Donor trust and nonprofit control over fundraising aren’t negotiable principles in the mission-driven industry. They’re the foundation of everything we do to serve our clients and help them bring on better outcomes for their donors and their communities.
In a time where data breaches make headlines and digital risks multiply daily, protecting donor information is essential to the survival of charitable. When donors can’t trust that their personal and financial information is secure, they stop giving. When nonprofits can’t demonstrate ethical data management, they lose credibility.
Empowering Nonprofits to Lead Their Fundraising Efforts
At the heart of ethical fundraising is the principle that nonprofits should have full control over how and where they are represented When organizations actively manage their fundraising channels, they ensure alignment with their mission, maintain brand integrity, and build stronger donor relationships.
Beyond being a legal safeguard, consent is a sign of respect and partnership. By seeking organizational approval before launching donation pages or integrating new tools, platforms can empower nonprofits to steward their donor relationships with confidence and clarity. This proactive approach fosters transparency, reduces confusion, and lays the groundwork for ethical data practices.
Why Donor Privacy Matters More Than Ever
The charitable sector operates on trust. Donors share sensitive information—credit card numbers, home addresses, email accounts, giving histories—with the expectation that nonprofits will protect it. But that trust is fragile.
Recent incidents have shown how quickly things can go wrong. Data breaches expose millions of records. Unauthorized pages appear without organizational consent. Default settings prioritize platform revenue over mission dollars. Each incident chips away at donor confidence in online giving as a whole.
Donor confusion = lost revenue. Every dollar lost to donor distrust is a dollar that can’t fund programs, serve communities, or create change.
Understanding Donor Data and Online Risks
Many nonprofits are small teams without dedicated IT staff or security experts, making them particularly vulnerable.
What Nonprofits Collect:
- Personal identifiable information
- Financial data
- Giving history and preferences
- Communication preferences
- Demographic information
Where Vulnerabilities Occur:
- Unsecured donation forms lacking encryption
- Third-party platforms with unclear data ownership
- Staff access without proper controls or training
- Integrations between systems that expose data
- Inadequate backup and recovery procedures
- Lack of consent management
Ethical Standards for Donor Privacy
Transparency Must Be Standard: Donors deserve to know exactly what information is collected, how it’s used, and who has access. This means clear, readable privacy policies and proactive communication about data practices.
Consent Must Come First: Just as nonprofits deserve consent before platforms create pages in their name, donors deserve consent before their information is shared or used in unexpected ways. Opt-in should be the default.
Data Belongs to the Nonprofit: Donor information should be owned and controlled by the nonprofit that earned that trust, not locked away in proprietary platforms. Organizations should have full, immediate access to their donor data with the ability to export it as needed.
How Nonprofits Can Strengthen Online Security
Implement Strong Encryption: All donation forms should use SSL/TLS encryption (https://) to protect data in transit.
Secure Payment Processing: Work with PCI-DSS compliant payment processors that use tokenization to protect sensitive data.
Control Staff Access: Implement role-based access controls that limit information to those who genuinely need it.
Regular Security Audits: Conduct periodic reviews of data access and usage. Update software promptly to patch vulnerabilities.
Train Your Team: Make cybersecurity awareness part of your organizational culture through ongoing training on phishing, password security, and proper data handling.
Building Trust Through Transparent Data Policies
Create a Clear Privacy Policy: Write your privacy policy, how you protect it, and who has access. how you protect it, and who has access.
Communicate Proactively: Include information about data protection in donation confirmations, newsletters, and annual reports.
Be Transparent About Fees: Show donors the full breakdown of where their money goes—what supports your mission versus processing fees or platform costs.
How Technology Partners Can Support Donor Privacy
Nonprofits can’t do this alone. The fundraising technology platforms they rely on must prioritize donor privacy and security.
Compliance Should Be Built In: Platforms should handle GDPR, CCPA, and other regulatory compliance requirements automatically.
Security Should Be Transparent: Technology partners should clearly communicate their security practices. Certifications like SOC 2, ISO 27001, and PCI-DSS compliance should be readily available., and PCI-DSS compliance should be readily available.
Donor Data Should Belong to Nonprofits: Organizations should have complete control over their donor information with easy export capabilities. No platform lock-in.
Features Should Require Consent: Any feature that affects donor experience, data collection, or organizational branding should require explicit nonprofit consent before implementation.
Ask yourself: Does this serve the nonprofit first? If it adds unexpected work, creates competition with official fundraising efforts, or requires opt-out rather than opt-in, it fails the test.
Regulatory Compliance for Donor Data Protection
GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation): If you have donors in the EU, GDPR applies. Allow donors to access and delete their information and report breaches within 72 hours.
CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act): California donors have specific rights including knowing what data is collected and requesting deletion.
Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS): Any organization accepting credit cards must comply. Working with compliant payment processors minimizes your compliance burden.
The Future of Donor Privacy in Digital Fundraising
As technology evolves, so do both opportunities and risks for donor privacy.
Artificial Intelligence and Data Ethics: AI tools promise better donor insights but raise important questions: Who owns the insights generated from donor data? How are AI models trained? What happens when AI makes decisions affecting donor relationships? Technology companies must approach AI with donor privacy at the forefront.
Rising Donor Expectations: Donors increasingly expect the same security and transparency from nonprofits that they receive from commercial enterprises. Organizations that exceed these expectations will make privacy protection a competitive advantage.
Safeguarding the Mission by Protecting Donors
This year has been challenging for nonprofits. Donations are down. Costs are up. Small teams are stretched thin. The last thing organizations need as we enter the busiest fundraising season is technology platforms that create more work, confusion, or risk.
Here’s my commitment as CEO and as someone who believes deeply in the mission-driven industry: Momentive will always put nonprofits and their donors first. We’ll ask permission, not forgiveness. We’ll be transparent about our fees, data practices, and motivations. We’ll continue building tools that give organizations more control over their donor relationships and data. Platforms exist to serve nonprofits—not the other way around. And serving nonprofits means protecting the donors who make their missions possible.
It’s time to bring on better—better for your donors, better for your communities, better for everyone you serve. Better outcomes start with better practices. And better practices start with putting trust first.
Let’s protect it. Together.
