Privacy Policy

PRIVACY POLICY

Effective date: October 26, 2026

1. Who We Are

FoundersForge (“FoundersForge,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit entrepreneur center located at 404 S Roan St, Johnson City, Tennessee 37601. We operate the website at https://foundersforge.com (the “Site”).

This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect when you visit the Site, sign up for our newsletter, contact us, or register for our events; how we use and share that information; and the choices you have. It should be read together with our Terms of Service.

2. Information We Collect

Information you give us. We collect the information you choose to provide, including:

• Get Started and contact forms: your first and last name, email address, phone number (optional), the reason you are reaching out, and your message. If you tell us about a startup, we also collect your business name, business website, stage of business, and your description of the problem you solve, your solution, and the help you are looking for.
• Newsletter sign-up: your email address and, if provided, your name, along with the page or form where you signed up.
• Event registration: event tickets and registrations are handled by our ticketing provider (see Section 5). When you register, the provider shares your registration details with us as the event organizer.
• Emails and other correspondence you send to us.

Information collected automatically. When you visit the Site, we and our service providers automatically collect certain information, including your IP address, browser and device type, operating system, referring page, the pages you view and links you click, the date and time of your visit, and your approximate location (city, region, and country) derived from your IP address. Some of this information is collected through cookies and similar technologies, described in Section 7.

Information from others. We receive event registration information from our ticketing provider, and we may receive information about you from event partners and co-hosts when you attend an event we organize together.

We do not ask for, and ask that you not send us, sensitive personal information such as Social Security numbers, financial account numbers, or health information through the Site.

3. How We Use Information

We use the information we collect to:

• respond to your inquiries and connect you with coaching, mentors, investors, lenders, programs, and other resources you request;
• send our newsletter and updates about events and programs you have signed up for;
• plan, promote, and run our events;
• understand how the Site is used and improve its content and performance;
• measure the reach and effectiveness of our outreach and advertising, including our Google Ad Grants campaigns;
• protect the Site and our forms from spam, bots, fraud, and abuse;
• report on our programs and community impact to our board, funders, and partners (using aggregated or de-identified information); and
• comply with legal obligations and enforce our Terms of Service.

4. How We Share Information

We do not sell your personal information for money. We share information only as described below:

• Service providers that host the Site, store data, deliver email, run our newsletter, sell event tickets, protect our forms, and provide analytics, as listed in Section 5. They may use the information only to provide services to us, except as described in their own privacy policies for analytics and advertising services.
• Advertising partners, if you accept advertising cookies, as described in Sections 5 and 7.
• Program partners, mentors, and investors, when you ask us to make an introduction or connect you with a program. We share only what is needed for that introduction.
• Legal and safety reasons, when we believe in good faith that disclosure is required by law, subpoena, or other legal process, or is necessary to protect the rights, property, or safety of FoundersForge, our community, or others.
• Organizational changes, such as a merger with or transfer of our programs to another nonprofit organization, in which case your information would remain subject to this Privacy Policy.
• With your consent or at your direction.

5. Service Providers We Use

Our events are also listed from the Spark Plaza events calendar, and our pages link to other organizations and social media sites. Those sites have their own privacy policies, which we encourage you to read.

6. Analytics and Advertising

We use Google Analytics to understand how people use the Site so we can improve it. For visitors in the United States and most other countries, Google Analytics runs from your first page view, and you can turn it off at any time by choosing Reject All in our cookie banner or under Cookie Settings in the footer of every page. For visitors in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland, Google Analytics stores no cookies unless you accept them.

Advertising cookies, including the Meta Pixel and Google advertising cookies, are used only if you choose Accept All. You can withdraw that consent at any time under Cookie Settings.

You can learn how Google uses information from sites that use its services and opt out of Google Analytics on all websites with the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on. You can manage interest-based advertising in Google’s ad settings, Meta’s ad preferences, and, for participating companies, through the Digital Advertising Alliance.

7. Cookies and Similar Technologies

Cookies are small text files stored by your browser. We also use similar technologies such as local storage and tracking pixels. We use the following categories:

• Strictly necessary. Remember your cookie choice (stored in your browser’s local storage as ff-consent) and protect our forms from bots and abuse (Vercel BotID and firewall). These cannot be turned off through our banner.
• Analytics. Google Analytics cookies (such as _ga and _ga_<ID>), which typically last up to two years. Vercel Web Analytics and Speed Insights do not use cookies.
• Advertising. The Meta Pixel (_fbp, _fbc) and Google advertising cookies (such as _gcl_au), which typically last up to 90 days. These are set only if you accept them.
• Third-party content. Embedded maps, podcast players, and product images may allow Google, Apple, or Amazon to set or read their own cookies under their own policies.

Your choices. Use Reject All in the banner, or Cookie Settings in the footer at any time, to turn off analytics and advertising cookies. When you do, we delete the Google Analytics and Meta cookies already set on our domain. You can also block or delete cookies in your browser settings.

Global Privacy Control. If your browser sends a Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal, we treat it as a request to opt out: analytics and advertising cookies are turned off unless you later choose to turn them on. Because there is no common standard for “Do Not Track” signals, we do not respond to them; GPC is the opt-out signal we honor.

8. How Long We Keep Information

• Get Started and contact submissions are kept while we are working with you and as a record of our community relationships, and are deleted upon request unless we need to keep them to meet a legal obligation.
• Newsletter subscriptions are kept until you unsubscribe. After that we keep only a suppression record so we do not email you again.
• Google Analytics data is retained for no longer than 14 months, after which Google deletes it.
• Server, security, and firewall logs are kept by our hosting provider for a limited period for security and troubleshooting.

9. Security

We use industry-standard safeguards to protect your information, including encrypted (HTTPS) connections, access controls that limit our databases to authorized staff and services, and bot and abuse protection on our forms. No method of transmission over the internet or of electronic storage is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.

10. Your Rights and Choices

• Email. You can unsubscribe from our newsletter at any time using the link at the bottom of every email.
• Cookies. You can change your cookie choices at any time under Cookie Settings.
• Access, correction, and deletion. You can ask us for a copy of the personal information we hold about you, or ask us to correct or delete it, by emailing hello@foundersforge.com.

United States residents. Depending on the state where you live, you may have the right to know what personal information we have collected about you, to obtain a copy of it, to correct or delete it, and to opt out of targeted advertising, the “sale” or “sharing” of personal information, or profiling. You can opt out of targeted advertising at any time with Reject All or Cookie Settings, or by enabling Global Privacy Control. To exercise your other rights, email hello@foundersforge.com. We may need to verify your identity before responding, and you may use an authorized agent. If we decline your request, you may appeal by replying to our decision, and if your appeal is denied you may contact your state attorney general. We will not discriminate against you for exercising your rights.

European Economic Area, United Kingdom, and Switzerland. We process your information based on your consent (for analytics and advertising cookies and our newsletter), to respond to requests you make (for form submissions and event registrations), and on our legitimate interests in operating, securing, and improving the Site and our programs. You have the right to access, correct, delete, restrict, or object to our processing of your information, to data portability, and to withdraw consent at any time. You may also lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority. Our service providers process data in the United States; where required, transfers are protected by the European Commission’s standard contractual clauses or the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework.

11. Children’s Privacy

The Site is intended for a general audience and is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will delete it. Students under 18 who participate in our programs or events should do so with the permission of a parent or guardian.

12. Links to Other Sites

The Site links to websites and services we do not operate, including our programs’ partner sites, ticketing pages, and social media. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those sites, and we encourage you to read their privacy policies.

13. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will post the updated version on this page and change the effective date above. If we make material changes to how we use personal information we have already collected, we will provide additional notice, such as a notice on the Site or an email to newsletter subscribers.

14. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or want to exercise your privacy rights, please contact us:

FoundersForge
404 S Roan St
Johnson City, TN 37601
Email: hello@foundersforge.com
Phone: (423) 524-9918