As a charity, fulfilling your mission depends on the trust of donors, volunteers, and the communities you serve. Trust isn’t only built on how you follow through on your promises or deploy donations. It also depends on how responsibly you handle personal data.
Every time someone donates, signs up for your newsletter, or volunteers their time, they share personal information, and they expect that it will be kept safe and used fairly.
Nonprofits may assume that the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) doesn’t apply to them, as they’re not engaged in traditional commercial activities. But the law is designed to promote transparency, accountability, and respect for privacy across all sectors, including the nonprofit space.
GDPR compliance helps protect your reputation, build stronger relationships, and demonstrate that your organization values integrity both on and offline.
Key takeaways
- The GDPR applies to charities and nonprofits that handle the personal data of people located in the EU/EEA.
- The regulation requires organizations to have a lawful basis for processing, to obtain valid consent, and to prioritize transparency, data minimization, security, respect for data subject rights, and accountability.
- Charities routinely process donor, volunteer, staff, and beneficiary information, including potentially sensitive details.
- GDPR compliance strengthens trust and long-term support, while noncompliance risks fines, reputational damage, and operational disruption.
- A consent management platform (CMP) like Usercentrics’ centralizes and automates how charities collect, store, and demonstrate consent as part of GDPR compliance.
Does the GDPR apply to nonprofits and charities?
The GDPR applies to all organizations that monitor the behavior and/or handle the personal data of individuals in the European Union (EU) or the European Economic Area (EEA), regardless of the organization’s size, structure, or purpose.
That includes many charities and nonprofits. If your organization collects, stores, or manages the personal information of anyone based in the EU/EEA, from donors and volunteers to employees and beneficiaries, you’re required to comply with GDPR requirements.
Your charity must have a lawful basis for collecting personal data. Lawful bases under Art. 6 GDPR include obtaining consent, fulfilling a contract (such as a volunteer agreement), or complying with a legal obligation (like maintaining donor records for tax purposes).
The GDPR also requires organizations to:
- Be transparent about how and why data is collected
- Obtain freely given, specific, informed, and unambiguous consent where required
- Enable individuals to easily withdraw consent at any time
- Minimize data collection and retention to only what’s necessary for the stated processing purpose
- Keep data accurate and secure, with appropriate safeguards
- Respect data subject rights, including the right to access, correct, or delete personal data
- Prioritize accountability through clear data protection policies, audits, and staff training
- In some cases, appoint a data protection officer (DPO)
What types of data do charities process?
Charities handle a wide range of personal data every day, including information about donors, volunteers, staff, and beneficiaries, such as:
- Donors: Names, email addresses, phone numbers, donation history, payment details, and communication preferences
- Volunteers: Contact information, background checks, references, and training records
- Staff: HR files, payroll information, performance reviews, and employment contracts
- Beneficiaries: Names, addresses, and contact details, as well as potentially sensitive data like that relating to health and healthcare, financial circumstances, sexual orientation, religious or philosophical beliefs, or information about employment and socioeconomic history
Who is exempt from GDPR compliance?
If your organization processes data from individuals in the EU/EEA, it is unlikely that you are exempt from GDPR compliance.
“GDPR exemptions are narrow and context dependent, so don’t assume your organization’s size or nonprofit status excludes you,” warns Celestine Bahr, Director Legal, Compliance & Data Privacy at Usercentrics.
The data protection regulation applies to any organization that collects or processes personal data belonging to individuals in the EU or EEA, regardless of whether or not it operates for profit.
In most cases, charities and nonprofits are not exempt from the GDPR. If your charity stores donor details, sends email updates, or manages volunteer data, you’re required to comply.
That said, there are a few limited GDPR exemptions, though they rarely apply to nonprofit activities. These include:
- Personal or household use: Data is collected, stored, and used for purely private purposes, for instance, an individual’s personal contact list.
- Law enforcement and national security: Activities are carried out for criminal investigations or public safety.
- Anonymized data: Information has been fully anonymized and can no longer identify any individual.
Why the GDPR matters for charities
For charities, the importance of data compliance goes beyond avoiding GDPR fines or meeting other legal obligations. Donors, volunteers, and communities place immense trust in an organization when they share their personal information.
How you manage that trust directly affects your reputation and your ability to attract ongoing support. Data protection compliance goes a long way towards demonstrating respect, transparency, and accountability.
Benefits of data privacy compliance
GDPR compliance is a legal necessity, but it’s also a powerful way to strengthen your charity’s reputation and relationships. When you’re transparent about how you collect and use personal information, you show donors, volunteers, and beneficiaries that their trust is well placed. You demonstrate that you care as much about protecting data and privacy as you do about creating social impact.
GDPR compliance becomes an opportunity to build donor confidence, enhance transparency, and inspire long-term loyalty.
Risks of data privacy noncompliance
A lot of GDPR enforcement doesn’t make headlines because it affects smaller organizations. But that doesn’t mean it’s not happening, or that charities and nonprofits can fly under the radar of data protection authorities.
Failing to comply with the GDPR can lead to significant consequences for charities, including:
- Fines: Regulatory bodies can impose substantial penalties for data breaches or noncompliance. For instance, the Norwegian Data Protection Authority fined the Norwegian Confederation of Sport EUR 125,000 after inadequate testing procedures resulted in the exposure of personal data belonging to over three million individuals, including 486,447 minors.
- Reputational damage: Data breaches and the mishandling of personal data can erode public trust and lead to a loss of confidence and support among donors and volunteers.
- Operational disruption: Noncompliance may result in mandatory corrective actions, which divert resources from mission-critical activities.
GDPR compliance checklist for charities
Every action your charity takes to uphold proper data and privacy protection also reinforces trust. The checklist below will help you stay GDPR-compliant and show donors, volunteers, and beneficiaries that their information is in safe hands.
1. Understand relevant GDPR principles
Start by familiarizing yourself with the GDPR principles you need to follow as you collect and process personal data:
- Lawfulness, fairness, and transparency: Process data legally, ethically, and with clear communication.
- Purpose limitation: Use data only for the specific purpose for which it was collected.
- Data minimization: Collect only the data that is necessary to fulfill your stated purposes.
- Accuracy: Ensure data is correct and up to date.
- Storage limitation: Retain data only for as long as needed to fulfill your stated purposes.
- Integrity and confidentiality: Protect data with robust security measures.
- Accountability: Take responsibility and document your compliance efforts.
2. Map and secure your data
Identify all of the personal data your charity collects from donors, volunteers, staff, partners, and beneficiaries. Then, implement data mapping practices to track where that data is stored, who has access, and how it’s shared.
Secure your data with:
- Access controls to limit who can see sensitive information
- Encryption, where possible
- Regular audits to maintain effective data security measures
3. Train your staff and volunteers
All data controllers and processors — those who order data processing or do the work — who handle personal data, should receive practical, ongoing GDPR training tailored to their role. Doing so helps staff and volunteers understand their responsibilities for managing data safely.
Additionally, limit access to sensitive databases, such as donor records, to only those who need it. Comprehensive training combined with access controls work together to reduce your risk of accidental or intentional improper data handling.
4. Update your privacy policy
A GDPR privacy policy should be clear, concise, and easily accessible to donors, volunteers, staff, and beneficiaries. It should explain:
- What data you collect
- Why you collect and process it
- Who you share it with
- What individuals’ rights are and how they can exercise them
Regularly review and update these policies to promote transparency.
5. Collect valid consent prior to data processing
Data controllers must obtain user consent before collecting or using personal data, whether for fundraising outreach, weekly newsletters, or marketing purposes. GDPR consent requirements state that consent should be freely given, informed, explicit, granular, documented, and provided in advance.
It must also be easy for data subjects to withdraw their consent at any time, and once consent has been withdrawn, data processing must stop right away.
6. Use a consent management platform
A consent management platform (CMP) like Usercentrics CMP simplifies consent collection, storage, and management. Plus, it enables you to keep consent records transparent and up to date in case of an inquiry or audit.
7. Be prepared to process data subject access requests
Under the GDPR, data subjects have the right to access, correct, or request the deletion of their information. To stay compliant, your charity should have a clear and repeatable process for handling data subject access requests (DSARs).
It should include mechanisms to verify the individual’s identity, log the request, and respond within the required timeframe — generally within one month under the GDPR.
You also need to know where all relevant personal data is stored in your systems and who has access so you can fulfill requests quickly and accurately.
8. Have a plan for data breaches
Even with strong safeguards, data breaches can happen. Implement a clear, documented response plan that outlines how to identify, contain, and address breaches quickly. This includes notifying the relevant authorities and affected individuals within the timelines required by the GDPR — which specifies “without undue delay” and not later than within 72 hours under Art. 33 GDPR. Also be sure to document all actions taken by your organization.
A well-thought-out breach plan means your team knows exactly what to do in a crisis. It helps to reduce confusion, limit damage, and demonstrate to supporters that you take the security of their personal information seriously.
How Usercentrics helps charities achieve GDPR compliance and build trust with donors and volunteers
Every donation, volunteer signup, and beneficiary record brings with it information that you’re responsible for managing securely and transparently. Without clear data and privacy protection systems, you put yourself at risk of violations.
Implementing GDPR best practices doesn’t need to be expensive or time-consuming. That’s where Usercentrics can help. Our platform enables you to collect, store, and manage consent efficiently and with minimal manual effort.
Manage user consent consistently and in line with GDPR requirements. Get automated updates for ongoing compliance peace of mind as your systems and relevant legal requirements evolve. We’ll help you reduce risk, all while freeing up your team to deliver on promises, fundraise effectively, and serve your community.
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