Donors are hyper aware of their privacy online. Many nonprofits have given the charity space a bad rep by sharing donor lists with other nonprofits, spamming donors with emails, and announcing major donations without consent.
When donors bid or donate on your online auction page, they’re not just donating to your cause. They’re trusting you not to abuse personal information: names, email addresses, phone numbers, payment details, and even their donation amounts.
Treating this information with respect is absolutely crucial for maintaining donor trust, and it’s also a legal requirement around the world. We’ll teach you how to give your donors freedom when donating to your auction and how to protect their data privacy.
How to Protect Donor Privacy in Online Auctions
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Comply with data privacy laws.
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Use privacy controls in your auction platform.
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Prevent donor list sharing.
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Track data exported from your auction platform.
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Create Your AccountComply with Data Privacy Laws
There are a few laws that protect donor data privacy, including the GDPR for European residents, PIPEDA for Canadian residents, and various state laws in the US like the CCPA. These laws apply to wherever your donors live, NOT where your organization operates.
You can comply with international data privacy laws by:
- Getting consent for data collection and communications.
- Being transparent about data use.
- Deleting personal donor info promptly if asked.
- Notifying donors if their personal data has been leaked.
- Using secure software.
- Training your staff about security.
Privacy also includes how you communicate with your donors. Laws like the CAN-SPAM Act, Canada's anti-spam legislation (CASL), and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act give your donors the right to limit how you communicate with them.
You can comply with communication privacy laws by:
- Offering easy opt-out options for communications.
- Allowing donors to choose which type of communication they prefer.
Adopting all of these privacy principles strengthens your donors’ trust in you.
Use Privacy Controls in Your Auction Platform
As you’re setting up your online auction, look for the following settings that protect donor privacy.
Anonymous Donation Options
Not all donors want public recognition. Some prefer to give quietly, while others may have personal or professional reasons for remaining anonymous.
Your auction platform should allow donors to:
- Remain anonymous to the public while you track donations and bids internally.
- Choose whether their name appears on leaderboards.
Administrative Permission Controls
Donor data should only be accessible to authorized staff members.
In your auction platform:
- Set different permission levels for different staff.
- Restrict access to sensitive info like payment details (if it’s stored on the platform).
Easy Data Deletion
Privacy laws require you to delete data if donors request it.
Your auction platform should let you handle deletion requests without any complicated processes. Some auction platforms let donors directly delete their information from the system by deleting their profiles.
Concerning payment information, payment processors may keep certain transaction records for tax and legal compliance. However, because these processors use tokenization, they're not storing actual credit card numbers—they're storing encrypted tokens that can't be used to obtain any payment details.
Prevent Donor List Sharing
Here’s a major complaint that drives donors away from the charity space completely—receiving solicitations from organizations they’ve never supported. This happens when nonprofits share or sell donor lists with other nonprofits.
Sharing donor lists is generally unethical (this includes sharing info with similar nonprofits, even if you think you’re doing something good). Selling donor lists is illegal under some privacy laws, and while there are technically no laws against sharing donor lists with other nonprofits for free, you should never do it without donor consent.
Read about when donor list sharing is acceptable.
To prevent donor list sharing within your auction software:
- Use admin permission controls.
- Track who is exporting reports & where reports are being exported.
- Choose a platform you trust not to sell donor data.
Team members who volunteer at other organizations may share donor information without you knowing about it, so limit and track access if you can. Donor lists can also be sold out to commercial organizations, so make sure you trust your auction platform not to sell data.
Track Data Exported From Your Auction Platform
It’s easy to lose track of data when you have different people accessing your auction software.
For example, two different volunteers go to export reports to two different locations in your local system. When it comes time to clean out donor lists, you delete information from one location, and have no idea about the other. Or worse, one volunteer exports the reports to their personal device.
Create a protocol for exporting data from your auction platform instead of guessing. Ask yourself:
- Who is in charge of data exports?
- Where should data be exported to?
- Who is keeping track of our auction software login?
How CharityAuctions.com Protects Donor Privacy in Online Auctions
At CharityAuctions.com, we understand that your donors trust you with their financial information, and we take that responsibility seriously. We've spent nearly 20 years helping nonprofits run secure fundraising auctions.
The CharityAuctions platform implements comprehensive privacy controls:
- Anonymous donation options
- Option to leave all bidding anonymous
- Administrative permission controls
- Allows bidders to delete their bidder profiles
- Item donor visibility settings
Create your account today for free to launch your online auction tailored to your donors’ needs.
Or read our complete Nonprofit’s Guide to Auction Software Security.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can my nonprofit ensure donor privacy in online auctions?
By allowing anonymous donations, regulating staff access to donor information in your software, allowing donors to opt out of communications, deleting data when requested, and obtaining consent for all data collection and communications.
How does CharityAuctions ensure donor privacy?
CharityAuctions offer anonymous donation options, anonymous bidding options, item donor visibility settings, administrative permission controls, and the ability for donors to delete their bidder profiles.
Is donor list sharing a real issue?
Yes. It is a common practice, and many people avoid donating to charities specifically because of donor list sharing. Even volunteers or staff members of charities are guilty of secretly selling donor lists to corporations.
Why can’t I share donor lists with my nonprofit partners?
You can only do this if you obtain explicit consent from your donors to share their contact information with other organizations they may be interested in. Donors do not want to be contacted without their consent, and you may lose donors this way.
Can donor data be leaked if someone hacks my auction software?
Yes, any online software can be hacked, but you can take precautions. Check that your auction software has strong security features.
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