Privacy in the Season of Giving: When Charity Meets Data Harvesting
Series (Part 3 of 5) — Unwrapped: What the Holidays Reveal About Our Data
The holidays are a time for generosity. But donating online often means giving more than money. Many donation sites and crowdfunding platforms collect personal data along the way; not just to process your payment, but to track your interests, income level, and likelihood of giving again.
According to a 2025 survey, nearly 70 percent of donors worry about how charities handle their personal data, and most would stop donating to an organization that suffered a data breach.1
When you fill out a donation form, that information might be shared with email marketing vendors or ad networks to help “find more donors like you.” Some platforms even build lookalike audiences based on past donor behavior. Even “anonymous” donations can leave behind traces through IP addresses or payment processor data.
A few things can help you give safely and still spread the cheer:
- Look for signals about data sharing before you donate: Review the charity’s privacy notice, especially sections like “How We Use Your Information” or “Third Parties We Work With.” For a quicker check, browser tools such as Ghostery, DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials, or uBlock Origin can show whether tracking or advertising tools load on the donation page.
- Be thoughtful about “anonymous” donations: Anonymity can limit public visibility of your name, but it does not always eliminate behind-the-scenes data collection. If privacy matters to you, consider donating directly through the charity’s own website rather than large crowdfunding platforms, avoid creating donor accounts, and choose payment methods that minimize additional data sharing.
- Pay attention to what happens after you donate: If you begin receiving unrelated emails, fundraising appeals from unfamiliar organizations, or marketing calls, that may be a sign your information was shared. While many organizations are not legally required to respond, you can still reach out using the contact information in their privacy notice to ask how donor data is used and whether it can be removed from marketing lists. How an organization responds can say a lot about its commitment to donor trust.
And if you’re running a fundraiser, be transparent with your donors. Collect only what’s truly needed, explain how information is used, and delete data once the campaign ends.
Generosity and privacy can coexist. The best gift any charity can offer back to its supporters is trust.
If you’d like to discuss privacy — or have questions about this post or your organization’s privacy practices — contact tiffany.soomdat@tueoris.com
— Tiffany A. Soomdat, MSL, CIPP/US • Senior Consultant @ Tueoris LLC
- Baiocco, A. (2025, July 18). Americans want privacy when giving to nonprofits, survey confirms. People United for Privacy. https://unitedforprivacy.com/americans-want-privacy-when-giving-to-nonprofits-survey-confirms/ ↩︎
0 Comments