1. Who we are

This website, freedomcenteracademy.org, is operated by Hearts of Compassion Ministries Inc., a South Carolina nonprofit corporation recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) public charity (EIN 58-2449961). We operate Freedom Center Academy, a Christ-centered secondary school in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. In this policy, "we," "us," and "our" refer to Hearts of Compassion Ministries Inc.

Contact: 3930 Wesley St Ste 1203, Myrtle Beach, SC 29579 · info@freedomcenteracademy.org · +1 (843) 251-6455

2. Information we collect

Information you give us

Contact form: your name, email address, optional topic, and message.
Donations: your name, email address, billing postal code, and gift amount. We never see or store your full card number. Card data goes directly from your browser to Stripe, Inc. We receive only a token, the last four digits, and the card brand.
Admissions and general correspondence: whatever you choose to send us by email, phone, or post.

Information collected automatically

Standard server logs: IP address, browser type, referring page, and timestamp. These are kept for security and troubleshooting and are retained for no more than 90 days.
Essential cookies required for the site to function. See our Cookie Policy.

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information. We do not run advertising trackers, behavioral profiling, or cross-site retargeting pixels on this site.

3. Children's privacy

This website is intended for parents, guardians, prospective families, donors, and community partners. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 13 through this website. We do not accept online donations from minors, and we do not accept online admissions applications for students through this site. Student records are collected through the school office under separate, appropriate consent from a parent or guardian, consistent with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

If you believe a child under 13 has submitted personal information through this website, please contact us immediately at info@freedomcenteracademy.org and we will delete it promptly.

4. How we use your information

To respond to your inquiry or admissions question.
To process your charitable gift and issue a tax receipt.
To send you acknowledgment of your gift and, if you opt in, occasional updates about the school.
To maintain financial and donation records we are legally required to keep.
To protect the site against spam, fraud, and abuse.
To comply with applicable law and respond to lawful requests from public authorities.

5. Payment processing

Online gifts are processed by Stripe, Inc. Stripe is PCI-DSS Level 1 certified. When you give, you are subject to Stripe's Privacy Policy in addition to ours. We do not receive or store your full payment card number, CVV, or bank account details at any point.

6. How long we keep information

Record type	Retention	Reason
Donation & receipt records	7 years	IRS recordkeeping and audit defense
Contact form submissions	24 months	Follow-up and continuity
Server access logs	90 days	Security and troubleshooting
Email marketing lists	Until you unsubscribe	Ongoing communication

7. When we share information

We share personal information only with:

Service providers who help us operate — Stripe (payments), our email provider (acknowledgments), our hosting provider, and our form-handling provider. Each is bound by contract to use your data only for the service they provide to us.
Professional advisors — our accountant and attorney — where necessary and under confidentiality obligations.
Legal authorities where required by law, subpoena, or court order, or where necessary to protect someone's safety.
A successor organization in the event of a merger, consolidation, or transfer of substantially all our assets — in which case this policy will continue to apply until amended.

8. Your rights

You may ask us at any time to:

Confirm what personal information we hold about you;
Correct inaccurate information;
Delete information we are not legally required to keep;
Stop sending you marketing email (every email includes an unsubscribe link);
Receive a copy of your information in a portable format.

Send requests to info@freedomcenteracademy.org with the subject line "Privacy Request." We will respond within 45 days and may need to verify your identity first. We will not discriminate against you for exercising these rights.

California residents (CCPA/CPRA)

We do not sell or share personal information as those terms are defined under the CCPA. California residents may exercise the rights above by contacting us. Because we do not sell personal information, no opt-out of sale is required to be offered.

Other U.S. state privacy laws

If you reside in a state with a comprehensive consumer privacy law (for example, Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, or Texas), you may have additional rights to access, correct, delete, or obtain a copy of your personal information, and to appeal a refusal of your request. Contact us using the details above to exercise them.

9. Security

This site is served over HTTPS with TLS encryption. We apply industry-standard administrative and technical safeguards to protect the information we hold, and we limit access to donor and contact records to staff and volunteers who need it. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure; we cannot guarantee absolute security.

10. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes will be posted on this page with a new effective date. Continued use of the site after a change constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

11. Contact us

Hearts of Compassion Ministries Inc.
Attn: Privacy
3930 Wesley St Ste 1203
Myrtle Beach, SC 29579
info@freedomcenteracademy.org · +1 (843) 251-6455