GDPR Compliance for NGOs and Social Enterprises
Non-profits and Social Enterprises have particular challenges in GDPR compliance. Sponsors and data subjects need to be satisfied that data is safe.
GDPR Compliance for NGOs and Social Enterprises
As a non-profit, NGO or social enterprise, your dependencies and drivers work different than in a for-profit organization. They are typically dependent on sponsors or donors that have their own compliance requirements and by supporting individuals you will typically also process their data. If either your organization, your sponsors or donors, or the individuals you support are in Europe, you will have exposure to the GDPR and will need to comply to it. GDPR compliance for NGOs and social enterprises is challenging driven by the organizations complexity. When working internationally, you may also be exposed to other privacy regulations.
Grants and projects
Donors and sponsors, in particular when institutional, will have their due diligence in place about selecting the best NGO to work with. Privacy protection and GDPR compliance for NGOs is becoming more important by the year, and becomes a hard condition for carrying out work for donors in Europe. Having your GDPR compliance set up, and being able to talk about it with confidence, in grant writing, proposals and in meetings, becomes increasingly more important for securing work.
NGOs need to think about protecting the personal data of:
- Donors
- Sponsors
- Volunteers
- Individuals you support
- Staff
- Partners
In particular humanitarian organizations want to support people and bring a net increment to their lives. Privacy of underprivileged people is already exploited too much in an increasingly digital world. If you are supporting underprivileged groups, you should naturally take care of their privacy and human rights while doing so and ensuring the change you bring is positive sum (help + privacy), not zero sum (help – privacy).
How can we help with GDPR compliance for NGOs?
Our GDPR compliance kick-start has been proven a valuable starting point for social enterprises and NGOs, and can make a solid difference to your compliance in a short amount of time. Combined with our managed GDPR compliance retainer or DPO as a service, we set you up for ongoing compliance and long term success.
GDPR training is a key component of compliance within NGOs, with so many different aspects to address, it is essential that staff and volunteers no how to respond to situations and think with a privacy preserving mindset.