it an endorsement of their privacy or information security policies or practices. We do not exercise control over third party websites. These other websites may place their own cookies or other files on your computer, collect data or solicit personal information from you. Other sites follow different rules regarding the use or disclosure of the personal information you submit to them. We encourage you to read the privacy policies or statements of the other websites you visit.

Our Policy Toward Children

This Site is not directed to children under 18. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under 13. If a parent or guardian becomes aware that their child has provided us with Personal Information without their consent, they should contact us at editor@sightline.org. If we become aware that a child under 13 has provided us with Personal Information, we will delete such information from our files.

Contacting Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at editor@sightline.org, at 206.447.1880, or at 1402 Third Avenue, Suite 500, Seattle, Washington 98101.

Terms of Use

Last Updated: January 10, 2011

Sightline Institute (“Sightline,” “we” or “us”) provides research, news, analysis, commentary and educational tools and services to educate the Pacific Northwest on environmental sustainability (the “Services”) through our website, accessible at sightline.org. Please read carefully the following terms and conditions (“Terms”) and our Privacy Policy (above). These Terms govern your access to and use of the Site and Services and, except as otherwise provided in these Terms, all articles, reports, books, blog posts, maps, charts, graphs, tables, animations, artwork, photographs and other content made available through the Site and Services (the “Content”), and constitute a binding legal agreement between you and Sightline.

Certain areas of the Site (and your access to or use of certain Services or Content) may have different terms and conditions posted or may require you to agree with and accept additional terms and conditions. If there is a conflict between these Terms and the terms and conditions posted for a specific area of the Site, Services or Content, the latter terms and conditions shall take precedence with respect to your use of or access to that area of the Site, Services or Content. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT BY ACCESSING OR USING THE SITE OR SERVICES OR BY DOWNLOADING OR POSTING ANY CONTENT FROM OR ON THE SITE OR THROUGH THE SERVICES, YOU ARE INDICATING THAT YOU HAVE READ, UNDERSTAND AND AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THESE TERMS, WHETHER OR NOT YOU HAVE REGISTERED WITH THE SITE. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THESE TERMS, THEN YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO ACCESS OR USE THE SITE, SERVICES OR CONTENT. If you accept or agree to these Terms on behalf of a company or other legal entity, you represent and warrant that you have the authority to bind that company or other legal entity to these Terms and, in such event, “you” and “your” will refer and apply to that company or other legal entity.

Things May Change. We reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to modify, discontinue or terminate the Site or Services, or to modify these Terms, at any time and without prior notice. If we modify these Terms, we will post the modification on the Site or provide you with notice of the modification. We will also update the “Last Updated Date” at the top of these Terms. By continuing to access or use the Site or Services after we have posted a modification on the Site or have provided you with notice of a modification, you are indicating that you agree to be bound by the modified Terms. If the modified Terms are not acceptable to you, your only option is to stop using the Site and Services.

Account Registration. If you register to create an account (“Account”), you will become a “Member” and gain access to certain features of the Site and Services. To become a Member, you must be at least 18 years old. Registration by anyone under 18 is void. By creating an Account, you represent and warrant that you are 18 or older. To create an Account, you will be asked to provide certain information and you will create a username and password. You agree to provide accurate, current and complete information and to update such information to keep it accurate, current and complete. You agree not to disclose your password to anyone else and to take sole responsibility for all use of your Account, whether or not authorized by you. You will immediately tell us of any unauthorized use of your Account.

Privacy. See our Privacy Policy (above) for information and notices about how we collect and use your personal information.

Who Owns What? The Site, Services and Content are protected by copyright, trademark and other laws of the United States and foreign countries. Sightline and its licensors own all rights, title and interest in and to the Site, Services and, unless otherwise noted, the Content, including all related intellectual property rights. You will not remove, alter or obscure any copyright, trademark, service mark or other proprietary rights notices incorporated in or accompanying the Site, Services or Content.

Free Use Policy. Sightline wants to make it easy for you to use, share and distribute our materials, subject to these Terms and Sightline’s Free Use Policy. Please read carefully the Free Use Policy (below), and which is incorporated herein by reference into these Terms.

Your Content. Members may post, publish or submit text, information or other material as blog commentary on the Site (“User Content”). You hereby grant to Sightline a worldwide, irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, royalty-free license, with the right to sublicense, to use, reproduce, adapt, modify, distribute, license, sell, transfer, publicly perform, publicly display, transmit and otherwise exploit such User Content only on, through or by means of the Site and Services. Your User Content is yours; we do not claim any ownership rights in such User Content and we do not do anything to restrict your rights to use your User Content.

You are responsible for all of your User Content and you represent and warrant that: (a) you either are the sole and exclusive owner of all User Content that you make available through the Site and Services, or you have all rights, licenses, consents and releases that are necessary to grant to us the rights in such User Content; and (b) neither the User Content nor your posting, uploading, publication, submission or transmittal of the User Content or Sightline’s use of the User Content through the Site and Services will infringe, misappropriate or violate a third party’s intellectual property rights, or rights of publicity or privacy, or result in the violation of any applicable law or regulation. We have no obligation to include your User Content on the Site; if we do so, we may remove it at any time for any reason, without giving you notice. You have no right to any compensation (monetary or otherwise) from our exercise of our rights to use your User Content.

Copyright Policy. Sightline respects copyright law and expects its users to do the same. It is Sightline’s policy, in appropriate circumstances and at its discretion, to disable and/or terminate the Accounts of Members who repeatedly infringe or are repeatedly charged with infringing the intellectual property rights of others. In accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (“DMCA”), the text of which may be found on the U.S. Copyright Office website at http://www.copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf, Sightline will respond expeditiously to claims of copyright infringement committed using the Site that are reported to Sightline’s Designated Copyright Agent, identified below.

Anna Fahey
Sightline Institute
1402 Third Avenue, Suite 500
Seattle, WA 98101
phone: 206.447.1880
fax: 206.447.2270
email: editor@sightline.org

If you are a copyright owner, or are authorized to act on behalf of a copyright owner or under any exclusive right under copyright, please report any alleged copyright infringements taking place on or through the Site by delivering to Sightline’s Designated Copyright Agent a notice of infringement that complies with the requirements specified in the DMCA. Upon receipt of a notice of infringement, Sightline will take whatever action, in its sole discretion, it deems appropriate, including removal of the challenged material from the Site.

Got Feedback? We welcome and encourage you to provide feedback, comments and suggestions for improvements to the Site and Services (“Feedback”). You may submit Feedback by emailing us at editor@sightline.org. You agree that all Feedback will be the sole and exclusive property of Sightline and you hereby assign, and agree to assign, to Sightline all of your rights in and to all Feedback, including all related proprietary or intellectual property rights. If we ask you, at our expense, you will execute documents and take other reasonable acts to assist us in acquiring and maintaining our rights in the Feedback.

What Not To Do. You agree not to do any of the following: (a) submit, post or transmit any User Content that: (i) infringes a third party’s intellectual property rights or rights of publicity or privacy; (ii) violates any applicable law or regulation or would give rise to civil liability; (iii) is fraudulent, false, misleading or deceptive; (iv) is defamatory, obscene, pornographic, vulgar or offensive; (v) promotes discrimination, bigotry, racism, hatred, harassment or harm against any individual or group; (vi) is violent or threatening or promotes violence or actions that are threatening to any other person; or (vii) promotes illegal or harmful activities or substances; (b) access, tamper with, or use non-public areas of the Site, Sightline’s computer systems, or the technical delivery systems of Sightline’s providers; (c) send any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, email, junk mail, spam, chain letters or other form of solicitation; (d) use any meta tags or other hidden text or metadata utilizing a Sightline trademark, trade name or logo without our express written consent; (e) attempt to decipher, decompile, disassemble or reverse engineer any of the software used to provide the Site, Services or Content; (f) interfere with the access of any user, host or network, including sending a virus, overloading, flooding, spamming or mail-bombing the Site; (g) use the Site, Services or Content for any commercial purpose or the benefit of any third party or in any manner not permitted by these Terms; (h) violate any applicable law or regulation; or (i) encourage or enable any other individual to do any of the foregoing.

We have the right to investigate and prosecute violations of any of the above to the fullest extent of the law. We may involve and cooperate with law enforcement authorities in prosecuting users who violate these Terms. You acknowledge that we have no obligation to monitor your access to or use of the Site, Services or Content, or to review or edit any User Content, but have the right to do so for the purpose of operating the Site and Services, to ensure your compliance with these Terms, or to comply with applicable law or the order or requirement of a court, administrative agency or other governmental body. We reserve the right, at any time and without prior notice, to remove or disable access to any Content, including any User Content, that we, in our sole discretion, consider to be in violation of these Terms or otherwise harmful to the Site or Services.

Links to Other Websites. The Site may contain links to third-party websites or resources. You agree that we do not endorse and are not responsible or liable for: (a) the availability or accuracy of such websites or resources; or (b) the content, products, or services on or available from such websites or resources. Your use of any such websites or resources is your sole responsibility.

When Is It Over? If you breach any of these Terms, we may suspend or disable you Account or terminate these Terms, at our sole discretion and without prior notice to you. You may cancel your Sightline Account at any time by sending an email to editor@sightline.org.

Disclaimers. WE PROVIDE THE SITE, SERVICES AND CONTENT “AS IS”, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, WE EXPLICITLY DISCLAIM ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. WE MAKE NO WARRANTY (I) THAT THE SITE, SERVICES OR CONTENT WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS OR BE AVAILABLE ON AN UNINTERRUPTED, SECURE, OR ERROR-FREE BASIS, OR (II) REGARDING THE QUALITY OF ANY SERVICES OR CONTENT OBTAINED THROUGH THE SITE. NO ADVICE OR INFORMATION, WHETHER ORAL OR WRITTEN, OBTAINED FROM US OR THROUGH THE SITE, SERVICES OR CONTENT, WILL CREATE ANY WARRANTY NOT EXPRESSLY MADE HEREIN.

Indemnity and Limitation of Liability. You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold Sightline, its officers, directors, employees and agents, harmless from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses, including, without limitation, reasonable legal fees, arising out of or in any way connected with your access to or use of the Site, Services or Content, or your violation of these Terms. YOU AGREE THAT, TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE ENTIRE RISK ARISING OUT OF YOUR ACCESS TO AND USE OF THE SITE, SERVICES AND CONTENT REMAINS WITH YOU. WE DISCLAIM ALL DAMAGES THAT ARE NOT DIRECT DAMAGES. IN NO EVENT WILL OUR AGGREGATE LIABILITY ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THESE TERMS OR FROM THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE SITE, SERVICES OR CONTENT EXCEED ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS. THESE LIMITATIONS OF DAMAGES ARE FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENTS OF THE BASIS OF THE BARGAIN BETWEEN US AND YOU. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

What Law? These Terms and any action related thereto will be governed by the laws of the State of Washington without regard to its conflict of laws provisions. The exclusive jurisdiction and venue of any action with respect to the subject matter of these Terms will be the state and federal courts located in King County, Washington, and each of the parties hereto waives any objection to jurisdiction and venue in such courts.

General. These Terms constitute the entire and exclusive understanding and agreement between us and you regarding the Site, Services and Content, and these Terms supersede and replace any and all prior oral or written understandings or agreements between us and you regarding the Site, Services and Content. You may not assign or transfer these Terms, by operation of law or otherwise, without our prior written consent. We may assign or transfer these Terms, in our sole discretion, without restriction. Our failure to enforce any right or provision of these Terms is not a waiver of future enforcement of that right or provision. If a court of competent jurisdiction finds any provision of these Terms invalid or unenforceable, that provision will be enforced to the maximum extent permissible and the other provisions will remain in full force and effect.

Contacting Us. If you have any questions about these Terms, please contact us at editor@sightline.org.

Free Use Policy

Sightline wants to make it easy for you to use, share and distribute the Sightline materials found on our Site, subject to this Free Use Policy and Sightline’s Terms of Use (“Terms”). Unless otherwise defined in this Free Use Policy, terms used in this Free Use Policy have the same meanings as in our Terms, which incorporate by reference this Free Use Policy. Sightline and its licensors do not grant you any rights or licenses, by implication or otherwise, except for the rights and licenses expressly granted in this Free Use Policy and the Terms.

1. Permitted Uses

a. Maps, charts and other graphics. Subject to your compliance with the Terms and this Free Use Policy, including the Attribution, No Modification and No Commercial Use requirements, Sightline grants you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable license, without the right to sublicense, to access, view, download, print, reproduce, distribute, publicly display and publicly perform Sightline’s maps, charts, tables and other graphics (“Graphics”) in print and electronic form, solely for your personal and non-commercial purposes.

b. Books, reports, blog posts, articles and other text. Unless otherwise indicated on the Site, and subject to your compliance with the Terms and this Free Use Policy, including the Attribution, No Modification and No Commercial Use requirements, Sightline grants you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable license, without the right to sublicense, to access, view and download Sightline’s books, reports, articles, blog posts and other text and written works authored by Sightline (“Text”), solely for your personal and non-commercial purposes. For our internal tracking purposes, please simply notify us (editor@sightline.org) if you plan to republish, post, print, distribute, publicly display or publicly perform the Text, in whole or in part, in electronic or print form.

c. Photographs. Sightline authorizes you to access and view all photographs found on the Site, solely for your personal and non-commercial purposes. Please comply with any and all licenses and/or restrictions, including attribution requirements, applicable to the photo(s) and included on or near the photo(s) in the original posting or web page. You must obtain written or email permission (editor@sightline.org) from Sightline to reproduce, distribute, print or otherwise use, in any media, any photograph found on the Site. For photographs and images not originating with Sightline, you must obtain permission from the original source.

2. Attribution. You must attribute all Graphics and Text authored by Sightline by keeping intact our logo or copyright notice (if already affixed to the Content) or adding a text citation in the following format: “From <insert title of book, report, article, blog post, map, chart, graphic, or web page>, by <insert name of author or Sightline Institute>, Copyright <insert year> Sightline Institute; used with permission.” If you are posting the work online, you must include a hyperlink to the web page where the Content is posted on the Site, or otherwise to sightline.org.

3. No Modification. You may use only verbatim copies or excerpts of our Graphics, Text and other content, not modified, edited, revised or derivative versions of it without written or email permission (editor@sightline.org) from Sightline. You may not modify, alter, revise, transform, build upon or otherwise prepare derivative works of our Graphics and Text without written or email permission from Sightline (editor@sightline.org).

4. No Commercial Use. You may not use Sightline’s Graphics, Text, photographs or other content for any commercial purposes without permission. You must obtain written or email permission from Sightline (editor@sightline.org) to use any Graphics, Text, photos or other content for commercial purposes (such as inclusion in a book, magazine, newspaper, fee-based website or any other for-profit or commercial venture).

5. How to Obtain Permission. To obtain permission from Sightline to use Text, photos or other content free of charge, please send an email to editor@sightline.org. We grant permission to use our works in our sole discretion. We reserve the right to revoke or deny permission to anyone at any time for any reason, and to remove content from the Site at any time, for any reason, without notice. If you are seeking permission to reprint excerpts from the book Seven Wonders, please contact Sierra Club Books by faxing a request to 415.977.5792 or by mailing a request to Permissions Department, Sierra Club Books, 85 Second Street, San Francisco, CA 94105.

Sightline Donor Privacy Policy

Sightline Institute is an independent, nonprofit organization. Contributions from individual donors, corporations, and foundations make up 100 percent of Sightline’s base of support. Our relationship with our donors is an expression of our mutual commitment to the mission of making the Northwest a global model of sustainability.

Sightline Institute values each of our donors and takes their privacy very seriously. To that end, we maintain the highest level of confidentiality concerning our donors’ contact and financial information. All online donor transactions with Sightline Institute and third-party donation services are covered by this policy and are conducted over secure portals. Access to this data is password-protected and limited to authorized employees.

How we use donor information:

Donor information is used for internal purposes only. Sightline Institute does not sell or lease donor information. Donor information will only be used by Sightline’s staff and select board members, on a confidential and need-to-know basis, in order to:

  • Distribute receipts for donations
  • Thank donors for their contribution
  • Inform donors about current and upcoming Sightline activities, including additional opportunities to support Sightline
  • Track and analyze donor data
  • Comply with current rules and regulations governing 501(c)(3) financial reporting
  • Comply with any reporting requirements related to specific grants or contributions

List sharing:

Sightline Institute does not sell, exchange, rent, trade, or share its donor list with any other organization. Sightline never sends out mailings on behalf of other organizations.

Donor bill of rights (adapted):

  1. To be informed of Sightline Institute’s mission, of the way Sightline intends to use donated resources, and of Sightline Institute’s capacity to use donations effectively for their intended purposes.
  2. To be informed of the identity of those serving on Sightline Institute’s volunteer Board of Directors and to expect the Board to exercise prudent judgment in its stewardship responsibilities.
  3. To have access to Sightline Institute’s most recent financial statements.
  4. To be assured that their gifts will be used by Sightline Institute for the purposes for which they were given.
  5. To receive appropriate and timely acknowledgement and recognition of all contributions to Sightline Institute.
  6. To be assured that information about their donations is handled with respect and with confidentiality to the extent provided by law.
  7. To be informed whether those seeking donations are volunteers, employees of the organization, or hired solicitors.
  8. To feel free to ask questions when making a donation and to receive prompt, truthful, and forthright responses.

Sightline Institute welcomes comments and questions about this policy. Please contact Alexa Woodard at alexa@sightline.org or 206-447-1880 x120 if you wish to review or correct any personal information that you’ve provided to us.