The Sam Houston Area Council (SHAC) of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), practices governance consistent with the Scout Oath and Scout Law. This short summary is followed by links where detailed and transparent information can be reviewed.
Following incorporation in 1910, the BSA was granted a charter by Congress in 1916 to make its program available through community-based organizations. Each unit (Cub Scout pack, Scouts BSA troop, Sea Scout ship, or Venturing crew) is chartered by organizations with goals compatible with the BSA purpose of providing youth with an effective program designed to instill desirable qualities of character, develop personal fitness, and train youth in the responsibilities of participating citizenship. Local councils are chartered to provide service to help chartered organizations be continuously successful in their use of the Scouting program. The four major functions for program delivery are membership/relationships (making Scouting available to all youth), finance (providing adequate funds), program (maintaining standards and policies), and unit service (serving organizations that use the Scouting program).
The National Council is divided into four regions, each of which has several areas which support ~270 local councils, each of which implements programs through districts supporting individual units. In SHAC, there are 19 districts supporting ~650 units in 16 counties comprising the Houston area. The “key 3” leaders for the council and each district are the president/chairman (who leads board and committee meetings), the commissioner (who ensures unit service), and the professional Scout executive. As teammates, the ~9,000 volunteers and ~50 professional staff serve ~28,000 youth members.
Auditor's Reports
An independent audit is an examination of the financial records, accounts, business transactions, accounting practices, and internal controls of a charitable nonprofit by an independent auditor.
Donor Privacy Policy
Sam Houston Area Council Boy Scouts of America (“SHAC”) is committed to respecting and protecting the personal privacy of its members and those who visit its website at www.samhoustonbsa.org. The following is our donor privacy policy, which guides our staff on how they may use a donor’s personal information while honoring your rights as a contributor. We will not sell, share or trade our donor’s names or personal information with any other entity, nor send mailings to our donors on behalf of other organizations. This policy applies to all information received by SHAC, both online and offline, on any Platform ("Platform," includes the SHAC website and mobile applications), as well as any electronic, written, or oral communications.
SHAC uses personally identifiable information from donors that is collected at several points on our website, including name, address, telephone number, email address and donor comments when a donor voluntarily provides it to us. When a donor pledges money as a donation to SHAC, we request certain personally identifiable information from them on our secure donation form and/or by telephone. Donors must provide contact information (such as name, email and billing address) and financial information (such as credit card number and expiration date). This information is used for billing purposes and to fulfill donations. Credit card information is only used for specific or pre-authorized recurring transaction(s) and is then destroyed. However, if we have trouble processing a donation, we will use this information to contact the donor.
In addition, a record is kept of each donor’s giving history. Donor information is stored in Blackbaud, a donor management database at SHAC. Access to the database is restricted to personnel with a legitimate business need to access or modify the information contained therein. This information is kept on file for IRS purposes and is also used for acknowledgments and mailing lists.
SHAC does not sell, trade, rent or share names, addresses, telephone numbers or e-mail addresses of our donors. SHAC will use contact information (e-mail, telephone numbers or addresses) of donors for these purposes only:
- Produce receipts for donations;
- Acknowledge donors for their contributions;
- Inform donors about news, upcoming fundraising events and Scouting activities;
o When information is sent utilizing a mailing service - The companies we employ have access only to the personal information needed to perform their functions, but are contractually prohibited from using it for other purposes;
- Internal analysis and record keeping;
- If necessary, reporting to relevant U.S. agencies; and
- As a means of recognizing support, SHAC may occasionally publish names of donors in various Scouting newsletters, brochures, and publications. If a donor prefers their name not be published, please notify the Director of Development at 713-659-8111.
Online Donations
Our donation button uses industry standard SSL (secure socket layer) technology to protect data transmissions. The information collected will not be given out (shared or sold) to any third party.
When giving an online donation or making an activity registration payment, SHAC takes every precaution to protect our donor’s personal information. This includes online data collected on the SHAC website through our secure e-commerce system and payment processor (Doubleknot) which is used to securely process online donations. All communication with Doubleknot is encrypted for the highest level of security of our donor’s personal information.
If you have questions about this Donor Privacy Policy or if you wish to be removed from our e-mail and/or postal contact lists at any time, please contact the Director of Development at 713-659-8111.
NOTE: This privacy policy was last modified on July 20, 2016, and applies only to the Sam Houston Area Council Boy Scouts of America and its website: www. samhoustonbsa.org. This privacy policy does not apply to any other council or unit website, as their content is not controlled by the Sam Houston Area Council Boy Scouts of America. Please contact the administrator of any council, unit or other Scouting-oriented website for information about their own privacy policies and the information they collect about their site visitors.
Visitor Privacy Policy
Privacy Notice
The Sam Houston Area Council, Boy Scouts of America is committed to respecting and protecting the personal privacy of its members and those who visit its Web site. It is our policy to acquire personal information from users only by overt means, only when it is in the interest of the user to provide it, and to utilize this information only for the purpose it was provided. The information that follows explains the kinds of information the Sam Houston Area Council, Boy Scouts of America Web site collects, how it is used, the conditions under which it is made available to third parties, how information is maintained, and our compliance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act.
What information does this site collect and use?
This site collects anonymous data that is not indicative of and cannot be traced to an individual without the cooperation of their Internet Service Provider. This data includes information about the user's remote IP address, referral data (which page "linked" to the present request), and the browser software's user-agent string. This information is accepted passively from the HTTP headers that are sent from the user when requesting any file from the server. Other anonymous data entered by the user may be collected in a common repository.
Personally identifiable data is collected only by means of form interfaces on the site, into which the user must voluntarily enter the information requested. This information is requested only when it is necessary to accomplish the overt purpose indicated by the interface containing the form that requests it. Such interfaces require only the information reasonably necessary to accomplish the overt purpose indicated on the interface.
No attempts are made to covertly or quietly collect personally identifiable information, nor are cookies or any other tracking technology used for the purpose of coordinating information that a user may opt to enter in various interfaces on the site.
What organization is collecting the information?
Information entered by site visitors is retrieved directly by the Sam Houston Area Council, Boy Scouts of America, 2225 N Loop West, Houston, Texas 77008-1311; telephone (713) 659-8111.
With whom does the Sam Houston Area Council, Boy Scouts of America share the information that is collected?
The Sam Houston Area Council, Boy Scouts of America, does not share personally identifiable information about its web site visitors with anyone.
Reports, statistics, and other analyses of aggregate anonymous information may be shared within the organization or provided to third parties at the sole discretion of the Sam Houston Area Council, Boy Scouts of America. This information does not include any personally identifiable information.
Exception: the Sam Houston Area Council, Boy Scouts of America reserves the right to use all information at its disposal and to share this information with ISPs and other third parties as necessary to investigate any incident of misuse or abuse of its site, server, or information systems.
How does the Sam Houston Area Council, Boy Scouts of America maintain the information it collects?
The anonymous information collected is used to monitor the usage of this Website and the interests of those who use it. Data such as the volume of traffic to the server, the number of visitors a certain section of the site receives each month, or the most popular search terms are analyzed to derive general statistics about the site's reach and the audience's usage patterns.
Personally identifiable information is used only for the express purpose for which it was submitted. For example, if a user completes an online Event Registration, the information collected will only be used for purposes of that event.
How does the Sam Houston Area Council, Boy Scouts of America comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) of 1998?
This site does not accept information entered by persons under the age of 18 years old and as such the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) of 1998 does not apply.
Policy Modifications
We may modify this privacy policy and will post those changes here. If the privacy policy changes in the future, we will not use any personal information you or an administrator has submitted to us under the current Privacy Policy in a manner that is materially inconsistent with this Privacy Policy, without your consent.