Contact information: public and private

The application asks for two kinds of contact information: what the public sees in your website footer, and private contacts we use while we work with you. Getting both right builds donor trust and keeps your volunteers’ personal details private.

Your website footer: phone, email and location

Every FFC website shows how to reach the charity. A charity with no findable way to contact it looks abandoned, or worse. Both applications require a public phone number, a public email address, and your city and state.

Email options, best to worst

1. Email at your own domain (like info@yourcharity.org). The strongest sign of legitimacy. We help you set up free Microsoft 365 email after your website is live and your domain is registered (see free Microsoft 365 email for your charity), and you can switch your footer to it then.
2. A charity-owned free address, such as an outlook.com or Gmail account created for the charity. A good choice for the application, as long as the organization, not one person, controls the login.
3. Someone’s personal email. Avoid it: it ties the charity to one person, and their inbox becomes public.

Phone options, best to worst

1. A charity-owned number that forwards to whoever is on duty: Google Voice (free), Microsoft Teams Phone, T-Mobile DIGITS for Business, or an office phone system.
2. A personal cell phone. Workable at the very start, but it puts a volunteer’s number on the public web. Plan to move off it.
3. A landline, if your organization already has one.

Set up a free Google Voice number

1. Create a Google account for the charity (not a personal one), or use one you have.
2. Go to voice.google.com (opens in a new tab), choose a number in your area, and link it to that account.
3. Set calls to forward to the volunteer or officer currently on duty.
4. Put the number in the application’s public phone field.

Step-by-step with screenshots: Set up a public phone number (Google Voice) (opens in a new tab).

Other charity-owned phone options

• Microsoft Teams Phone: once your charity has Microsoft 365, add a Teams Phone license, get a number in the Teams admin center, and route calls to a shared main line or call queue.
• T-Mobile DIGITS for Business: add a DIGITS line to a T-Mobile for Business account and share it across officers’ phones, so the number stays with the charity.

Location: city and state only

Your footer shows a city and state, never a street address and never anyone’s home. If you need a mailing address for donor checks or official mail, see choosing a mailing address.

Private contacts we work with

The 501(c)(3) application asks for a primary contact (who we work with during onboarding) and a technical contact (who handles your website and accounts), each with a LinkedIn profile, phone number and individual email address, plus your US time zone and the hours you are available. Your Chair, Secretary and Treasurer also give their own phone and email. All of these stay private.

Use individual email addresses rather than a shared inbox, so we always know who we are talking to, and double-check every digit of each phone number.

What’s public and what stays private

• Public, on your website: your organization’s name, EIN (if you have one), mission, tagline, descriptions and programs, the footer phone, email and city and state, your Chair, Secretary and Treasurer by name and role (with their consent), and your social media, Candid, donation and volunteer links.
• Private, used only to review and support your application: the phone numbers and email addresses of your officers and contacts, and your best contact times.
• Never send in the application or by email: bank or financial account details, passwords, donor or beneficiary personal information, or details of a security problem. If you find a security issue on your site, follow our vulnerability disclosure policy.