Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

Grace & Grit (“Grace & Grit,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) is a faith-based nonprofit ministry that organizes mission trips for adult travelers. We operate this website at grace-grit.org.

2. What this policy covers

This policy explains what information we collect through this website, how we use it, who we share it with, and what choices you have. It covers people who browse the site, contact us, subscribe to our newsletter, donate, shop, and travel with us.

It does not cover the Tala mobile app, which has its own privacy policy. It also does not cover websites we link to, which are governed by their own policies.

3. Information we collect

Information you give us

• When you contact us or apply to travel. Your name, email address, phone number, and whatever you write in the message. Our trip enquiry forms also ask about your destination interest, preferred dates, group size and type, travel experience, goals, and timeline.
• When you subscribe to our newsletter. Your email address and your subscription preferences.
• When you donate. Your name and email address, the amount, and the campaign you chose. Card details go directly to our payment processor — see section 8. We never see or store your full card number.
• When you buy from our shop. Your name, email, and shipping address, passed to the companies that print and ship the order.
• When you share a story or photo with us. Anything you choose to submit through our gratitude or story forms, including images.
• When you travel with us. Significantly more, and some of it sensitive — see section 4.

Information collected automatically

If you accept cookies, Google Analytics records standard web analytics data: pages viewed, approximate location (city level), device and browser type, and how you arrived at the site. If you decline, this does not happen — see our Cookie Policy.

Our hosting provider also keeps standard server logs, including IP addresses, for security and troubleshooting.

4. Sensitive information about trip participants

Mission travel requires information we would not otherwise ask for. If you register for a trip, we collect and store:

• Passport number, issuing country, and expiry date, plus your nationality and date of birth — required for international travel bookings and border requirements.
• Medical notes and dietary needs — so we can keep you safe in the field, arrange suitable food, and respond in an emergency.
• Emergency contact name and phone number.
• Travel insurance provider, policy number, expiry, and claims phone number.
• Signed waivers and agreements, including your name, email, nationality, and signature.
• Documents you upload, which may include images of identity documents.

Health information is treated as a special category of personal data under UK and EU law. Where those laws apply to you, we rely on your explicit consent, and on protecting your vital interests in an emergency. You can withdraw that consent at any time, though we may then be unable to take you on a trip safely.

5. How we use information

• To answer your questions and respond to enquiries.
• To plan, book, and run mission trips, including flights, lodging, and logistics.
• To keep participants safe and respond to emergencies in the field.
• To process donations and send receipts and acknowledgements.
• To fulfil shop orders.
• To send our newsletter and ministry updates, where you have asked to receive them.
• To meet legal, tax, and accounting obligations.
• To understand how the website is used, so we can improve it.

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it with third parties for their own marketing.

6. Our legal bases (visitors in the UK/EU)

If you are in the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area, we process your information on these bases:

• Consent — for analytics cookies, newsletter subscriptions, and health information.
• Contract — to arrange and deliver a trip you have registered for.
• Legal obligation — for tax, accounting, and donation records.
• Vital interests — to act on medical or emergency contact information if your life or health is at risk.
• Legitimate interests — to run and secure the ministry, keep records, and respond to enquiries, where those interests are not overridden by your rights.

7. Cookies and analytics

We ask before setting any analytics cookie. Nothing is stored on your device unless you accept, and declining does not limit anything you can do on this site. Full detail, including how to change your mind, is in our Cookie Policy.

8. How we share information

We share information with service providers who help us operate. Each is bound to handle it only on our instructions:

We also share information with travel partners — airlines, host organizations, lodging, and in-country partners — where it is necessary to arrange your trip. This can include your name, date of birth, passport details, and any dietary or medical needs relevant to your safety.

We may disclose information if the law requires it, or to protect the rights, safety, or property of Grace & Grit, our participants, or others.

9. Automated tools and AI

We use AI tools from Anthropic to help our staff draft correspondence, outline itineraries, summarize enquiries, and prepare travel guidance. Information sent to these tools is processed to produce that output and is not used to train their models.

These tools assist our staff; they do not make decisions about you on their own. A person reviews the output before it is acted on or sent.

10. How long we keep information

• Enquiries and correspondence — while we are in contact with you, and for a reasonable period afterwards.
• Newsletter subscriptions — until you unsubscribe.
• Donation and financial records — as long as tax and nonprofit record-keeping rules require.
• Signed waivers and agreements — for as long as needed for legal and insurance purposes.
• Passport, medical, and insurance details — kept only while needed for your trip and a limited period afterwards, then deleted. If you ask us to remove them sooner and no legal obligation prevents it, we will.

11. How we protect information

Data is stored with reputable providers using encryption in transit. Access to participant records is limited to staff and trip leaders who need it. Card details never reach our systems.

No system is perfectly secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. If a breach affects your information, we will notify you and the relevant authorities where the law requires.

12. Your rights and choices

Wherever you live, you can ask us to:

• Tell you what information we hold about you.
• Correct anything inaccurate.
• Delete information we no longer need to keep.
• Stop sending you the newsletter — use the unsubscribe link in any email, or contact us.
• Withdraw a consent you previously gave.

If you are in the UK or EEA, you also have rights to restrict or object to processing, to receive your data in a portable format, and to complain to your data protection authority.

If you are a California resident, you have rights to know, delete, and correct your personal information, and to not be discriminated against for exercising them. We do not sell or share personal information as those terms are defined under California law.

To make a request, email sharon@grace-grit.org. We may need to verify your identity first.

13. Children

Our trips are for adult travelers, and this website is not directed to children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If you believe a child has given us information, contact us and we will delete it.

14. International transfers

We are based in the United States, and our service providers are largely US-based. If you contact us or travel with us from outside the United States, your information will be transferred to and processed in the US, where privacy laws differ from those in your country. Where required, we rely on appropriate safeguards such as standard contractual clauses.

Running an international mission trip also means sending necessary details to partners in the destination country.

15. Changes to this policy

If we change this policy we will update the date at the top of this page. If the change is significant, we will make that clear on the site.

16. How to contact us

Questions about this policy, or about information we hold on you:

See also: Terms & Conditions · Cookie Policy · Donation & Refund Policy · Participant Data Notice