Community Reinvestment Fund, Inc. Privacy Policy

Last Updated: August 2, 2023

This Privacy Policy explains how Community Reinvestment Fund, Inc. and our subsidiaries and affiliates (collectively, “CRF,” “we” or “us”) collect, use, disclose, and otherwise process information about you. This Privacy Policy applies to information we collect when you access or use our websites and other online products and services that link to this Privacy Policy (collectively, the “Services”), or when you otherwise interact with us, such as through our customer support channels, or on social media. We may provide different or additional notices of our privacy practices for certain products, services or activities, in which case those notices will supplement or replace the disclosures in this Privacy Policy.

We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make changes, we will notify you by revising the date at the top of this policy. If we make material changes, we will provide you with additional notice (such as adding a statement to the Services or sending you an email notification). We encourage you to review the Privacy Policy whenever you access our Services to stay informed about our information practices and the choices available to you.

Collection of Information

We collect information you provide directly to us. For example, depending on how you interact with us, we may collect information when you register for an account, subscribe to our newsletter or blog, fill out a form or application, request support or participate in any of the interactive areas of our Services. The types of information we may collect include your name, company name, email address, postal address, phone number, information about a particular borrower or project, prior loan history, financial information (which may include tax returns, financial statements, and banking information), Social Security number, Employer Identification Number, Taxpayer Identification Number, demographic information (including information revealing sexual orientation and ethnic origin),employment information, and any other information you choose to provide.

Information We Collect Automatically

We automatically collect certain information about your interactions with us or our Services, including:

  • Activity Information: We collect information about your activity on our Services, including, depending on how you interact with our Services, which lenders or borrowers you interact with.
  • Device and Usage Information: We collect information about how you use or access our Services, including data about the device and network you use, the type of browser you use, access times, pages viewed, your IP address, the page you visited before navigating to our Services, and search terms used on our Services’ internal search engines.
  • Information Collected by Cookies and Other Tracking Technologies: We (and those who perform work for us) use various tracking technologies, such as cookies and web beacons, to collect information about your interactions with the Services. Cookies are small data files stored on your hard drive or in device memory that help us to improve our Services and your experience, see which areas and features of our Services are popular, and count visits. Web beacons (also known as “pixel tags”) are electronic images that may be used in our Services or emails to help deliver cookies, count visits, understand usage and campaign effectiveness, and determine whether an email has been opened and acted upon. For more information about cookies and other tracking technologies we use, and the choices available to you, please see “Your Choices” section below.

Information We Collect From Other Sources

Depending on how you interact with us or our Services, we may also obtain information from other sources. For example, we may collect information about you from identity verification services, advertising networks, data analytics providers, mailing list providers, financial data providers, community development partners, referral partners, lenders, and other entities who work with us to fund loans. This information may include your name, company name, email address, postal address, phone number, financial information, banking information (including cash flow, transaction information, and account number), loan history, loan repayment activity, Social Security number, Employer Identification Number, Taxpayer Identification Number, and demographic information (including information revealing sexual orientation and ethnic origin). Additionally, if you use our Services to make a donation, we will receive limited information about you from the third party that processes your payment, including but not limited to your name, address, email address, and donation amount.

Information We Derive

Depending on how you interact with us or our Services, we may derive information or draw inferences about you based on the information we collect. For example, we may make inferences about your approximate location based on your IP address or postal address, or derive metrics about your business performance or health based on your banking information.

Use of Information

We may use any of the above information about you for various purposes, including to:

  • Provide, maintain, enhance, and improve our Services;
  • Create de-identified or aggregated data sets in a manner that does not identify you;
  • Send you technical notices, updates, security alerts, and support and administrative messages, and other transactional or relationship messages;
  • Respond to your comments, questions and requests and provide support;
  • Communicate with you about products, services and events offered by CRF and others and provide news and information we think will be of interest to you (see “Your Choices” section below for information about how to opt out of these communications);
  • Monitor and analyze trends, usage and activities in connection with our Services;
  • Personalize the advertisements you see on third-party platforms and websites (for more information, see “Advertising and Analytics” section below);
  • Personalize your experience with us and provide content or features that match your profile or interests;
  • Detect, investigate, and help prevent security incidents and other malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity, and help protect the rights and property of CRF and others;
  • Comply with our legal and financial obligations; and
  • Carry out any other purpose for which the information was collected.

CRF is based in the United States, and we have vendors based in the United States and other countries. Therefore, we and those that perform work for us may transfer your personal information to, or store or access it in, jurisdictions that may not provide levels of data protection that are equivalent to those of your home jurisdiction.

Disclosure of Information

We may disclose (or permit others to directly collect) information about you as follows or as otherwise described in this Privacy Policy:

  • With vendors, consultants, and other service providers who need access to such information to carry out work on our behalf, such as companies that assist us with web hosting, financing, fraud prevention, customer service, data enrichment, analytics, and marketing and advertising;
  • With community development partners, referral partners, lenders, financial institutions, and other entities who work with us to evaluate, fund, or purchase loans;
  • With other users when you engage with or participate in the interactive areas of our Services, including matching between borrowers and lenders;
  • In response to a request for information if we believe disclosure is in accordance with, or required by, any applicable law, regulation or legal process, including lawful requests by public authorities to meet national security or law enforcement requirements;
  • If we believe your actions are inconsistent with our agreements or policies, if we believe that you have violated the law, or if we believe it is necessary to protect the rights, property and safety of CRF or others;
  • With our legal, financial, insurance, and other professional advisors where necessary to obtain advice or otherwise protect and manage our business interests.
  • In connection with, or during negotiations of, any merger, sale of company assets, financing or acquisition of all or a portion of our business to another company;
  • Between and among CRF and our parents, affiliates, subsidiaries, and other companies under common control and ownership; and
  • With your consent or at your direction.

We may also disclose aggregated or de-identified information, which cannot reasonably be used to identify you.

Social Sharing Features

The Services may offer social sharing features and other integrated tools (such as the Facebook “Like” button), which may let you share actions you take on our Services with other media, and vice versa. The use of such features may enable the sharing of information with your friends or the public, depending on the settings you establish with the entity that provides the social sharing feature. For more information about the purpose and scope of data collection and processing in connection with social sharing features, please visit the privacy policies of the entities that provide these features.

Advertising and Analytics

We may engage others to provide analytics services and serve advertisements across the web and in mobile apps. These entities may use cookies, web beacons and other technologies to collect information about your use of our Services and other websites and mobile apps, including your IP address, web browser, pages viewed, time spent on pages, links clicked and conversion information. This information may be used to, among other things, analyze and track data, determine the popularity of certain content, deliver advertising targeted to your interests on other websites or mobile apps, and better understand your online activity. For more information about interest-based ads, or to opt out of having your web browsing information used for behavioral advertising purposes, please visit www.aboutads.info/choices.

Your Choices

Account Information You may request that we update, correct or delete information about you at any time emailing us at crfusa@crfusa.com, but note that we may retain certain information as required by law or for legitimate business purposes. We may also retain cached or archived copies of information about you for a certain period of time.

Cookies and Similar Tracking Technologies Most web browsers are set to accept cookies by default. If you prefer, you can usually choose to set your browser to remove or reject browser cookies. Please note that if you choose to remove or reject cookies, this could affect the availability and functionality of our Services.

Promotional Communications You may opt out of receiving promotional emails from CRF by following the instructions in those emails or by emailing us at crfusa@crfusa.com. If you opt out, we may still send you non-promotional communications, such as those about your account.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at:

Community Reinvestment Fund, USA 801 Nicollet Mall, Suite 1700W Minneapolis, MN 55402