Your Trust, Our Commitment

Alumni and Donors

Last revised: 09-Oct-2024

Your Data

The Office of Advancement maintains relationships with Queen’s University’s alumni and donors. Advancement activities are carried out centrally and also within academic faculties and schools. Personal information is collected in support of the university’s goals of fostering community amongst its alumni and sustaining the university for the long term.  

The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act

The permits the University to use personal information in its alumni records for its own fundraising purposes provided alumni are given an opportunity to request their personal information cease to be used or disclosed for that purpose. Accordingly, in addition to your general rights, you have the right to request we cease to use and disclose your personal information for fundraising purposes. 

We only collect and use your personal information when we have a lawful basis to do so. For information collected by the Office of Advancement at Queen’s University, we do so based on the following: 

  • Public task – we collect and use your personal information to fulfil our obligations under the statutes that govern us.  

  • Legitimate interest – we collect and use your personal information in support of our legitimate interest to advance the university’s mission through fundraising and engagement activities, and we balance your right to privacy by respecting your decision to opt out of further communications from us.   

  • Contractual purpose – we collect and use your personal information to fulfil our contractual obligations to you, such as where you ask us to process your delivery address so that we can send you information.

If you are an alumni, we collected your personal information at the time you registered as a student and at the time you graduated.  See also the section on students and applicants.  We also collect personal information of alumni, parents, donors, community members, Queen's faculty/staff, and other constituents when you contact us, make a donation, or attend an event.  We collect the following types of personal information: 

  • Basic personal details such as your name, suffix, and date of birth 

  • Personal contact details, such as your home and business address, phone numbers, email addresses and social media contact information 

  • Information relating to Queen’s University, such as your degree information, student number or your employee number with the University 

  • Spousal and family information, such as the name of family members and their connection to Queen’s University 

  • Donation details such as where you would like your donation directed, the total amount, and in whose memory you would like the donation to be made 

  • Information on your participation in Queen’s University or other activities, such as event attendance, volunteer interests, committee participation, awards and honours 

  • Accommodations such as accessibility and dietary requirements when required for events we host 

  • The Office of Advancement may use personal information for the promotion of student and alumni relations programs such as mentoring opportunities, to keep you updated about upcoming events and activities and provide you with information related to alumni benefits such as subscriptions to the Queen’s Alumni Review, email for life, or discounts with affinity partners.  

  • Your personal information may be used to send you fundraising and donation materials from the Office of Advancement, such as campaign details, donation forms, or to issue income tax receipts. Such information may also be used to create online and printed donor listings. 

  • Keep you updated with information about Queen’s University, events and alumni activities. 

  • Issue tax receipts. 

  • Send you materials on Advancement and fundraising activities, such as new fundraising campaigns and donation forms. 

  • We may use information such as dietary needs, seating preferences, and personal accommodations to help you enjoy events hosted by the Office of Advancement.  

  • To provide you with information about benefits such as the Queen’s Alumni Review, Alumni email for life, and insurance offers that are available to you as an alumni of Queen’s University. 

  • Create online and printed donor listings. 

Personal information is shared internally with the faculties you attended as a student and with the units to which you donate. Personal information may be shared with alumni or student volunteers with whom support the Office of Advancement in various capacities, such as engaging with fellow class alumni, writing thank you letters, and in support of events. All volunteers are required to enter a confidentiality and non-disclosure agreement with the Office of Advancement. 

Personal information may be shared with third-party service providers to assist with mass mailings in order to communicate effectively with University donors and alumni. This includes service providers who help assemble, package, and address printed material for mailing or mass email, and events management system providers to help execute and prepare for events hosted by the University. All third parties are carefully vetted for privacy and security before entering a data-sharing agreement.  Our service providers include: 

  • Events Management Systems – to help us execute and prepare for the events we host. 

  • Communications Tools – to allow us to send mass mailings in order to communicate effectively with our donors and alumni. 

  • Data Analytics and Aggregation Systems – to support the accuracy of data held by us, to aggregate data, and to provide us with information about our website to improve user experience. 

  • Mailing Agencies - to help us assemble, package, and address printed materials for mailings. 

The Office of Advancement does not rent, trade, or sell mailing, email, or telephone contact lists. 

Contacts 

For more information, or to exercise your rights, you may contact the Office of Advancement, Unit, Queen’s University, 99 University Ave, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6, or by telephone at 613-533-2060, or 1-800-267-7837, or by email.  You may also contact the Chief Privacy Officer at access.privacy@queensu.ca or by phone at 613-533-6095.